by Ramona Gray
Chapter 15
He showed up the next afternoon, ringing the doorbell repeatedly until Jax finally opened the door and stared wearily at him.
“You look like shit, Jax.”
“Good to see you too, Cal. Did you bring your brother to kick my ass?”
“Let me in.”
“No.”
“Let me in, asshole. We need to talk,” Cal snapped.
“No, we don’t.”
“I told you not to hurt her, Jax. Do you remember that conversation?”
“It’s none of your business, Cal.”
“Oh yes it fucking is. What the fuck is going on with you, Jax? One minute you’re playing house with my sister and the next minute you’re kicking her out of your life. Did you not care about her at all?”
“I said it wasn’t any of your business. Go away,” Jax said.
“You owe her an explanation.”
Jax glared at him. “What do you want me to say, Cal? That I finally came to my senses and realized how bad I was for her? We almost died less than a fucking week ago. What if Mel had been there? Did you think about that? What if she had been there to see me and that fucking asshole Chan hired had killed her? She isn’t safe with me and you know it! I’m not good enough for her!”
“Jax, you can’t – “
“Leave me alone, Cal,” Jax said. “I made a mistake and I’m sorry I hurt Melanie but I can’t change the past.”
Cal stared silently at him before shaking his head. “You’re such a fucking idiot that you don’t even realize you’re making the biggest mistake of your life. But you’re right about one thing – you’re not good enough for her.”
He walked to his car and drove away as Jax shut the door and stared at the black suit bag hanging on the hook in the hallway. He was doing the right thing so why did it feel so wrong?
* * *
“Al, we forgot the potatoes.”
“We didn’t forget the potatoes, Marjorie.”
“I’m telling you we did.” The woman, she was in her late sixties with short grey hair, stopped at the door and began to rummage through the shopping bags she held.
“We can’t leave here without the potatoes. Todd loves potatoes and I want his birthday dinner to be special. He’s our only boy and he – “
Al sighed and ran his hand through his own grey hair. “I distinctly remember buying them, Marjorie.”
“Then the cashier forgot to give them to us. Be a dear and run back to the till, would you?”
“Are you sure they’re not at the bottom of the bag?”
“Oh for heaven’s sake!” Marjorie gave him an exasperated look. “I know what a bag of potatoes looks like, Al. I’m telling you – they’re not in here.”
Al continued to hesitate and she said irritably, “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”
She turned to march back to the till and nearly ran into the tall, dark-haired man standing behind her. He was wearing a thick jacket, the left sleeve swung empty, and she could see the strap of a hospital sling around his neck. She studied the scar that ran from his temple down his throat.
“Oh! I’m so sorry!” She took a step back, eyeing him nervously.
He nodded in acknowledgement and skirted around her before pushing open the door and leaving the store. She stared after him for a moment as Al made a noise of impatience
“Marjorie, are you going back to the till or not? There’s a new ‘Cops’ on tonight and I’m going to miss it if we don’t – “
There was a loud bang from outside the store and Marjorie let loose with a shrill scream as the large glass window in the front of the grocery store exploded with a jagged cough. There was another round of gunfire, this one even louder than the first, and the man with the scar was driven back through the broken window. He landed with a hard thump on the tile floor and Marjorie screamed again when blood pooled beneath his body.
A crowd of people were gathering and a man fought his way through them.
“Let me through! I’m a doctor!” He shouted.
The crowd parted and the man kneeled beside the scarred man. The pool of blood had grown and the man wasn’t moving. The doctor pressed his fingers against the man’s throat and Marjorie gave Al a horrified look when he shook his head.
“He’s dead.”
* * *
“Come in!” Jimmy barked irritably.
The door to his office opened and Cal walked in. His face was pale and his mouth trembling and Jimmy frowned at him. “What the hell is wrong with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Mr. Golden, I – “
“Never mind, I don’t have time for this shit.” Jimmy said. “Where the fuck is Jax? He was supposed to be here twenty goddamn minutes ago.”
“Mr. Golden,” Cal whispered, “There’s been a…”
He trailed off and Jimmy gave him an impatient look. “What the fuck, Thomas? Spit it out already.”
“Jax is dead,” Cal said bluntly.
Jimmy froze before slumping back in his chair. “What happened?”
He was shot just outside of a grocery store on the south side. He – there was a doctor in the store but Jax died immediately.”
Cal rubbed his mouth with a trembling hand as Jimmy stared blankly at him.
“Mr. Golden? Are you – “
“Get out.”
“Mr. Golden, maybe I should call someone for you?”
“Get. Out.” Jimmy said slowly.
When Cal didn’t move, Jimmy shouted, “Get the fuck out!”
“Yes, sir,” Cal closed the door and Jimmy sat quietly for a moment before with a loud scream of rage he sent the stuff on his desk crashing to the floor with a sweep of his arm.
He sat back and stared at the ceiling for nearly two minutes before sitting forward and picking up his cell phone from the floor. He would mourn the death of Jax later. He had less than half an hour until the drop and he had no one to deliver it.
For a moment he considered sending Cal before cursing under his breath. The pretty boy would shit his pants if he delivered a shipment to his new clients. They weren’t exactly model citizens and, besides, he couldn’t trust Cal. He barely knew him. He had trusted Jax and he had trusted Mulroney and now both of them were dead less than a week apart. He didn’t have a choice – he would have to make the drop himself.
“Fucking Chan,” he suddenly muttered, “When I’m done with you, you’re going to wish your mother had never spread her legs for your fuckhead of a father.”
* * *
Mel looked up from the nurses’ station. “Cal? What are you doing here?”
“Is there somewhere private we can talk, Mel?” Cal was white as a ghost and he was rubbing compulsively at his mouth.
“What’s wrong?” She hurried around the desk and grabbed his arm. “What’s wrong, Cal?”
“Somewhere private, please, Mel,” he said hoarsely.
She led him into a supply room and shut the door. “You’re scaring me, Cal.”
“Something bad has happened, Mel,” he said.
Her eyes widened, “Are mom and dad okay?”
“They’re fine.”
“Court, is he – “
“He’s fine too,” he interrupted. “It’s Jax.”
“What about him?” She whispered.
“He’s gone, Mel. I’m so sorry.”
“What do you mean, he’s gone?”
“He – he’s dead. He was shot outside of a grocery store earlier tonight.”
“No.” She staggered back and Cal rushed forward and caught her as her knees buckled.
“No!” She shouted and hit him in the chest with her fists. “That isn’t funny, Cal! He’s not dead!”
“He is, Mel. I’m so sorry, but he is,” Cal said.
She stared blankly at him before bursting into tears. He pushed her head against her chest and kissed the top of her head.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered repeatedly as she buried her face in her hands an
d sobbed.
* * *
Jimmy opened the trunk of his car and removed a large leather bag. Holding it tightly, he took a quick glance around before walking quickly into the empty warehouse. He blinked and held his hand up when a flashlight shone in his face.
“Get that fucking light out of my face,” he snapped.
The light clicked out and a moment later, the warehouse was filled with dim light as his client turned on the headlights of his car.
“Mr. Golden, I didn’t expect to see you personally delivering.” The man, he was dark-haired with a swarthy complexion, leaned against the car. There were two other men with him, both of them covered in tattoos, and they watched with bored expressions on their faces as Jimmy walked toward them.
“There was a problem with my associates,” Jimmy said.
“I heard.”
“Did you?” Jimmy said.
“Yes. News travels fast in this city, don’t you think?”
“Do you have my money?” Jimmy asked impatiently.
“Do you have my product?”
Jimmy unzipped the bag and showed the man the contents. It was filled to the brim with packets of white powder and the man smiled before reaching for it. Jimmy pulled it back.
“Money first.”
“Of course. You will, I assume, be sticking around while we ensure the product is good,” the man said.
“It’s good,” Jimmy grunted.
“I’m sure it is. But we’re still going to check. It’ll give you time to count the cash.” The man nodded to his two companions. The first moved to the trunk of the car and pulled out a briefcase as the second one casually moved his jacket back to reveal the gun tucked into his waistband.
Jimmy rolled his eyes but said nothing as he exchanged bags with the man. He watched as the man set the bag on the hood of his car and withdrew a package of the fine white powder.
“Is this really necessary? You know the product is – “
“FBI! Don’t move!”
Jimmy reached for the gun in the holster at his waist as a dozen FBI agents, dressed all in black and carrying automatic weapons, surrounded them.
“Hands up! Don’t move!” They screamed repeatedly.
With an angry snarl, Jimmy lifted his hands as the agents quickly subdued the other men.
As one of the armed agents handcuffed his hands behind his back, a man in a dark suit approached him, smiling benignly. “Hello, Mr. Golden.”
“Agent Darvin, you’re looking well.”
“Thank you.” The man straightened his suit sleeves. “It’s a new suit. Figured I’d dress up for such a special occasion.”
“You know my lawyers will have me out in less than three hours, Agent Darvin. Just like always.”
“Not this time, Mr. Golden,” Agent Darvin said softly. “And you know it.”
Jimmy cleared his throat, “You have no idea – “
“Oh, I think he does.” A soft voice said behind him.
He craned his head and stared at the woman as she smiled at him. “Hello, dad.”
“Arresting your own father is a new low for you, Jade.”
“Actually, I consider it my biggest triumph,” she said.
“How did you know I would be here?” He asked suddenly.
“You don’t need to know the details. It’s not going to help you when I put you in prison for the rest of your miserable life.”
He gave her a tight smile, “I’ll never spend a single night in prison, Jade.”
She smiled again. “We both know that isn’t true.”
She started to walk away and he shouted after her, “Jade! Wait – I can make you a deal! I have plenty of information and I’ll – “
She turned and put her finger against her lips. “No, Jimmy. No deals.”
“You can’t do this to me! I’m your father!” He screamed angrily.
She studied him silently for a moment. “Good-bye, dad.”
She walked out of the warehouse, a smile of triumph on her lips as Jimmy screamed angrily behind her.
Chapter 16
“It’s over,” Jade said softly. “You should be happy, honey. In three days, you’ll be living your new life.”
“Yeah,” Jax stared out the window of the safe house. His arm was throbbing dully and he rubbed gingerly at his chest. The bullet proof vest had saved his life after Agent Darvin shot him outside of the grocery store but it had left a hell of a bruise.
“Why did you go to the FBI?” Jade asked. “You never did say.”
“The hell of it is, there wasn’t one single reason,” he said. “I just, I don’t know, was tired of the game. Tired of watching him hurt people, tired of him making me hurt people, and I wanted to be free.”
She didn’t reply and he gave her a guilty look. “Your father saved my life.”
She shook her head impatiently. “Maybe that’s true and maybe it isn’t – we’ll never know. But saving your life doesn’t mean you owe him your life, Jax. You have nothing to feel guilty about. He was a terrible man who did terrible things and what you did was the right thing to do.”
“Yeah,” he muttered.
“I know you miss her,” Jade said.
He turned and sat across from her at the small kitchen table. “I do.”
“We could tell her. Now that Jimmy’s behind bars, we could tell her the truth.”
He laughed bitterly. “What good would that do? I’m leaving, remember?”
“You’ll be back for the trial.”
“In a year or two,” he said. “Am I supposed to ask her to just wait for me? Or, hell, I know – maybe I could ask her to go with me. How do you think that conversation would go?”
“Jax – “
“Hey, Mel. I know we’ve just met but would you like to leave your family and friends, your job, your entire fucking life, and go into witness protection with me?”
“Honey, she might – “
“She might what, Jade?” Jax asked wearily. “She might say yes? There’s no fucking way she will. It’s better for her if she believes I’m dead, just like everyone else.”
“Maybe you should give her the chance to make that decision for herself,” Jade said.
He shook his head. “No. It’s better this way.”
“Jax – “
“I’m tired, Jade. I’m going to lie down for a while.”
He left the kitchen and Jade chewed at her bottom lip for a moment before pulling out her cell phone. She did a quick Google search and, with a nervous glance behind her, punched in the number.
The phone rang in her ear and she waited patiently until he answered.
“Hey, pretty boy. It’s Jade. I was wondering if you wanted to have that coffee?”
* * *
Cal parked in front of the small grey-coloured house and locked the car before starting up the sidewalk. The door opened and he smiled at Jade. “Hello, beautiful.”
“Hey, come on in for a minute.”
He followed her into the house and stared curiously at the sparse furnishings. “I like your place?”
She laughed. “It’s not my house, Cal.”
“Okay, so why are we here?”
“I’ve got something I need to tell you. Something important.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Well…”
“Jade? I can’t find the fucking juice. I thought you said it was in the fridge but there isn’t…”
Jax stood in the doorway to the kitchen and stared silently at Cal before clearing his throat. “Hello, Cal.”
“Holy fuck,” Cal breathed.
* * *
Mel screeched to a stop behind Cal’s car and jumped out of her car. She ran up the sidewalk, her heart thudding loudly in her chest, and gave Cal a look of fear as he opened the door of the grey house.
“Cal? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Mel. Just come in for a minute, okay?”
“You said it was an emergency.”
&nb
sp; “Yeah, I kind of said that to get you out of the house.”
“Asshole,” she muttered as she followed him into the house. “What is this place?”
“Come into the kitchen.”
She followed him down the narrow hallway into the kitchen and blinked in surprise when she saw Jade sitting at the table.
“Hello, Melanie.”
“Hello, Jade. What are you doing here?”
“Will you sit down? We need to talk.”
Frowning, Mel sat down in the chair across from her. Cal pulled up a chair next to her and took her hand as Jade smiled nervously at her.
“Jimmy Golden’s been arrested.”
“Yeah, I saw it on the news,” Mel replied. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and rubbed at her forehead. She had spent most of the last two days crying wretchedly and her skull was throbbing and aching.
“He’s going to prison for a long time. We caught him delivering the drugs himself,” Jade said.
“I guess that means you’re out of a job,” Mel said to Cal. “What are you going to do now?”
He shrugged. “You know me, I always find something.”
“Right,” she muttered. “Listen, I’m sorry, maybe you think I’d be happy that Jimmy Golden is behind bars and I guess I am, but I don’t get why you had to drag me over here just to tell me that.”
“There’s more, Melanie,” Jade said gently. “Jax was working with the FBI to bring Golden down. It’s because of him that we knew where the drop was going to be.”
Mel’s mouth dropped open. “Jax was – was working with the FBI?”
“Yes. For a few months now. He came to them and offered to help put Jimmy away. We accepted and promised him a new life. Somewhere far away from this city.”
Mel wiped at the tears that were starting to flow down her cheeks. “Too bad he’s dead, huh? You didn’t do a very good job of protecting your own fucking brother, did you?”
Jade winced and Cal squeezed her hand. “Mel, it’s not like that.”
“It is,” she said dully. “Jax is dead and telling me that he actually was a good guy, doesn’t make me feel any fucking better.”