Page 150 of Cheap Heat

I stared at the pair of them in disbelief. They were both wearing identical outfits—shiny black leggings, black toe shoes, black balaclavas and zipped-up black hoodies. Frank was holding the gun in the pocket of his. I could see the outline of it still pointing at me.

Were these two really mugging me at gunpoint? Really? These two?

My eye socket and nose were throbbing, but I slowly lowered my hand, then quickly raised both when Frank jerked the gun and snarled, “I said put those sausages up, butthead!”

“Look.” I took a deep breath. “Frank, Beans, you really—”

“How do you know our names?” Beans asked suspiciously.

Frank immediately hissed at him. “Shut up! Those aren’t our names. They’re not our names,” he told me, in what I assumed he thought was a convincing tone. “But still… how do you know our names?”

This was perhaps the most humiliating moment of my life. Being mugged by these two.

This was worse than Dan finding me with the pumpkin head on my dick.

Brow creasing with confusion, I slowly said, “Uh… I’m Rafe.”

“Rafe?” Beans immediately echoed, narrowing his eyes at me. “Are you with the government?”

“No, I—What? I work at Goliaths.” I stared at them incredulously. “You spoke to me last week? When I found you with Dan’s head?”

They stared back at me blankly for a moment, before Frank pointed at me. “The computer nerd.”

I gritted my teeth. “Fuck off.”

I wasn’t sure whether to be more offended that they hadn’t remembered me or that they’d called me a nerd.

Or, I supposed, that they were holding me at gunpoint.

I eyed Frank’s pocket again. Was it definitely a gun? Didn’t people usually only hide it in their pocket when it wasn’t actually a gun?

They were standing between me and the exit of the alley. I’d have to try and get past them to escape. Probably not the best idea to make any sudden movements if it was a gun. Plus, Beans was practically feral.

My eye was throbbing, and I thought I could feel a little trickle of hot blood seeping from my nostril.

“Those days are behind us, man,” Frank drawled, making me focus on them again. “We’ve moved on. That ain’t our gig anymore. Wrestling sucks.”

I gave him a dry look. “You were about to get fired.”

“Only because you snitched on us!” Beans hissed, snapping his fingers ominously as he scowled at me.

“No, he snitched on Frank and Beans. We’re not Frank and Beans,” Frank told me again insistently. “We’re Banger and Mash. Notorious crime duo. Well, we’ll be notorious again soon.”

My brows shot up as I stared at him. Banger and Mash? Really? What was with this weird fixation with sausages?

And notorious again? What did that…

Suddenly, it all clicked into place. My jaw dropped open in shock.

“Holy crap,” I croaked. “You’re them.”

“Who?” Beans asked suspiciously.

“Not Frank and Beans,” Frank insisted.

“The Bratwurst Bandits,” I rushed out. Was it bad that I was actually a little excited? “And the Hot Dog Hooligans. And Weenie and the Tea Leaf. Holy shit.”

They shared a quick look. Then Beans slowly asked, sounding kind of pleased, “You’ve heard of us?”