by Matt Rogers
Caught up in the underworld, then caught in the crossfire. It was a hell of a headline.
The SFPD’s investigation was pending.
Alexis knew it would end up dead in the water.
That usually happened when everyone involved had been killed.
There’d been no mention by the police or the media of anyone resembling Alexis, or King, or Slater. So they’d managed to kickstart the implosion of Heidi Waters, then get out of there scot-free. Apart from Tyrell, asking incessantly for details when he read in the news about what happened in California, there’d been nothing to connect them to the chaos for the last two months.
Life went on.
Business as usual.
Training, improving, staying diligent.
For times like these.
A knock sounded at the bedroom door. She jumped at the sound, instinctively reaching for the holster at her waist. Then she registered the familiar pattern and said, ‘Yeah?’
Tyrell came in. You couldn’t tell he’d survived a kidnapping attempt an hour earlier. He was still rattled, sure, but there was composure in his eyes that belied his age. He’d been through more than a boy should ever have to. Thirteen, with his whole life ahead of him, and he’d already seen far too much of the wrong side of humanity.
She crossed to the doorway, gripped him by the shoulders. ‘It’ll be fine. Will’s going to deal with it.’
He nodded, but seemed unconvinced.
She said, ‘You doubt him?’
He shook his head.
He said, ‘Are we goin’ to that place in Back Bay that Will mentioned a while back? The safe house?’
‘Yeah, we are. You and Junior. And me and Violetta. She and I will keep you safe. Trust me.’
‘I do.’
She could sense so many unanswered questions lingering in the air.
Before she could speak, Tyrell said, ‘Who were those guys? What … what were they gonna do to me?’
‘I don’t know.’ She sighed, shook her head. ‘Will and Jason are going to figure it out.’
‘I … I wanna know. Even if you think it ain’t suitable for me to know, or whatever. I don’t wanna be kept in the dark. I almost got grabbed…’
She wrapped him in a hug. ‘I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve this.’
‘Nah,’ he said, returning the hug then stepping back. ‘It’s like I told Will when I first said I’d live with him. If this shit happens, it ain’t a big deal. At least people hate him ’cause he doin’ the right thing. More people hated my real dad. Trust me. Kidnappin’ attempts were the least of it. But that was ’cause Dad was a lyin’, thievin’, backstabbin’ piece of shit. Will’s a good person and he’s never not done the right thing. So, like, what do I care if people don’t like him? That ain’t gonna scare me. Anyone who don’t like Will is just as much a piece of shit as my dad.’
Alexis nodded slowly.
Tyrell said, ‘Will’s my dad. Not that other guy.’
‘If that’s the way you want it to be.’
‘Yeah. It is. So you my mom.’
‘I love you,’ she said. ‘But right now your mom’s telling you to pack your shit. We’ve got to go, now.’
Tyrell nodded and ran back to his room.
Tyres squealed as a big car roared up the driveway.
Alexis hoped like hell it was King.
15
Downstairs, Slater heard their muffled conversation.
He didn’t bother eavesdropping. There were more pressing matters at hand.
He’d stayed back while King raced toward Ingleside Park for a reason.
He entered a string of code into the desktop computer the way Alonzo had taught him, and moments later the hard drive was wiped, along with anything that could ever be traced to the world Slater had once inhabited. He was connected to a number of secret databases and black hat programs — a hobby Alonzo had helped him with in his downtime — but discovery of anything of the sort in his possession would be disastrous. There was no way of knowing if this threat was connected to the government or the secret world, so to be safe, it all had to disappear. Alonzo would be able to retrieve it down the line, if this all turned out to be a false alarm.
But there was no point hoping for that.
Contingencies were his best bet.
He also wiped a pair of laptops he used for similar purposes, and cleared the study of all the burner phones in his possession, throwing them into a bag.
Then he heard the heavy vehicle pull into the driveway.
He came down the stairs at the same time as Alexis emerged from the master bedroom with the bags already packed. They looked at each other, and the shared glance said, It’s probably King, but better safe than sorry.
She pulled the Glock pistol from her holster and handed it over.
He kissed her on the cheek and made for the front door.
It opened in his face.
Violetta came in holding Junior.
King followed a few steps behind.
They converged in the entranceway and took a collective breath.
Slater said, ‘No trouble?’
It was only then, after he’d already asked the question, that he noticed the stress seeping from Violetta’s pores. Even King seemed a touch rattled, which was unlike him, but Slater figured he’d never had to deal with his kid being in the mix.
Welcome to the party. It’s scarier than you think.
Violetta tried to keep her voice measured so as not to disturb Junior, who’d nodded off, cheek resting against her shoulder. ‘There was trouble. Two guys came up to the three of us.’
Alexis interrupted. ‘The three of who?’
‘Me, Bill, Alice.’
Slater said, ‘Oh, shit.’
King said, ‘It’s okay. Bill already knows.’
Slater said, ‘Alice didn’t. It’s spreading like wildfire.’ He jabbed a finger at King’s face. ‘This is why you don’t make civilian friends.’
King eyed him coldly. ‘What, you got all these non-civilian friends I don’t know about?’
He didn’t say it, but his tone added the words: you loner.
At times of highest tension, all the character traits that usually went undiscussed came to the forefront. Slater had accepted King’s friendship with the Dunfields without a word, because the risks were too obvious to bother voicing. King had likewise never opened up to Slater about why he’d grown close to Bill. They both understood they were wired differently at a fundamental level — Slater was far more comfortable with solitude. That wasn’t to say King struggled with it — a career as a solo operator had forced him to embrace the nature of the lone wolf — but he wasn’t as paranoid about getting close to people who had nothing to do with the world they used to inhabit. Now, as far as Slater was concerned, it had come back round to bite him.
Slater said, ‘No. And now you know why.’
‘Who says the Dunfields are in danger?’ King said. ‘It’s a contingency plan for them to bunker down for a bit. It doesn’t mean they’re threatened. These people, whoever they are…they want us. Not them.’
Slater said, ‘Says who? You’re just throwing empty words out there. You don’t know anything for sure.’
‘You’re right,’ King said. ‘But don’t use this as an argument not to have friends.’
‘Why the hell wouldn’t I?’
King glanced over his shoulder to check if Tyrell was in earshot, and Slater knew immediately what was coming.
King muttered, ‘Because we both accepted the risks of bringing kids into this life. We’ — a gesture to Violetta — ‘brought ours into the world, and you’ — a gesture to Slater and Alexis — ‘found yours. Doesn’t make a difference either way, because the end result is the same. We ignored the fact that our lives are filled with violence and chaos and danger. And I think we all silently agreed to do that because we each figured we had a bunch of life lessons we’d learned through the struggle, lessons to hand down. Am I wrong?’
>
Slater thought about that first moment when he realised he wanted to raise Tyrell, despite the danger.
He thought about it long and hard, then said, ‘You’re not wrong.’
‘Bill knew the risks of a friendship with me,’ King said. ‘Alice didn’t. If anyone’s been wronged, it’s her. But we’re going to do fucking anything to make sure she doesn’t get in harm’s way. Same with them.’ He pointed at his son on Violetta’s arm, and then jabbed a finger over his shoulder in the direction of Tyrell’s room.
Right then, Tyrell appeared.
Bag packed, slung over one shoulder.
Slater said, ‘You hear any of that?’
‘Any of what?’ Tyrell said.
He was being genuine. Slater could tell immediately. And Slater realised it didn’t make a difference, because Tyrell’s answer would be the same.
I don’t care about the risks, he’d say. Anywhere’s better than where I came from.
And maybe so, Slater thought. But just because it’s better, doesn’t mean it’s right.
He grappled with all of this as Alexis said, ‘Alright. Women, children, with me.’ She glanced at Slater as she headed for the door. ‘It’s like the Titanic.’
That got a laugh out of both Slater and King, despite the circumstances.
On the way past, Violetta stood on her tiptoes and kissed King on the lips. When they parted, he bent down and kissed his son on the forehead.
Junior reached out with a pawing hand and ran his fingers along King’s eyebrow, absent-minded and playful.
Violetta whispered, ‘Dad’s going to work,’ in her son’s ear. Then, to King, she said, ‘Do what you gotta do.’
She walked out.
Slater made eye contact with Tyrell at the door.
Tyrell said, ‘Remember what they tried to do, man.’
‘Yeah,’ Slater said, voice like subdued thunder. ‘I’ll remember.’
Alexis went out last and closed the door behind her, sealing King and Slater in the house.
Only the pair of them, and the simmering prospect of war.
Just like old times.
16
The house didn’t so much as creak.
It was nothing but warm quiet as the sun disappeared, dark blue beginning to swallow the orange.
King and Slater stood motionless, listening to the sound of the car’s engine receding into the distance. Making sure all the people in the world they loved made their escape.
King said, ‘If they get hit on the way there…’
‘They won’t,’ Slater reassured. ‘And on the off-chance they do, Alexis is armed. One of those bags she took out is all guns. We know what she can do now.’
‘Yes, we do.’
Alexis had pined for independence in San Francisco, requesting that she be left alone to try and handle Heidi Waters herself. In the process she’d killed half a dozen Russian hitmen, and even fired the kill shot that put Heidi in the grave. It had completed her transformation into a bonafide professional. Obviously she wasn’t close to King and Slater’s level of experience, which is why she’d been tasked with protecting the rest of their gang, but she could more than hold her own.
King said, ‘Who do you think these guys are?’
Slater said, ‘You hear that?’
King didn’t budge. Listened hard. Nothing. He said, ‘No.’
‘Exactly. It’s been at least an hour, maybe more. There’s been nothing. They knew Tyrell’s route home from school, and the loop that Violetta takes through Ingleside Park. They knew what times each of them would be there. So there’s no way they don’t know where we live.’
King started, ‘So why—?’
‘They’re licking their wounds. They really thought it would work. A targeted, coordinated strike on a loved one, for each of us. They wanted to take Tyrell alive and I assume the same goes for Violetta.’
‘Yeah,’ King said. ‘She didn’t give you details just before, but she told me on the way here. They were brothers, she thought. Maybe twins, but one looked older. Older guy had brown eyes, younger blue. Both with mid-length hair, swept back. Similar build — medium height, slim, strong. They were all smiles, pretending to be polite, but I think that was only for the sake of witnesses. They knew Violetta’s name. They asked her to step away from Bill and Alice and Junior. Go somewhere where they could “talk.” Then Bill just swung on the older guy. Probably broke his jaw. A huge haymaker, she said. She disarmed the other guy and they walked away.’
Slater said, ‘She didn’t shoot.’
‘Didn’t want to.’
Slater understood, what with the kid there and all. He focused on what King had said about Bill. ‘Sounds like you choose your friends wisely after all.’
King hesitated. ‘I didn’t think he had that in him. The way she told it…he just went for it. Threw all caution to the wind and swung for the bleachers.’
‘What’s that quote?’ Slater said. ‘“Many men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Sounds like for a moment he rid himself of all the invisible rules, did something he thought was right.’
‘I’ve been giving him boxing lessons.’
‘I know. You told me.’
‘I think he picked up more than punching technique from being around me.’
‘Remember California?’ Slater said. ‘You called me wanting to help me with my hit list after you gave Bill his first lesson. It gave you that itch for combat, just holding pads for the guy. You mightn’t have even realised it, but I’m sure you’ve passed along your life philosophy. If you got the itch from training him, you would’ve shown him far more than just how to turn your hips into a punch.’
‘He put his life on the line for Violetta,’ King said, ‘without thinking twice about it.’
‘From the sounds of things, Violetta didn’t need it.’
‘Maybe not. Or maybe she did. We won’t know. I’m just grateful he was there.’
‘Bill Dunfield,’ Slater said, testing the name. ‘Sounds like a future operative to me.’
King rolled his eyes. ‘He threw a Hail Mary punch. Don’t get too ahead of yourself. And what was all that before about making idiot civilian friends?’
‘That’s not what I said.’
‘But it’s what you meant.’
Slater shrugged, conceding. ‘Fine. I’ll be sure to befriend the next person I see at Walmart, teach them to swing haymakers in the park.’
They both smiled. The banter was playful again, not scathing. Order was restored. Which meant they could get to work.
Circling back, King said, ‘So you think they’re amateurs?’
‘No. There’s five of them that we know of, and they were coordinated. And from what Tyrell and Violetta told us, they blended into the urban sprawl like chameleons. Tyrell said the blonde guy put on a face, made himself seem like a good-natured civilian, even when he was instructing Tyrell to get in the van. And it sounds like the guys at the park were following the same memo. Which means they can keep cool heads. So at the very least they’re pros.’
‘So what was your point about them not coming after us yet?’
‘I don’t think they’ve got connections,’ Slater said. ‘I think it’s just them. Maybe just the five, or one or two more. If they had any sort of backing there’d be mercenaries or paramilitary crashing the front door down, but there isn’t. They’re out there somewhere, getting ready for another try. They’re scheming away on their own.’
King said, ‘That’s worse.’
‘I know it is.’
‘It means there’s rage involved. This is personal, private.’ A pause. ‘Vengeful.’
Slater said, ‘I think so too.’
‘Maybe that’s why they went after our families. They want to make this personal, make us slip up, make mistakes.’
Slater’s eyes were ice. ‘I don’t care.’
The words hung in the air. He stood still, fists softly clenching and unclenching, bristling with tension. It didn’t matt
er if the kidnappers had connections. He’d take on an army if they threatened his family.
King said, ‘So I take it you want to play offence?’
‘I do.’
King sighed. ‘Call Alonzo.’
17
In a laneway behind a 24/7 pizza joint, two figures crouched in shadow.
One man touched a hand to the other’s chin, who reflexively lurched away, grunting in pain. Even draped in darkness, his swollen jaw was visible, silhouetted against the brick wall.
The first man said, ‘We have to go back.’
The guy with the inflamed face mumbled, ‘They botched it, too. They didn’t get the kid. But they’ll punish us and ignore their own failures. You know it.’
‘So what? You talking like we got other options.’
The puffy jaw twitched as the man stared. His voice came out garbled. ‘You don’t think so?’
‘I think if we did, we woulda bailed on this shit a long time ago. You know it, I know it. We’re here now and we’re not gonna walk away.’
‘I wasn’t saying that…’
‘If we don’t go back, then we’re walking away. That’s how it works.’
‘I just need time. I ain’t ready to be punished.’
‘It ain’t about how ready you are. We got it coming either way. We couldn’t even snatch a woman. Shit, look at us.’