The Thompsons were already gone by the time Roni got back to the motel. When she pulled up, Hax got in silently, reclined his seat, sighed and closed his eyes. He felt really tired, having never been up much after midnight before. The car started moving and Hax wondered if he could catch a few winks on the drive home—even though it wouldn’t be that long.
He woke to realize the car was stationary. Looking out the windows, he saw that Roni had been able to park in their family’s usual spot. He’d been a little worried that someone else might have taken the spot while they were gone. If they’d had to park the car somewhere else, their dad would have known something happened.
He reached for the door handle to get out, then wondered why Roni hadn’t opened her door yet. He looked over and saw her leaning forward. Her head rested on her arms against the wheel. Her shoulders were making little shaking motions. For a moment he couldn’t figure out what was going on, then he realized she was sobbing. “Roni?” he said.
She didn’t respond, so Hax reached out and touched her shoulder, “Roni?”
“Sorry,” she said. Though it was muffled against her arms, he could hear her voice breaking.
“What’s wrong?”
She turned suddenly and threw her arms around him. Hax leaned uncomfortably toward his sister and patted her uncertainly on the back, trying to remember the last time they’d hugged. She said, “We killed them!”
Of course we did, Hax thought, thinking that was a good thing and not quite sure why she was distressed. Then his perspective did a flip flop and he wondered about himself. I should be upset about it too. Killing people is… supposed to be a big deal. Despite worrying about whether something might be wrong with him, he tried to reassure his sister, “Roni, those guys… They deserved what they got. Besides, you didn’t kill ‘em, I did.”
Roni said, “I killed Mario. And I gave you the gun. And I would’ve killed them if I could have figured out how to do it. I just couldn’t figure out how to do it so they wouldn’t kill you.”
“Roni…” Hax paused to gather his thoughts, “Nick was gonna kill me. You did the right thing.”
Roni squeezed him hard, then let go, pushed herself back, and swiped at her nose with the back of her wrist. She took a deep shuddering breath and said, “You’re right. Those bastards deserved to die.” She stared out the window for a second; then she looked grimly back at Hax. “In fact, maybe they died too easy.”
Hax nodded, “Damned right.”
She got an uncertain look again, “Well, the Castanos did. But their men?”
Hax shook his head, “They were participating… And helping.”
“But, maybe they were just doing what they were told.”
“No… we talked about it in history class. If you’re in the military and you get orders to murder people, that’s not an excuse for doing it. You’re supposed to refuse orders like that.”
Roni turned to stare unseeingly out the window again. After a minute, she said, “I suppose you’re right. I need to… get over this.” She still sat there. Hax was about to suggest they go inside and get some sleep when she said, “One thing I don’t understand. When I first gave you the gun…” She paused, “And I’ll admit, I just thought you were bragging when you said you were good. No way had I thought you could do what you did.” She paused again, this time long enough that Hax was wondering whether he needed to say something, but then she continued, “You lifted it high in the air before you started shooting and then shot down at all those guys. Why?”
Hax felt surprised, “I didn’t know where you were,” he shrugged, “but I knew you weren’t that tall.”
Roni put a surprised hand over her mouth, “Oops. I should have realized that.” She reached out and touched his arm, “Thanks.”
“Of course.” When Roni kept sitting there Hax—hoping he wasn’t being insensitive—finally said, “Hey, we should get in and get some sleep.”
He was happy to see Roni turn to give him a little grin. “Yeah, ‘cause we’re going to have to get up as usual and help do the inventory without any bitchin’. I don’t want to try to explain all this to Mom and Dad.”
They got out of the car and Roni went around to the trunk to pull out the two messenger bags. Hax had forgotten about them. When they got up to their rooms, Roni handed one of the bags to him, saying, “You keep track of this one. We’ll talk about what to do with them in a couple of days.”
She slipped into her room before he could ask what he was supposed to do with a bunch of the Castanos’ files. Roni was the computer genius. He wasn’t sure he knew how to send them to the FBI without getting caught doing it.
He dropped the bag on his desk and took off his clothes. He was going to leave the bag until morning but then worried that he shouldn’t just leave it out. If his mother came in and asked about it, that could be a problem. He picked it up and carried it over to his closet thinking he’d tuck it away somewhere, but it was too big to fit any of the likely spots
Remembering that he had a lot of empty space in the back of the file drawer in his study desk, he unzipped the bag. He was thinking he could put the files in the back of his file drawer and then just put the collapsed bag over where he kept his backpack.
Stunned he rocked back and stared at the thick bundles of cash.
Holy shit!
He counted them as he stacked them in the back of the file drawer. Fifty-six.
He put a couple of books on top of them.
$560,000!
Epilogue
When Tansey called everyone in to dinner at the end of a long New Year’s Day doing inventory, Ravinder came in carrying his tablet. He waved it happily, “Great news!” He gave Roni a happy smile, “You can stop tracking the Castanos.”
Everyone turned to stare at him. Roni and Hax suspected they had some idea what was in the news but tried to look as surprised and interested as their mother. Tansey said, “What’s happened?”
“Apparently, the Castanos got in some kind of a drug war with the Garcias, a Central American cartel. The boss Castano, and Nick, the son who usually came around extorting payments from us; they got killed along with some of their men. Somebody called 911 and the police managed to show up before the Garcias got out of there so the drug people all got arrested too.” He snorted, “Apparently the Garcias are trying to claim they just came over to negotiate some business with Castano and found the Castanos and their men were already dead, but the cops aren’t buying it.”
Roni and Hax shared a surprised glance, but then both focused their attention back on their father, hoping he hadn’t noticed their look.
Tansey said slowly, “That sounds good. I’m not sure we should celebrate too much. There’s probably some kind of second-in-command who’ll just step up and take over.” She shrugged, “Like when Nick and Mario stopped coming around, but someone else filled in for them.”
Ravinder frowned, “I just thought Nick and Mario were on vacation. You don’t think these mob guys take time off?”
“Gloria told me that Nick was in the hospital and Mario was dead,” Tansey said. “Of course, I’m not sure that’s true.”
Ravinder shook his head, “Well, you certainly have a pessimistic view.” He smiled, “I for one am going to hope the whole organization collapses without its big boss.” He turned to Roni, “And I don’t want you trying to follow anyone around or gather any more evidence. There’s no reason to be taking the risk.”
Roni nodded.
Tansey said, “Maybe she should send what she already collected to the FBI. If they get that information now, they might be able to take down the rest of the Castanos’ associates a little easier while the organization is still running around with its head cut off.”
Roni said, “Already sent it in.”
Ravinder’s eyes widened, “I hope you didn’t send it from our computer?!”
Roni rolled her eyes, “No. I sent it from one of the computers at the library downtown.” This was true. Worried t
hat the upload from Castano’s office might pass through the office of someone who’d been paid off by the mob, she’d sent copies of the info from the library to a bunch of different people at the FBI.
Tansey gave a little laugh, “She’s better with computers than you are Ravinder, you should trust her to be careful.”
Despite what Tansey’d said about trusting Roni, she felt uneasy. After she and Roni had cleaned up from dinner, she went up to her closet and opened the false panel. She got out the Springfield and checked it over. Its magazine was full and its barrel was clean. She got out the box of nine-millimeter ammo and counted the cartridges.
They were all there.
Tension she hadn’t known she felt relaxed out of her shoulders.
***
It was the first day of school after the winter holiday. Hax had just finished signing up for baseball. Walking to class, he was keeping an eye out in hopes of seeing Hallie. Part way down the hall he heard her voice coming from behind him. “Hax, wait up!”
He turned. She was trotting after him with a big smile on her face. She looked better than she had for months, which brought Hax a sense of relief. “Hey, how’re you doin’?”
For a moment he thought she was going to give him a hug, but she settled for grabbing his arm and turning him so they could keep walking toward class. “I’m doin’ great!” She grinned up at him, “I suppose you heard that the Castanos’ organization got taken down over the holidays?”
Hax nodded and glanced around. Speaking quietly, he said, “What’s that mean for Vito?”
“I don’t know, but his mom took him out of school. I heard they’re moving somewhere else.” Hallie slapped Hax on the shoulder excitedly, “And what that means is that Vito’s not going to be hassling me!”
A sense of relief came over Hax and he gave Hallie a huge grin, “That’s great!”
This time Hallie did throw her arms around him and gave him a big hug. Speaking quietly near his ear, she said, “I really appreciate all you did for me.”
He shrugged, embarrassed. “I didn’t do much. Besides,” he said, referring to the program he’d given her, “even what I did do, it didn’t really work.”
She let him go and they turned to keep walking towards their classes. “Yes it did. If you hadn’t helped me with that, I’d still be worried that he’d put those pictures on the internet or some asshole thing like that.” She turned to give him a serious look, “And, you stood up to him. The way you were brave enough to do that was my inspiration during my bleakest times.”
“Well, I always wished I could have done more. Made him go away… or something.” He blinked as he suddenly reflected that he actually had made Vito go away.
“You did plenty,” Hallie said happily. She looked at him and tilted her head a little, “Would you be up for doing a little more programming? I’ve got a friend who needs some help.”
“Sure, but my sister’s the real programming genius. She’s started a little consulting business, so you might want to talk to her.”
“Okay,” Hallie said, then winked at him. “Maybe we can discuss the specifics over some ice cream?”
“Um,” Hax said, thinking Hallie wanted him to invite Roni to have ice cream with her. Then he realized what she was really saying, “So, you and I’ll talk it over; then I’ll explain it to her?”
Hallie grinned, “That’s the idea.”
***
Rasmussen turned to Coach Hayes. Hayes had come out to observe baseball practice by special invitation. “Now, watch this.” Rasmussen turned and spoke louder so Hax would hear him, “Pitch one to the bottom of the inside corner, slow.”
Hayes’ eyebrows lifted as he watched the pitch sail into the catcher’s mitt, low and inside.
Rasmussen said, “Now high and outside. Put some heat on it.”
The ball smacked the catcher’s glove right at the edges of where Hayes thought the upper outer corner of the strike zone resided.
Rasmussen said, “High and inside. Hot.”
The kid delivered. The ball was fast, but the most impressive thing was how it banged in right where Hayes judged the upper inner corner would’ve been called by an umpire.
“First base,” Rasmussen said. The kid pivoted to send the ball to the first baseman. If Rasmussen hadn’t told Hayes to watch for it, he probably wouldn’t have noticed how the first baseman didn’t have to move his glove to catch it.
“Second base.” The second baseman didn’t have to move his glove either.
“Go back to your drills,” Rasmussen said, then turned to Hayes. “Is that freakin’ amazing or what?”
“Yeah,” Hayes granted. Then he shrugged, “But, there’s a lot of difference between throwing a baseball where you want it to go and playing quarterback. This kid spend all his summers playing league baseball?”
“Nope,” Coach Rasmussen said with a laugh. “Never played it before the start of practice this year.”
This time Hayes’ eyebrows really shot up. “No shit?” he breathed.
“No shit. All just natural throwing talent.” Rasmussen waved over at a bag of gear. “There’s a football in the bottom of that bag. You want to place a bet on whether he can hit one of the outfielders without them having to take a step?”
Watching the Buchry kid smoke another pitch into the catcher’s mitt, Hayes said, “Yes I do…”
***
Dean had opened his pizza place with a sense of anticipation. This was the day that he’d normally have to pay off the Castanos’ goons and he was looking forward to the possibility that no one would come around to collect.
The news had been full of the drug war that had apparently taken out Joe Castano and his son Nick. The reports had also trumpeted the subsequent arrival of the FBI who’d arrested other members of the local mob, the mayor, the chief of police and an assortment of other leaders who’d supposedly been on the Castanos’ payroll. There were rumors of an anonymous source who’d supposedly arranged the drug war and tipped off the Feds.
Despite all that, Dean worried that someone was still going to show up today to collect. He’d even put his usual payment aside in an envelope like he always had. Even though he was prepared, he was hoping against hope that on this day he’d get to keep that envelope.
He was busy setting up for the lunch rush when he heard Ed, from the store next door say his name. Turning, he said, “Hey Ed, what’s up?”
Ed had kind of a glazed look on his face. He said, “Get any envelopes?”
Dean felt a spasm of doubt, “Somebody still coming by to collect?”
“No, someone left an envelope at my place. In my damned pocket, believe it or not.”
“What?!” Dean said, patting his own pockets. “How the hell could someone stuff an envelope in your pocket without your…” Dean stopped as he felt a thickness in the pocket of his apron. Dipping his hand in, he pulled out a standard white envelope.
Dean glanced up at Ed, who nodded and said, “Same way they stuffed one in your pocket, apparently.”
Dean’s hand was trembling as he tore open the envelope. Expecting instructions on where to deliver his insurance payment, he decided that having to deliver it would be even worse than having them come by to collect.
Then the envelope was open and his fingers were pulling out a sheet of paper wrapped around something. The something proved to be a bundle of hundred dollar bills! Feeling prickles ripple across his scalp, Dean glanced up at Ed who only nodded at the paper. “Read it,” he said.
Dean looked down and realized something was printed on the sheet of paper. It said, “We’re returning some of the money the Castanos stole from you. Sorry it couldn’t be more.” It was signed, “Anonymous.”
Dean looked up at Ed. “Who the hell left this?!” he asked in a voice suddenly gone raspy.
Ed just shrugged and shook his head, “Some kinda freaking saint, I guess.”
The End
Hope you liked the book!
Author’s Aft
erword
This is a comment on the “science” in this science fiction novel. I’ve always been partial to science fiction that posed a “what if” question. Not everything in the story has to be scientifically plausible, but you suspend your disbelief regarding one or two things that aren’t thought to be possible. Then you ask, what if something (such as faster than light travel) were possible, how might that change our world?
This story poses a couple of “what ifs?”
What if telepathy was possible, but it didn’t really let you transfer information from one brain to another? What if all it did was let you command that other brain to ignore, i.e. “not notice” something? It doesn’t sound like a very powerful thing to be able to do, but if you give it thought, it turns out to have tremendous possibilities and ramifications. I’m not a big fan of superheroes with SUPER powers. I think a small increment in ability with surprising implications is much more interesting to contemplate.
What if your sense of proprioception was an order of magnitude better than other people’s? It doesn’t sound like a terribly important sense, but if you lack it (there are diseases which can cause you to lose your ability to propriocept), you have to actually watch your extremities to know what they’re doing. This is tremendously disabling for affected individuals. Victims of tertiary syphilis lose proprioception for their feet. When they’re walking, they have to keep their eyes on their feet to know if they’ve put them where they belong for the next step! On the other hand, if your proprioception is extremely good, you can keep your eye on the basket and know that your hand is going to send the ball on a perfect arc that will intersect that basket—because you know exactly what your hand is doing without watching it. There is little doubt that many of the world’s best athletes have better proprioception than the rest of us. Having the world’s best proprioception would be an awesome ability.
The Girl They Couldn’t See (Blind Spot #1) (Blind Spot Series) Page 24