Chapter Twenty-Five
Michael
I glanced around the shop, proud of the job Cap had done. The crates of weapons were neatly stacked, prepared for pickup.
“You did it, brother.”
With his hands on his hips, he surveyed the shop, and then looked at me. He beamed with pride. “Ever have your doubts?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t doubt you, but there’s always a possibility of Murphy’s Law.”
“Adapt and overcome,” he said with a light laugh. “I won’t even tell you about all the problems we had.”
“Like what?”
“Them fuckin’ machines. Took a while to get the programming figured out. They send you a thumb drive to plug into it, but it ain’t that easy. I put the boots to the first machine, and was about to toss the second one in the street when Trace stopped me. He got it figured out after a while, but it wasn’t cut and dried.”
I chuckled at the thought of Cap kicking one of the Ghost Gunners. “Put the boots to it, huh?”
“Kicked the shit out of it, then I shot it.”
“Shot it?”
“Twice. Fucker’s built like a tank, though.”
Knowing my involvement during the entire process of manufacturing the weapons was non-existent made the result seem somewhat surreal. Almost as if I was recalling a past from yesteryear, I looked around the shop and shook my head.
“Seems strange.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Not being involved.”
“You’re too busy sucking Anthony’s cock to actually get any work done.”
His remark was meant to be a joke, but it caught me off guard nonetheless. I locked eyes with him and then arched an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“You know what I mean. You and him are family, and then there’s the family. I’m happy for you, brother. You’ve got the family you’ve never had. Shit feels good, huh?”
It did. I crossed my arms and nodded. “It does.”
“Matter of what? A month?”
“Thirty-four days.”
“Countin’ ’em, huh?”
“Can’t help it.”
He sat down on one of the crates and let out a sigh. “My pop and me made up. Guess you probably know that, bein’ his law partner and all.”
“I haven’t talked to him in months.”
“Well, we made up. He apologized for what he said, and he meant it. We talked about the fog of war, and the kind of shit that happens. First time I talked about it in years. Felt kind of good to talk seriously about it to someone.” He looked up. “You ever talk about it?”
The battle in Haditha was off-limits, and would remain so until the end.
My eyes fell to the floor. “Nope.”
“Made me feel like something escaped me. Kind of weird. Been carryin’ that shit around for ten years, and after talking to him, I felt twenty pounds lighter. You ought to talk to someone, brother. Get them to accept what happened. I know that shit eats you up just like it did me.”
I kicked a splinter of wood across the floor. “I’m glad you two patched things up. He’s coming to the wedding, isn’t he?”
“You think you’re slick, don’t you?”
“Huh?”
“I said something about Haditha, and you changed the topic to the wedding. I’m telling ya, you need to talk to someone.”
I didn’t need to talk to anyone. Some men were emotionally weaker than others. Nothing against Cap, but I had no desire to talk to anyone about what we did in Haditha. Trusting someone enough to speak freely about the truth would be close to impossible.
I made my peace with God, and that was all I needed to do.
“Your father’s coming to the wedding, isn’t he?”
“You’re a stubborn prick.” He looked at me and then shook his head. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I hoped to never need to use his services again, but seriously doubted I’d get through life without having at least one more run-in with the law. Having Al at the wedding meant a lot to me. He was a good man, Cap’s father, and instrumental in having my soon-to-be father-in-law released from prison.
“Looking forward to seeing him again. Hell, he’s the reason I’ve got a family now.”
“Guess that’s one way to look at it.”
I sat on the stack of crates across from him. “No other way to look at it. With Anthony in the picture, I have a father figure, and a boss. Having him as a boss allows the men to accept me as being an equal, and as being his son-in-law. If he was gone, they’d always look at me as a stand-in, and as someone who didn’t earn his way in this family. I’ve got Al to thank for that.”
A content look washed over him. “Nice to hear.”
The sound of a truck in the parking lot caused each of us to stand. He turned toward the door. “Sounds like he’s here.”
I walked to the door, opened it slightly, and peered into the parking lot. Mark and another man got out of a U-Haul moving van, and then turned toward the front door. The second man had a military-style canvas bag over his shoulder.
I whistled. “Back here.”
“Well, holy shit. How’s it hanging, Tripp?”
I pushed the door open. “Like a hammer. How you doing, Mark?”
“Just trying to earn a living,” he said. “One gun deal at a time. You?”
“Same as you. We’re in the low-profit side of the equation, though.”
Mark was a former Army Ranger, and a veteran of the war in Iraq. I’d done business several times with him in the past and trusted him completely, but had no reason to trust the man with him. He looked not much differently than Mark. Tall, lean, and wearing the two-hundred-yard stare, he appeared to be former military, and a combat veteran, if my instincts were correct.
Regardless, I had no reason to trust him.
After they stepped through the door, I looked at Cap, and then at them. “Hate to say this, but I’m going to need to make sure everyone’s clean.”
Mark raised his hands in the air. “No objections.”
I patted him down, and then searched the man with him. Both, at least as far as I could tell, were free of any listening devices. I motioned toward the bag the second man had tossed onto the floor.
“What’s in the bag?”
He nodded toward it. “Payment.”
I opened the bag. Three large packages of hundred dollar bills, all individually cellophane-wrapped, were all that was inside. I tossed it to the side.
“Tripp.” I extended my hand toward his friend. “Former Marine. You serve?”
He shook my hand firmly. “Wilson. 173rd Airborne.”
“Sky Soldier? I’ll be damned. Not many of you guys around.”
“That’s a damned fact.” He grinned. “Family tradition.”
“I don’t have any of those,” I said. “Maybe I’ll make my own someday.”
I glanced at Cap. “This is your show.”
Cap waved his arms toward the sea of weapons. “There’s ten to a crate, and eight crates on a pallet. I’ve got thirty-one pallets full, and one pallet set aside that has two crates on it.”
“I know this is a bad time to ask, but what are the chances of getting the other five hundred?” Mark asked. “We got a message on the way here that they’ll be needing the other five hundred we discussed.”
“As a matter of fuckin’ fact,” Cap said, “I got five hundred extras. So, we can fill that order, no problem.”
Five hundred extras?
I glanced at Cap.
He shot me a cheesy grin, and then winked.
Mark shifted his eyes from me to Cap. “That’s a relief. We drove a fucking rental car up here, and then rented this U-Haul. Doing it again would be a pain in the ass.”
“Truck?” Cap said. “You better have two of ‘em.”
Mark look confused. “Two?”
Cap nodded. “Weight, including the crates, averages out to nine pounds each. That’s twenty-seven thousand pounds of weapons.”
Mark shrugged. “I guess we’ll rent another truck.”
“Tripp, if you two want to start, I’ll give Sky Soldier a ride to the U-Haul.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Using the forklift, we loaded nineteen pallets on the truck in no time. While we waited for them to return, Mark took a seat on a pallet of weapons. “So, you’re getting married?”
“In a month.”
“Seems...” He paused, seeming to be in deep thought. After a few seconds, he met my gaze. “Seems contrary to the Tripp I know. Hope it’s for all the right reasons.”
I chuckled. “It is.”
“Why the laugh?”
“We met, and at the time, I had no idea who she was. Found out later that she was the daughter of the mob boss. After we fell in love.”
“No shit?”
“Damned truth.”
“So, you two eloping?”
“Nope. Having a big wedding.”
“Her father’s okay with it?”
I needed to tell him anyway, and his line of questioning gave me the ability to do so without sounding like an asshole. “Look at it this way. If this deal goes to shit, you’ll be answering to him.”
“Him who? Him Agrioli? That’s his name, right?”
“That’s him.”
“This deal ain’t going to shit, Tripp. You can count on that. You’ve already got the money, and we’ll be gone in no time. These weapons don’t have serial numbers. If anything happens, hell, I’ll say I manufactured them myself. Last fucking thing I need is Agrioli going after my family.”
“What about payment for the other five hundred?”
“There’s three bundles of money in there. One-point-three million each. Three thousand at thirteen hundred.”
“Sounds like we’re golden.”
“Jesus fuck. Might have thought twice about doing this deal if I knew he was involved. No disrespect, but that man’s a heartless prick, isn’t he?”
As far as I was concerned, nothing could be further from the truth. For the sake of instilling fear into him, I agreed.
“As a matter of fact, he is.”
He stood, then folded his arms across his chest. “I’ll make sure this deal goes down without so much as a hitch.”
I stood. “That’s all we ask. Preservation of the family’s reputation is important, but preservation of our freedom is critical.”
He looked at me as if I had three heads. “All we ask? Our freedom. Are you...”
His Adam’s apple rose, and then fell. His expressionless face changed to one of concern. “I don’t know if I’m glad, or disappointed.”
“I’m still Michael Tripp, Mark. That’ll never change. As long as we don’t have problems, you’ll only deal with me or Cap.”
“Fair enough,” he said.
After a moment, he sat down. “You guys were Marines. Staff Sergeant Tripp, and Sergeant Lori.” He looked up. “Right?”
“Lori’s Italian, isn’t it?”
I chuckled. “Sure is.”
“Is Cap...”
“He sure is.”
He exhaled heavily. “Jesus.”
“You’re looking at it all wrong,” I said.
Before I had a chance to continue, he interrupted.
“How am I supposed to look at it? I wouldn’t have intentionally gone to the mob and ordered these weapons, Tripp. Personally, I think it’s shitty neither of you said anything until now.”
“I’ll accept that. And, all bullshit aside, we wanted to make the sale. But there’s benefit in doing business with us, though.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“For starters, it’s three thousand weapons that are untraceable at thirteen hundred each, which is almost half what they’re worth. And, now that you’ve done four mil in business with us, if you ever have any problems or concerns, we’ll take care of it.”
“Take care of it?”
“Completely.”
“Nice to know.”
“Peace of mind is priceless,” I said.
“Well, I wish you the best in your marriage, and in your endeavors. I guess, in the end, I’m not pissed, just surprised.”
“At?”
“The Michael Tripp I knew wouldn’t have partnered with the mob, or got engaged. I’m shocked.”
I’d not only fallen in love with Terra. I’d also fallen in love with the family.
“Fall in love,” I said. “Things change.”
He stood, shook his head, and then let out a laugh. “I guess so.”
I looked around the shop. Everything I could see was a result of Cap’s deal. I grinned.
Things change.