“Sit. I’ll build us a fire.”
“A fire to die by. How quaint,” I uttered sarcastically.
“What? What are you talking about, Janessa?”
“If you are going to kill me, then just stop tormenting me. Just do it and let me have some peace.”
“Kill you? Is that what you think I plan to do?”
“Of course. I tried to feed you to the DEA. That’s what you believe, isn’t it?”
“No, Janessa. I don’t believe that. You lack the cunning to play ball with the DEA. They took advantage of the fact that you believe in the system, believed that they were the good guys.”
“What are we doing here, then, D?”
“We are hiding, Janessa. They did tell you the truth. Roberto Suarez did kill your father. Simon confirmed it before he went after him.”
“Confirmed it how?”
“You don’t want to know that. Let’s just say he has skills that you are best never knowing about. People talk when he wants them to.”
“Why are we hiding, then?”
“Because the DEA always has a backup plan. They had hoped you would spark me into action by telling me about Suarez. They assumed my need to prove something about rats would spark me into killing him and they would have me where they wanted me. When you sent Simon, instead, that plan back fired, but they still had options. They could have taken Simon and used him exactly as they intended to use Roberto, to bring me down in order to knock some time off his sentence.”
“I can’t see Simon doing that.”
“He wouldn’t, but the DEA thinks they can get anyone to turn with the right incentive. Simon is an expert when it comes to getting in, getting the job down and getting out. He shot Roberto point blank and walked away before they even knew what was happening. They’ll only piece it together through surveillance footage and by that time, he’ll be long gone.”
“Then Roberto is dead.”
“Yes, but not because you ordered it. Roberto is dead because I told Simon to go ahead with it. It was only when he saw all the DEA scattered in what they seem to feel were covert locations that he cottoned on that it was a set up. He did it anyway, because we couldn’t afford for Roberto to do exactly what the DEA told you he would do.”
“Then you are safe. Roberto is out of the picture and you know who the other members are. You just have to finish clearing the club of them.”
“No. I’m done.”
“What do you mean, you’re done?”
“I’m tired of this game. I’ve been in it too long and I just want it to end.”
“Then what? What will you do?”
“Something that I never thought I’d ever do, but now believe is my only option if I want to live in peace.”
“And that is?”
“Give the DEA what they want.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The DEA wants the Black Aces gone. They want as many heads on a platter as they can get and for us to disappear so that they don’t have to acknowledge that while we might not be strictly lawful, we play an important part in the community. We are part of the commerce here, the seedy part, but a part of it. When we are gone, someone will take our place and they know that, but what they need is a notch on their belt that shows they did their job and put some bad men away.”
“And you’d give them that satisfaction somehow?”
“No, not in a million years. But I will give it to the ATF. The rebels who are trying to take me down, they are running a side operation selling some pretty heavy artillery. That is why they have done all this. It was a business I knew nothing about until I started digging to see where missing money was going and to help you find your father’s killer. It’s the reason they need me out of the way. I never allowed that to go on and never would. Dealing a few drugs is one thing, but gun running opens us up to a lot of heat. Better to remain a bit lower key and left alone.”
“I still don’t follow.”
“Roberto Suarez killed your father, but he wasn’t the one who ordered it. He was sent to do it by the other men in that group. That is something that would have never been proven, something they would never pay for, but they can pay heavily for other crimes. I have evidence linking them to the guns, other murders, payoffs, you name it. I’ll give you all of that to take to the ATF.”
“So, all the men involved would pay some price for my father’s death.”
“Yes.”
“And you? What happens to you?”
“I’ll have to disappear.”
“The evidence, does it somehow implicate you, as well?”
“If it doesn’t, they would find a way. I was never directly involved in it, but there were instances where I was lied to and unknowingly did things that lent a hand in the process. It’s enough to get a conviction and I can promise you that I wouldn’t make it out of whatever stay in prison I was given. I have no choice but to leave if I do this.”
“I can make a deal with them. A deal that I will only give them the evidence if they give you immunity from prosecution.”
“That changes nothing, Janessa. There will still be plenty of people out there who want to take me down for ratting out the club. I’m a marked man either way.”
“Then don’t do it. I don’t need justice for my father anymore. This has all just gotten too crazy. I don’t want it anymore.”
“I want it. I’d rather disappear and not have to look over my shoulder all the time than spend my nights sleeping with one eye open, wondering when someone was going to get the one up on me and end me or someone I care about. I’ve lost way too many people as it is.”
“I don’t want to lose you, D.”
“You can’t lose what you never had, Janessa.”
His words cut me to the bone. How could he just dismiss what we had shared so easily, as if it meant nothing to him. It hurt more than words could say, but I steeled myself and nodded.
“Okay, D. I’ll do it.”
“Good girl. I’ll need for you to stay here. There is plenty of food and wood for the fireplace. No one knows about this place and no one will bother you. Just get some sleep, and I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
My tears had stopped. I felt like I was dead inside, but somehow still breathing. I was just a tool for him to get some final revenge on those who had crossed him and to get far away where he could start over, perhaps with a fresh crew in a new place. Still, I would do as he asked because I loved him. Despite everything, I still knew that much to be true.