Dead Edge

by Jack Ford

  ‘I need to speak to Coop.’

  ‘Go on then, but don’t make it an excuse not to go and fix that fence. Always looking for your behind,’ Dorothy said.

  Cooper winked at Levi. ‘What’s up, man?’

  ‘It’s Granger, and it’s not good.’

  ‘How did I guess you were going to say that?’

  Levi’s expression was awkward. ‘He had a call. I don’t know how to say this.’

  Dorothy rejoined in the conversation. ‘It’s never stopped you talking your rubbish before. As for Granger. That man thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow. The way he talks, going around barking orders, telling folk what to do. Snaps at everybody. If I had my druthers, neither you nor Levi would be at that job.’

  ‘Woman, please, stop your noise… Coop, they know what you did. Getting the pills from Ismet.’

  ‘I have to go and speak to them. Try to explain.’

  ‘Don’t think that will do much good.’

  Cooper said nothing. Played with the hem of the bed sheet until Dorothy slapped his wrist away and sat down heavily on the bed, pulling down and straightening her rose pink cotton skirt. ‘I heard about it too, Thomas. I spoke to Maddie earlier. Made me madder than a wet hen when she told me, I can tell you. But then I know that’s not really you. Not the Thomas I know.’

  Cooper gave a long sigh. ‘I don’t know where people get this idea from. Maybe it’s easier to make excuses than see what I am. But it is me.’

  Leaning in, almost nose to nose, Dorothy put her hand on Cooper’s heart and quietly spoke to him.,

  ‘No it ain’t. Not in here. That’s what counts. Not the stuff in your mind where crazy happens. It’s in there. And in there beats the heart of a good man. A man of integrity. Courage. Strength. A man who loves little Cora, and loves his friends with the same passion he loves his family. But right there’s the catch. Because you love so hard. It’s like being in the eye of a storm. Calm and quiet at the center but when it goes wrong like it did with Ellie, then all around you those strong winds which have been circling and forming, knock everything out of their way, leaving behind a trail of destruction. It’s not the heart of you which is the problem, it’s what comes with you. But I’ll always be here for you no matter what, and so will Levi, for all the use he’ll be. Let the faith in yourself be bigger than your fear. Which also means getting off those damn pills! I told the doctor as much, sent him away with a flea in his ear.’

  ‘Dorothy, you know you’re my tonic.’

  Dorothy Walker pulled her green cardigan tight around her. ‘You find me as you see me.’ She stopped and shook her head then smiled and said, ‘Thomas, I can see you have to go. See it in your eyes. I ain’t going to stop you, I understand sometimes a man has to go and tend to his field.’

  Planting a kiss on Dorothy’s head, Cooper said, ‘I love you, Dorothy, thank you.’

  VIRGINIA, USA

  44

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  Chuck wondered as he often wondered, why the hell it was he ended up dealing with the lowest forms of life just to get things done. His days at the moment seemed to consist of dealing with governmental issues on policy, legislation, and the constant re-alignment of ideas and procedures when it came to dealing with terrorism – with Woods and Secretary of State Lyndon P Clark looking about as frightening and as threatening to the enemy as Touché turtle and Dum Dum.

  To Chuck’s mind, his life was further hindered by the circus of the liberal left advocating a confusing mix of internationalism and isolationism. America shouldn’t have to ask permission to invade an enemy nation alongside another country whose own agenda, by definition, wouldn’t be the same as that of the US. The tactics should always be of offensive strategies; rapid, decisive operations, together with baiting and bleeding; to induce rival factions to engage in a protracted war against each other, so that they bleed each other white, whilst the USA, the baiter, lingers on the side-lines, watching. Waiting. Maintaining its military strength, until the time was right for going in and destroying the already battle-fatigued parties. But as Woods seemed inept, and determined to keep America in a precarious position when it came to the enemy, Chuck, as the head of the CTC, had a duty to the citizens of this great nation to do something about its safety. And that’s how, day after day, he had to deal with the low-lives, the sewer rats. Harry Gibson was a case in point.

  ‘So you know exactly what you’re supposed to do?’ Chuck said.

  Harry, trailing his hand in the cool water of Chuck’s flamboyant fountain nodded, and with an air of effeminacy, an exaggerated campness, and a suggestive tone nodded. ‘When have I ever not known what to do? That’s why you want me, isn’t it? I know exactly what you require. When have you ever been disappointed with any of my performances?’

  Chuck tossed a white envelope to Harry who sniffed it. ‘Perfumed, I hope?’

  Chuck said nothing. But that sure as hell didn’t mean he didn’t want to.

  Harry, opening up the envelope, whistled. ‘I was never paid this well in the CIA. What was I doing for all those years?’

  ‘That’s exactly why they got rid of you.’

  ‘Meow. I see that tongue of yours hasn’t got any less catty over the years, Chuck.’

  ‘Harry, listen to me. It gives me no pleasure to work with the likes of you. You should’ve made the best kind of agent, willing to go to go as far as it’s necessary for your country. But I guess no one looks favorably on a grown man caught in the Middle East with young boys, do they?’

  Harry’s face darkened as he replied. ‘We both know the accusations weren’t true. Not my style. Quite the opposite in fact.’

  ‘Not according to the authorities.’

  ‘I’d say it was just an excuse to get rid of me, wouldn’t you, Chuck? How does it go? Always shoot the man who knows too much. Strip him of his reputation so no-one will work with him or trust him gain… Apart from you. You work with me because you knew it was bull. I was the most trustworthy agent out there, which meant people would listen when I voiced my concerns about what was going on in some of the black sites over there. And that just didn’t suit you, did it? Not even close.’

  ‘Hey, Harry, you know there’s nothing more tedious than a guy with a conspiracy, apart from an unemployed guy with one.’

  ‘Chuck, you robbed me of my life. Have you any idea what it was like in Al-Ha’ir Prison?’

  ‘Saudi Arabia has never been known for its soft approach to punishment.’

  Harry leaned forward, grabbing Chuck by his white, crisp linen shirt. ‘You think it’s funny being raped? Tortured? Beaten on a daily basis?’

  ‘If it wasn’t that prison it would’ve been here. As a whistle-blower. They would’ve locked you up and you’d be still sitting looking at four walls. You can’t go round telling tales about other agents.’

  ‘You mean you.’

  ‘It would’ve been a violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. It’s a good job that journalist you contacted let me know. I did you a favor. No-one takes too kindly to whistle-blowers. Ask Edward Snowden.’

  ‘A favor?’

  ‘Yes, you’re out, aren’t you? I paid your blood money, to get you out. Couldn’t have done that here. You should be thanking me, Harry.’

  Eyes wide with memory and a soul full of pain, Harry’s voice was full of scorn. ‘Blood money! Christ almighty, I was innocent, you know that. I lost my family. I lost it all. Everything and anything that meant anything to me, I lost. I haven’t seen my kids in years and I never will. And it’s all down to you.’

  A cold calculated tone. A voice uncaring. ‘The only thing I had to do with it was helping you out. Giving you a chance. Where would you be without me, Harry?’

  ‘With my family. With my job.’

  ‘You might not want to admit what you did, but you’re kidding yourself. Or is it a question of still wanting to blame the alcohol…?’

  ‘Is that what you’re calling it? Is that what David Thorpe t
he coffee shop bomber would call it? Would he call it alcohol? Is that what he’s going to blame it on?’

  Pushing Harry’s hands off his shirt, Chuck stared with disgust. ‘If you were wise, you’d stop right there. You and he have nothing in common.’

  ‘Really? Are you sure about that? Because I’d beg to differ.’

  ‘Harry, there were photos of you. Remember? The Saudi police took them in the morning when they raided your apartment. You and them. Those boys… So stop deluding yourself and think yourself lucky I’m willing to work with you.’

  Raw bitterness and steaming anger was ladled onto Harry Gibson’s words.

  ‘You’ve made damn sure of that, haven’t you? Made sure you’re the only one who’ll give me the time of day. Made me need you… I have to give it to you, Chuck. You’re good. But then it takes someone this good to be in your position.’

  Not wanting to get drawn further into the conversation they seemed to have on a frequent basis, Chuck pulled something else out of his pocket. A small wrap of foil tightly sealed and taped up in a transparent grip-seal plastic bag. He handed it to Harry.

  ‘Here. Take it. Though don’t do anything until I give you the go-ahead. Understand me? You do nothing until you get my call, but it’s exactly the same as it was before.’

  Taking off his jacket to reveal a Desert Eagle 44 tucked in his shoulder holster, Harry held the grip-seal bag whilst looking at its contents. ‘Not quite. We’re not talking your average guy here, are we?’

  ‘What’s your point?’

  ‘The money’s good – but it could be better.’

  ‘Don’t push it, Harry.’

  ‘I think all things considered that’s exactly what I should do. Isn’t that what you taught us when we were stationed in Khartoum? Push for more and never take the first offer. Negotiation is the key.’

  Standing up, Chuck glanced through the fountain of water and across to his immaculately kept gardens, something his gardener made him pay through the nose for, and something he couldn’t care less about one way or another. Drew his eyes back to Harry. Followed the lines around his deeply pockmarked skin. Put one foot on the small stone wall.

  ‘Negotiation only works if one side has something the other one wants more.’

  ‘And I’d say that was you.’

  ‘Not really. I can find guys, ex-CIA or ex-military, who’ll do the job just as well. Maybe better. I’d say you were just a convenience, rather a necessity. You however, like you say, you need me and this money, much, much more than I need you.’

  ‘That might be true, Chuck, but what if I was to say you also need me to keep my mouth shut and that will cost you.’

  Sniffing the air and feeling the sun on his skin, Chuck laughed. Hard. Loud. Looked at Harry and said, ‘If you were to say that, I’d reply by saying, you’re not even supposed to be in this country, Harry. Authorities think you’re locked up abroad for life. No-one knows I paid your blood money. No-one knows you’re here except for me… So then I’d say, remember the prison in Saudi? The one you hate so much. Well, all it’d take was one phone call from me to have you taken back there… So if I were you, Harry, I’d be real careful with what I was saying.’

  SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

  USA

  45

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  ‘Think about this. If we’d just gone right ahead and flown back home we would never have gone to the ship, which means we would’ve never been able to help the boy.’

  Maddie walked up close to Cooper. Inches away. Letting him feel every part of her scorn. Letting him smell every part of her disdain.

  ‘Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare use that boy’s plight to justify what you did.’

  Stepping away from the onslaught of intensity, Cooper, guilty and angry and filled with self-loathing, snapped. ‘What the hell did I do, Maddison? I never put you in danger. I never sold you out. Not really. It was myself I sold out.’

  A hard, bitter laugh. Cutting scorn. ‘That’s crap, Tom. Bottom line is, you made a deal with Ismet and lied to us, pretending you were curious about what was going on.’

  ‘I was… And my gut was right.’

  Maddie’s face was red now. As red as Earl’s had been, as red as Granger’s had been and as red as Ismet’s had been. ‘Stop, Tom! Can you hear yourself? That’s not why you did it.’

  ‘It’s part of it.’

  ‘Quit with the excuses. You sold us out right down the line for a pocket full of pills. We trusted you.’

  ‘Yeah, well I trusted you.’

  Maddie’s finger came up sharp. She pointed. Wagged. ‘Oh no you don’t. You’re not going to turn this round on us like you always do.’

  ‘I’m not trying to do that. Why do you always think everything I do is a manipulation?’

  ‘I wonder.’

  ‘Maddie, look, I’m just saying I trusted you not to judge me. Not to make up your mind about what happened till you heard me out. I screwed up. Big time. I know. But isn’t that what people do?’

  ‘They do, but not on your scale. With you it’s a constant merry go round of broken promises, and secrets and lies. Telling us you’re clean. Telling us it’s only a blip. Well, I’ll tell you what it really is, it’s bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit.’

  Cooper knew he had no right to feel pissed, but he was, and he was going to say as much. His handsome face veiled in a mixture of pain and hurt. ‘The holier-than-thou outlook on life, according to Maddison Cooper. Has anyone told you how Goddamn sanctimonious you can be? You know, I’m sorry if we’re not all as doggone perfect as you, Maddie. But do you really think it’s so easy to get off this stuff? Click my fingers and suddenly I’m clean? I’ve tried and you know it.’

  ‘Then try harder.’

  ‘Good job you never chose counselling as your career, your bedside manner isn’t really up to much… Shall I tell you something, Maddie? When I go to the doctors to get help, you know what they do, they give me some more? It’s hard… And if it wasn’t hard, why in this country did drug overdoses kill more Americans than car crashes or guns last year? Forty-seven thousand people died in the US because of drugs. That’s on average a hundred and thirty a day and most of those involved some kind of opioids, and at least half of those deaths are from overdoses of prescription drugs.’

  ‘Yeah, but you still have a choice.’

  Cooper stared at Maddie, looking into her beautiful brown face. Wanting her to understand when he didn’t really understand himself how it’d come to this.

  ‘You have it your hand. Whether it’s the pills or the prescription from the doc, but it burns a damn hole in it. Like acid. You try to throw it out in the trash can. But you end up retrieving it. Then you decide to get rid of it further away. A block down. Throw it in the garbage at the nearby diner, but you end up sitting on your front porch thinking about it. Thinking about it lying there covered in trash. And that’s all you can think about, like it’s some kind of Goddess. And then the pain starts. The sweats. The cramps. The nausea. The sickness. And you try to crawl to the bathroom but you end up retching up on your expensive handmade rug. Unable to move. And as you lie in your own vomit all you can think about is that Goddess lying under a mound of vegetable skins, the scraped off food from the diner’s plates, the soiled diapers and dirty rags. But it doesn’t matter because you know that at 3 a.m. you’ll find yourself waist deep in garbage. And you don’t care if anyone sees you either, because all you care about are those pills. And that’s how it is minute by minute. Hour by hour. Day by day. So no, Maddie, I wouldn’t say at this stage it’s a choice. Not one I would choose anyway… But I am sorry. Sorry I did this to you. To Cora. Just don’t stop believing in me. Please.’

  Before Maddie could reply, a roar like the Rocky Mountain cougar came from the Onyx hallway, crescendoing to a bellow until Dax Granger appeared. Ruffled shirt. Immaculately pressed pants. He stood in the doorway of the main office. Face like a crumpled dollar bill.

  ‘Get out!’


  ‘Granger, listen…’

  ‘I said get out, Cooper, or I’ll throw you out. Failing that, I’ll go and get Rosedale to do it for me.’

  ‘Hear me out, okay?’

  ‘Hear you out? That stuff has rotted your brain more than I thought. I don’t want to listen to another word you’ve got to say. You’re full of crap, Cooper. You’re finished. You understand? Now go.’

  ‘Not till you listen to me. You owe me that.’ Cooper said.

  ‘I owe you jack shit. This is my business! My reputation! And you want to ruin it like you ruin everything. And God it’s a long list. Your marriage. Your kid. Any relationship you’ve ever had you ruin. If Ellie had stayed away from you she would’ve been alive today. She would’ve been here with me and her Momma.’

  Staggering back, Cooper shook his head. ‘That’s not fair. I loved her. She was my everything.’

  Maddie flinched at Cooper’s words as Granger shouted back.

  ‘She wasn’t yours, Cooper! She wasn’t yours to take from me!’

  The blow to Cooper’s chin from Granger’s clenched fist, he accepted gratefully and without a fight. Wanting the pain to be anywhere but in his heart or in his head.

  ‘Now get out, Cooper.’

  Scrambling up, Cooper spat the mouthful of blood onto the sand tiled floor.

  ‘Okay, I’ll go, but answer me one question… What was sensitive, Granger?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You said this job was sensitive. What aren’t you telling us? Because something just doesn’t cut it.’

  ‘It’s you who doesn’t cut it. You’re a mess!’ Granger said.

  ‘That I know. I don’t deny that. But you. I know you, Granger, and I know when something feels wrong.’

  ‘I said get out, Cooper, and I won’t tell you again.’

  Granger began to drag a submissive Cooper by his jean jacket. Pushing him. Shoving him. Thrusting him towards the door.

  ‘Granger, don’t.’

  ‘Keep the hell out of it, Maddie.’

  Rosedale, who’d just stepped into the Onyx kitchen, turned to his boss. ‘Watch your mouth, Granger.’