by Miller, Tim
“You better get that,” Slade said.
Henry put the phone to his ear and listened for a minute.
“Was there anything or anyone at all?” He asked. “Ok. Thanks.” He said as he hung up and looked at Slade. “You’re not gonna like this.”
“What?”
“South of Bexar County, so it’s not on us, they found one of your trucks. It was rolled over on the shoulder of the road and empty.”
“Empty?”
“Right. No driver, no cargo. Nothing.”
“Cocksuckers.”
“Who do you think robbed you?”
“I have an idea, and they are all fucking dead.” Slade stood and walked out of the restaurant and to his car. This was not his best week. All the girls on that load were gone. Then there was Tony, who was either dead, or he was in on it. He doubted Tony was in on it-he guy was green as hell. Highly unlikely he was savvy enough to plan something like this. Either way, he needed to be found.
The likely culprit was a guy named Sanchez. He was a former employee who stole from them a year ago and went off the grid before they could do anything about him. Before his incident, Sanchez used to gloat on how if he ran things it would be so much smoother and make so much more money and how he wanted his own operation. It was a good chance, he was resurfacing to do just that. Slade could be wrong, but his gut told him Sanchez was behind this.
He’d have to send everyone out to locate this asshole. If he could find Tony too, that would get him some answers. If Tony was in on it, he’d learn pain he never knew existed. The boss couldn’t know about this just yet. He needed to get some of this resolved so he at least had some good news.
Chapter 18
Kim grabbed as much of their belongings as they could carry and they headed out. Taylor was strapped in her booster seat. He tried not to alarm her by acting scared, but he could tell she knew something was wrong. They had a little money from his previous run, but it wasn’t near enough to get them to safety.
Best they could do was stay at a hotel until Tony could figure something out. As he backed out of the driveway, his phone began to ring. It was Slade. Fuck.
“Who is it?” Kim asked.
“It’s Slade. The boss guy.”
“You gonna answer?”
“Hell no.” He said as he silenced the phone and placed it in the console. A few seconds later it rang again. “Shit!” He screamed as he put the phone to his ear.
“Tony. What is going on?” Slade said. “I just heard they found the truck.”
“Uhh, yeah. Some assholes in a big semi with machine guns ran me off the road. I ran off before they could shoot me.”
“No shit. Where are you now?”
“I’m uh, I’m in a safe place. Trying to get home.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Slade asked.
“I know what happens when you lose a load. So I didn’t call.”
“You thought I was going to kill you?”
“Well yeah, why wouldn’t you?”
“Look. Just stop by the plant. We can sort this out. I have people looking for the guys who robbed you.”
“Uh, I’m not in a position to do that right now.” Tony wasn’t sure if he was just trying to lure him in and then kill him. “I need to take care of some things first.”
“What things? Tony, look. I’m not asking. Get in here and we can figure this shit out.”
Tony hung up the phone, pulled the battery out and threw the phone out the window before driving off.
“Why did you do that? What’d he say?” Kim asked.
“He wants me to go talk to him. I think it’s a trap.”
“What were you delivering Tony? I need to know.”
“I told you I don’t know.”
“I don’t believe that. You had to know. How could you not know? Was it drugs?”
“No it wasn’t drugs,” he sighed.
“Then what was it?”
“People.”
“What?” She asked.
“It was people ok? Girls. Teenage girls. Human trafficking. I drove them to Mexico and from there they shipped them to who knows where. So yes, there you have it!”
“Jesus Christ Tony. Those were children! How could you? What if they took Taylor and sent her--.”
“You think I haven’t thought of that? I didn’t know it was kids at first. They offered me twenty grand to make that first run, but wouldn’t tell me what I was hauling. We were so broke I didn’t care. I figured it was drugs or something, I’d do the run, make some money, and go home. It didn’t work that way. They wanted me to always drive for them, and they showed me the girls in the back. They were drugged and stuffed into these shipping crates. It was awful. They said if I tried to quit, they’d kill you and Taylor, and make me watch. So I did it. They paid me a lot for that last run because there were…complications.”
“Like what?”
“I think I’ve said enough for now. I don’t think you could handle much more.” Tony said. He was amazed she wasn’t coming unglued already. Though the look on her face told him none of this had quite sunk in yet.
“Where are we going?”
“I figured get to Austin and stay somewhere for the night. Find a crowded, busy hotel where no one will come near us for now. Then I’ll try to think of a plan there.”
“Oh my God. Can’t we go to the police? Or the FBI?”
“They got cops working for them. I don’t know about the Feds. These guys are well connected.”
“Jesus,” Kim said, staring out the window.
“Are we gonna die Daddy? Are you a bad guy?” Taylor asked from the back seat.
“Jesus,” he muttered as his heart instantly broke. He had always been his little girl’s hero. “No honey. No one is going to die. We’ll all be fine sweetie.” Everything is fine.
Chapter 19
Slade wasn’t sure how the boss found out about the robbery, but he’d been summoned to see the big man. He was waiting outside in the hallway next to a guy named Hector. Hector was an enforcer, so Slade had no idea what he was doing there. Unless Slade was about to get whacked, but he didn’t think he’d committed a whackable offense. Hector didn’t look like much of a hit man. He was short and skinny. The guy was in his forties but could pass for a teenager from a distance. Close up his face looked like it had been run through a speed sander.
Hector kept sucking on some metal stick, which looked like a dog whistle.
“What are you doing?” Slade asked.
“I’m sitting here.”
“No, that thing you keep sucking on, what is it?”
“Oh, this is my vape pen.”
“What the fuck is a vape pen?”
“You know, the e-cigarettes. You put this stuff in here, and you inhale it and get the nicotine, but without the smoke. The boss doesn’t allow smoking in the building. So I can use this and there’s no smoke, just vapor.”
“Why not just smoke cigarettes?”
“I just told you dude.” Hector said as he took another puff. “It’s good. Here, try it.” He held the pen up to Slade.
“No, I’m good.”
“You sure man?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Slade said.
A man stepped into the hall and pointed at Slade.
“Boss will see you now.”
Slade stood as Hector walked in behind him.
“What are you doing?” Slade asked.
“Going in too. Boss said he wants to talk to both of us.”
Slade’s mouth went suddenly dry as he looked around. There wasn’t anywhere for him to run off to now. He was boxed in. He should have left as soon as he saw Hector. He took a deep breath and tried to keep from shaking. Getting killed was always a risk in this job. Slade had just hoped he wouldn’t see it coming when it was his turn. As he stepped in, the boss was smiling from behind his desk.
“Gentlemen, come on in. Have a seat,” he said. This was odd.
The two men pulled up chair
s next to each other.
“So it seems we have a situation,” the boss said. “We have some clowns who think it is ok to steal from me, and we have a driver on the run. Is that right?”
“It seems so. The driver panicked. He figured once he’d been robbed, that we’d kill him.” Slade explained.
“Well, we would.”
“Yes, but he didn’t know that. I was able to reach him, tried to get him to come in, but he hung up.”
“You seem to be having trouble controlling your drivers here lately, Slade,” the boss said. “Yes sir, I know.”
The boss smiled and looked at Hector.
“You know Slade isn’t his real name?”
“Ha! It’s not?” Hector said.
“Nope. It’s Bartholomew.”
“Boss, is it really…”
“Oh calm down Bart. It’s all in good fun. But yes, he was Bart when I met him years ago. A glorified punk really. It was my idea to help him reinvent himself. Worked out mostly well I think.”
“That’s awesome. Bart!” Hector said as he laughed.
“Don’t call me that.” Slade said.
“Oh lighten up,” The boss said. “Ok. Enough playing around Slade. My people tell me it was our Mexican contacts who stole our truck.”
“Why would they steal it? We were bringing it to them.” Slade asked.
“Yes, I know. They figured why buy it from us when they could just come up here and take it. Someone down there is getting greedy.”
“Motherfuckers.”
“I know. I don’t know what they are thinking. I can’t afford a war over this. But I’m not gonna let those wetbacks steal from me or cut me out either. No offense Hector.”
“None taken sir.”
“Sir,” Slade said. “How did you know about all this so quickly?”
“I’m the Lieutenant Governor. I know everything. Shit, the governor can’t find his ass unless I hand it to him.”
Slade sat back and looked at the shiny gold plated name plate on the desk. It read “John J. Adams.” The current location wasn’t his official office, but his private office in Austin. Adams spent a couple days a week there.
“I guess you have a point sir.”
“So, you and Hector will track down this driver. He’s a loose end and you know how I feel about loose ends.” Adams said.
“Yes sir. Though he doesn’t know anything about you.”
“And he won’t either. Get rid of him, I don’t care how. I’ll call Esteban down in Mexico and find out what crawled up his ass. I called this meeting because I wanted you to know that I’m aware of everything that happens. I get it. You wanted to clean this up before telling me about it. But I have to know this shit. Got it?” Adams shook his finger at Slade as he spoke.
“Yes sir. It won’t happen again.”
“I know. Let’s get to it.”
Slade felt relieved as he walked out of the office. Hector was practically skipping alongside him.
“That’s cool man. We’re going to be working together. I don’t think you ever saw me work before,” Hector said.
“No, I haven’t. I’ve heard stories.”
“Yeah. I like to be creative. I once killed a guy with a blender. I ground his dick up in it.”
“Jesus Christ. Just…stop. When we find him, just be quick about it.”
“Oh, come on.”
“Just get it over with. He’s a shmuck, but he killed two cops and one of Benito’s men. So don’t fuck with him. I don’t think he has any training, but he’s like a caged animal when he gets cornered.”
“Fine man. You’re no fun,” Hector said.
“You have no idea. I’m loads of fun.”
Chapter 20
“Stay right here,” Tony said. “I’ll be right back.” He parked the car in the Wal-Mart parking lot and ran inside. He pushed his way past several customers and worked his way to sporting goods. There was a young man there stacking boxes.
“Can I help you sir?” The kid said.
“Yes, I’d like to purchase the Remington 870 please. And two boxes of shells.”
“Sure. ID please?”
Tony handed him his license while the clerk punched his information into the computer. He hated to buy a gun at a store and leave a paper trail. But time was a factor, and he didn’t exactly know any gun dealers on the street he could call. Within a few minutes the clerk printed out a form and had Tony sign it.
“How will you be paying sir?”
“Um, cash.” Tony said as he dug four hundreds out of his pocket and handed them over. He kept looking around. There was no way Slade or any of his guys could know where he was, yet he kept looking around, expecting one of them to appear out of nowhere and put one in the back of his head. The clerk took the box containing the gun and walked with Tony to the main entrance. From there Tony walked back to the car and placed the shotgun and the ammo into the trunk before getting back into the car.
“Did you buy a gun?” Kim asked.
“Yes. I got a shotgun. In case they come for us or something.”
“How would they know where to find us?”
“They don’t. But I want to be safe. No one will hurt you. I promise.” Tony said.
“Daddy, I’m hungry!” Taylor said from the backseat.
“I know honey, we’ll eat once we get to the hotel.” Tony said.
“But I’m hungry now!”
Kim dug in her purse and found a candy bar. She handed it to Taylor who started on it right away. That should hold her over for a little bit. Everyone was quiet the rest of the drive to Austin. It was dark once they reached the city, they got fast food at the drive through and found a hotel near downtown. It was a local chain called Austin Extended Stay. He went to the desk and paid for a week in advance.
They got into the room and got settled. There were two beds, a TV and a kitchenette.
“So now what do we do?” Kim asked.
“We stay hidden for a few days, then start moving again.”
“Shouldn’t we go to the police? I mean can’t they put us in witness protection or something?”
“No! We can’t trust them. These guys have eyes everywhere.”
As they spoke, Kim placed Taylor in her bed and tucked her in. Taylor was half asleep already. Once she was down, Kim sat on the edge of the other bed and cried.
“What did you get us into Tony? Everything was fine. We were fine. We were happy,” she said.
“No we weren’t. I was miserable. Your dad thinks I’m a loser. I can’t imagine what you must think since you hear it from him all the time.”
“I never said you were a loser!”
“You didn’t have to say it! Its how you talk to me, how you treat me. When I do something good you practically pat me on the head. I’m a grown man. I’m supposed to be able to take care of my family! Not the other way around!”
“Tony? Is that what you think? You’re wrong. Family takes care of each other. That’s what a family is. It’s not one person pulling all the weight. I know you work hard. I know how much you hated your job at United. Yet you did it. You did it for us. That’s all that matters.”
He sat in the chair and placed his head in his hands.
“I really fucked up. But I’m going to fix it,” he said.
“How?”
“I’ll find a way. There is always a way. You should try and get some sleep.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll stay up and keep watch. No one is going to sneak up on us.”
As Kim got ready for bed, Tony positioned the chair near the window with the curtains drawn. They were open just enough he could see out into the parking lot and on the catwalk. He placed the shotgun across his lap and stared at the parking lot. He didn’t even hear Kim get into bed. He couldn’t sleep if he wanted to.
As the hours passed, his eyes grew heavier and heavier. His paranoia was still at its peak. Every single car that came or went, he was sure one of Slade’s men would
be coming for them. After a while, he began nodding off. He propped the shotgun against the wall, and quietly stepped out of the room and walked to the lobby. He found the vending machine and bought a Dr Pepper.
As he was headed back to the stairs, another car pulled into the lot. He stood in the shadows and watched as none other than Slade Schrader climbed out of the driver’s side. A little Mexican guy got out on the passenger side. They were parked up against the building, closer to the stairs than he was. Shit! How did they find him? What the fuck was happening? His heart raced in his chest as he tossed the soda aside and made his way to the backside of the building.
Maybe he could take the back stairs and beat them to the room and get to the shotgun. He left it behind because he couldn’t just walk around the hotel grounds carrying a shotgun. As he ran about the back, his stomach tightened. He ran up the stairs and made it to the corner. He looked around and saw the Mexican guy at the room door, picking the lock.
“No. No. No. No!” He said to himself. Both men walked into the room just before four gunshots sounded. Tony knew exactly what had just happened. Tears filled his eyes as he looked around the corner and saw Slade walking in his direction with his gun drawn. The Mexican was headed the other direction. Tony turned and ran back down the stairs and to the car. He jumped in, started the engine and peeled out.
As he drove off one of the men ran behind him and began shooting. None of the shots hit though. Once he pulled onto the highway he hit the steering wheel and screamed. This was not the adrenaline filled scream like before. This was a final scream. Tony Ray had just died inside. He was about to become something else entirely.
Chapter 21
Tony pulled into an empty parking lot and stopped. Tears streaked down his face as the reality of what had just happened began sinking in. His wife and sweet little girl were both dead. They were dead because of him. He didn’t kill them, but he may as well have. Because of his own greed and ego, he brought death right to his family’s door. Now they were gone.
After almost an hour, he pulled out of the parking lot and drove back toward the hotel. As he drove past, he rolled by slowly as there were now police cars and crime scene tape surrounding the building. They were wheeling out a gurney with a tiny body bag strapped to it. Taylor. He couldn’t even see their bodies. Once he drove past he made a stop at Home Depot. He grabbed one of the big flatbed carts and filled it with several items he would need later.