We’ll both end up in the crow-bar hotel.”
“Not if we’re careful. But I understand. If you want to back out, go ahead. This is the only plan I could come up with to protect my source and find out who the Brit is.”
“So you plan to lie to everyone about this hooker and the park thing?”
“Satans Wrath have too many of their own sources and are always developing new ones. I don’t believe in telling our people anything that isn’t necessary for them to know.”
“Did it ever occur to you that you might have a trust issue?”
“I always have a trust issue.”
“Glad you recognize it. Maybe there’s a twelve-step program you could take.”
“There is. I can walk past a dozen tombstones of people who died because someone trusted the wrong person.”
Laura decided to ignore the remark and said, “So when you do find out who the Brit is ... what then? Turn him over to I-HIT?”
“Something like that.”
“What do you mean, ‘something like that’?”
“Put yourself in Susan’s position. Imagine being tied to a chair while you watch your baby being tossed in a swimming pool ... then being left there to watch for the next half-hour.”
“I’ve thought about that,” said Laura quietly. “Often.”
“If that doesn’t get you, then think about Holly’s dead husband and a toddler by the name of Charlie spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.”
“So what are you getting at?”
“We have no solid evidence on the Brit to link him to anything. Just a picture of a guy in a van looking out while I’m getting a call on my cellphone. Even if he was convicted, do you really think that ten or fifteen years in jail is enough for what he did?”
“So what are you saying? That we should just shoot him?”
“Personally I think that is letting him off too easy.” Jack thought briefly about two other murders. His niece and nephew. They were killed by bikers, but someone else — Bishop — gave the orders. He looked at Laura and added, “We don’t even know if the Brit is responsible. He could be working for someone else.”
Laura stared back at him without speaking.
Jack waited for a moment, then said, “All I’m saying is we can cross that bridge together when we come to it. Who knows what opportunities will arise along the way.”
“Opportunities? Like what?”
“Take tonight. I didn’t expect to get this lucky, with the bad guys killing each other and me ending up with $3.5 million. Believe me, I understand your concern.”
“This wasn’t luck. You orchestrated what took place tonight.”
“I didn’t know for sure the bikers would get whacked. As long as I had the money, it would make The Toad look bad. My plan still would have worked as long as Damien was suspicious of The Toad.”
“That aside, when the time comes to cross that bridge you spoke of, what then?”
“If you are going to be my partner, we’ll discuss it then.”
Laura sat in silence.
Jack waited briefly and then said, “Today was a chance to give Satans Wrath a good kick in the balls. Besides losing the money, we’ve just cut off their Colombian connection.”
Laura gestured to the sports bags in the back seat and asked, “What do you plan on doing with that?”
Jack sighed, then admitted, “There was another reason I did this tonight.”
“You wanted to pay off your Visa?”
“I couldn’t stand the idea that the bad guys had this much money while Holly can’t even afford to buy a wheelchair. In a little while, when things cool down, $1 million goes anonymously to her. Later, in dribs and drabs over a year, the rest to spinal cord research.”
“That should make Holly happy.”
“It’s not that much when you consider the expenses she’s going to have. Even if she buys the most modest home, she’ll still be lucky if she has enough left over to cover expenses for the rest of Charlie’s life.”
Laura nodded, then said, “Considering what she lost — her family, her baby — nothing could compensate for that.”
“You got that right.”
“The Colombians will still want the rest of their money back.”
“Let Satans Wrath figure that out. They’ve still got the coke so it won’t take them long to repay. Maybe they won’t even bother. They’ll know the Colombians won’t deal with them again.”
Laura remained silent.
“So that’s the story. Do you want to help me ... or arrest me?”
Laura continued to remain silent.
Jack stared at her, then said, “I can’t take the stress any longer.” He withdrew his gun and dropped it in her lap and said, “I’m exhausted, burnt out ... and this conversation is killing me. If you want to call and have me busted, go ahead.”
Laura sighed, then said, “This is absolutely nuts. Maybe it’s not too late. Let’s haul the body back to the motel. We can’t be doing this. It’s wrong.”
“What’s wrong about it? The guy is even getting a proper burial — almost.”
Laura glanced at her watch and saw that they didn’t have much time. Even taking the body back could land us both in jail. She thought for a moment and then said, “Just a minute,” and went to the trunk and took another look.
“What were you doing?” Jack asked when she returned.
“Small calibre that plugged him. Hardly any blood,” she said, while handing Jack his gun back. “Obviously wasn’t your piece.”
“I told you I didn’t shoot him.”
“So you said, but you also lie to people. Let’s take him back. There’s still time.”
Jack tried to wipe the sleep and stress from his eyes, then turned on the interior light and said, “Take a look at the picture stuck in the sun visor.”
Laura removed the picture.
“That’s Charlie taking his first steps. I want you to imagine him in a wheelchair, maybe for the rest of his life. I want you to picture his mother. Stuck with raising a paraplegic baby and another child who is only four years old.”
Laura looked at Jack.
“Don’t
