14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Murphy and the others were sitting in the same seats they were during the last meeting. Liam stood, though, and paced as he spoke, hoping Hippy, who was the weapons man reportedly, wouldn’t shoot him.
“I get this is going to freak everyone out. It did me. I was scared and pissed off so bad, I can’t even tell you, but if this is true, if we had an ally for this…”
“What, Cosmo? Spit it out, dude,” Haze told him, and the others all nodded in agreement.
Liam stopped and set his hands on the back of the chair he couldn’t bring himself to settle in. “There’s a fed. He knows about you guys, and knows I just joined you.”
He expected shock and fear, but some guys, like Abs and Mims, simply laughed.
Murphy explained, “We know the feds know about us, Cosmo. It’s pretty obvious.”
Finally taking his seat, he asked, “You’re not scared?”
“I told you we had a backup plan. What more do you want?”
“The fed…he was my date. He was supposed to go undercover to bust me and get to you. He couldn’t do it because…because he likes me.”
The staring at that moment was incredible. All eyes were on him, and it took Eazy to clear his throat and said, “Um, excuse me?” for them all to change their shocked expressions.
“Honey,” Tally said, her voice a rasp. “You didn’t confess these things, right?”
“Of course not! I’m not stupid. I don’t automatically believe a guy because he’s hot! I put him through hell, and I fucked him on top of it to throw a little wrench in.”
“You fucked him?” Abs asked with a squeal. “Are you serious? Before or after you knew?”
“After. I’m gonna use it against him if he’s not being square with us.”
“Oh, come on,” Goldie hollered as he laughed. “You’re not falling for that shit, right?”
As angry as he was getting, he realized they were now in the place he’d been earlier that very day. “No. I’m not,” he said with his voice surprisingly steady. “I didn’t reveal a thing to him. I listened to him, though, and he sounds sincere. I am in no position, or would I assume to make up your minds on that.”
“So? What are we meeting about, then?” Murphy demanded as his face and ears reddened.
Eazy laid his hand on Murphy’s arm and said, “Honey, wait a minute. He’s getting there.”
“He’s waiting in a park for us to meet him there. We can take him anywhere we like, and he can start answering some questions.”
“Oh, sure, we’ll walk in there and have handcuffs slapped on our wrists,” Hippy said.
“He could do that now, if he had enough on you all, and if he wanted to,” Liam reminded them. “They suspect you, which is why he was going undercover to get in with me. The feds figured they’d come at me, being on parole, that I’d be scared enough of going back inside to drop the dime on all of you. I’m here to tell you, again, that’s not me.”
Abs jumped to defend him. “I don’t doubt you, Cosmo, and neither should anyone else.”
Murphy held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, whatever, but that still leaves the fed waiting for us. Are we going?”
“No, Connor Murphy, you’re going,” Tally said with her chin raised. “You took responsibility for these boys. Now you hold up your side of the bargain.”
All eyes suddenly landed on Murphy, and he grumbled, “Fine.” He turned to his husband and said, “Get the bags for the kids ready. Just in case.” To the others, he said the same. “You all know what to do.”
Abs told Liam, “I’ll help you. I’ll get Daiq ready and pack you some things. Just in case.”
He wanted to deny him that, but he was worried too. “Thanks, Abs. Watch over Daiq for me too. I haven’t been home almost since I got him.”
“Like that’s a big favor or something. I love him already.”
“Tell him I’ll be back in the morning.”
Murphy stopped him and said, “Morning?”
“Yeah. I have an errand after our little meeting.”
“You’re making me nervous, you fuck head.”
Liam only smiled.
Murphy drove them and when they arrived at the park, he circled it four times before he parked. “I don’t see anyone.”
“I might just be…out of touch from being inside, but I believe him,” Liam admitted reluctantly.
“I’ve seen a lot of guys coming out of prison. Being too trusting was never a thing for any of them. Quite the opposite.”
They got out of the vehicle and started up the little slope to the picnic table where Taran sat alone. Sitting across from him, Taran held out his hand to Murphy, who smiled sardonically and asked, “Are you kidding me?”
He placed his hand on the table and said, “Sorry. I understand you not trusting me.”
“Why the fuck should I?”
“You shouldn’t. You’d be a fool to. I don’t expect your trust until I pass whatever tests you have to give me. But know this. I worked hard to get to where I am. I dreamed of being an agent. I am chancing throwing it all away because I can’t stand the thought of busting people that don’t deserve it.”
Murphy dropped his head while he laughed dryly. “Yeah, well, that’s pretty talk.”
“I know. My partner, he…he complained a lot the first month we were put together. He hated the laws that kept us from just rushing into a house and busting people who deserved it. The law isn’t always right. In fact, it rarely is. For the most part, rich men made the laws to combat the poor. To keep them separate and better than those that covet what they have. Theft, sure, it’s a pure concern, but when you have nothing and someone has too much, it’s also human nature. It’s animal instinct to steal. When it’s wrong is when the rich steal from the poor, and most laws set it up for exactly that.”
Murphy was staring at him in disbelief, but Liam saw the man’s eyes. He was being won over by Taran, too. It wouldn’t be that easy, of course. “More pretty words.”
Liam said, “I told you it will not make us confess to things that we may or may not have done, Taran.”
“Good.” He reached for something on the bench next to him and pulled up a stack of manilla folders as thick as Liam’s meaty biceps. “This is what we have on you and your crew. It’s all circumstantial for now, but it’s only going to take a little more surveillance to bust you. My partner and I don’t want you. We want the other crews who do a hell of a lot worse. We want the guys that are plenty rich that go after the poor. We want the guys that prostitute young girls and boys, dragging them all over the city, the state, and the country. There are real bad guys out there, Murphy, and they hate you because you all are good, and you don’t have to resort to human or drug trafficking. You don’t hurt marginalized people. We can help each other.”
“Your partner, he’s in on this?”
Liam waited and Taran nodded slowly. “He’s not completely sure, but he’s tired of going through the correct channels that all the worst of the criminals know to avoid. It’s…getting harder and harder to catch the real scumbags. They’ve got a lot of money, and…you know that gives a lot of power.”
“I do. It’s why I want more of it. I have two little kids with a black father. You don’t think it keeps me up at night, thinking of them as teenagers, as adults in this fucking country?”
Taran didn’t flinch. He looked Murphy dead in the eye. “I, personally, am not after the money part of this. I have money. What I don’t have is a clean conscience.”
“And you can’t possibly clean it with good police work?”
Liam answered for him. “I doubt that would clean anyone’s conscience.”
Taran looked over at him with gratitude. “Thanks. It’s how I feel.” He turned his attention back to Murphy and whispered, “I romanticized it, being a federal agent, getting the criminals off the streets. When I discovered the real criminals were the ones in the offices, giving me my assignments and the ones making the laws they themselves don’t follow. Right for thee is not for me people.”
Murphy nodded and said, “Okay, then.” Murphy turned to Liam and said, “Take him with you on your errand tonight.”
Liam hadn’t said what the errand was, but Murphy had guessed it was stealing the cars Murphy had asked for. “So, your hands are clean.”
“You brought him in,” Murphy said. “I’m not blaming you, but you will be responsible for him and his partner. We get busted by these men, and…well, you can forget us helping you.”
Murphy grabbed the folders and left them. Just like that.
Liam looked at Taran. “If anything happens to his family, I will hurt you. I don’t care what happens to me after that. I may not care to be in a family, but I appreciate those that are good, solid, loving families, and they are.”
“I’ve seen that too. It’s like that old Christmas movie with the island of misfit toys. He collected misfits. I get it, Liam.”
“Call me Cosmo,” he said, and for the first time, he felt like the name was truly his.
“Okay, Cosmo. What’s next?”
His lips spread into a slick smile as he said, “We’re going to commit grand theft auto twice. That’s it.”
“That’s all, huh? Okay, I guess, let’s go.”
They left the park together, and Liam told Taran where to go. He took direction well, though he was scanning the streets with his eyes as he drove. Liam knew exactly what he was looking for.
Cops.
Cops, in general, didn’t do well in prison, and he was a special cop. Sure, they’re told no one will know, but in his experience, the cons always find out when a cop is in their midst.
He drove to a parking garage that wasn’t hosted by a guard of any kind. He knew it well. Those few cons inside that were there for the same thing he was. Well, they talked…a lot. Too much, really. But there was little more to do in prison than workout, talk, and read.
Sure enough, even the few cameras around were hanging off the walls, but with it being near downtown, there were still plenty of cars around to boost.
He parked on the third level, in the middle of two suburbans to flank him nicely. Taran chuckled nervously. “You don’t have gloves or anything.”
“Why do I need gloves?”
“Fingerprints?”
It was so cute that Liam leaned over and kissed Taran tenderly. “You’re adorable. If I pull this off, the car will be in my hands.”
“Oh. Right.”
Then he started looking around for cameras. Again, Liam calmed him. “Most are broken in here. That’s why this place is, one, cheap to rent, and two, too cheap to hire security. Cons talk.”
“And you were just in prison…got it. Wow.”
“Yeah. You don’t have to do this. I am pissed off at and mistrusting of you, but I don’t want to ruin your life.”
Taran’s eyes suddenly filled with tears as he admitted, “I’m more scared than I’ve ever been in my life, but…but it’s weird…”
“You’re also excited.”
“Yeah! Exactly!”
Liam opened the door of the car, but before he got out, he said, “If you come with me today, follow behind. If you stay here, be ready to follow me in the car. I’m taking this first one to a drop point and coming back for a second one. If it gets too much, don’t follow me. I can use a rideshare.”
“A rideshare to and from a fucking auto theft?”
“Yeah! It’s actually smart. Keeps guys like you guessing.”
Liam got out of the car and went right to the Cadillac Escalade parked in the darkest corner of the garage level. The camera hung pitifully from the last intact wire and the passenger side window on the Escalade was cracked open just a bit.
Taran was so close behind him that when he spoke, Liam jumped like he’d stepped on a snake. “Escalades have massive GPS.”
“Yeah,” he said as he caught his breath. “I know. Not so close and keep an eye out.”
Liam went around to the driver’s side back door, and it opened easily. He smiled as he saw the bag in the back, right where Gary Turner, AKA Big Mouth, said it would be. “It’s a place for thieves, basically. We get the stuff here and leave,” he started as he pulled out his wallet and took a hundred-dollar bill from it. “Money.”
After taking the bag and leaving the money, he closed the door and led Taran back to the car. Inside the car, he said, “It was set up to give us the tools we need in a pinch. I don’t have a tool bag of my own yet.”
“There’s a…network?”
“Yeah. Gonna bust them?”
“I already said no, Cosmo.”
“I already said you have a lot to prove, Taran.” As Taran’s eyes clouded, Liam said, “And that broken camera isn’t really broken.”
Taran’s head shot up and he stared at the camera. “It’s not facing anything and there’s only one wire connecting it.”
“Yeah, right? Good setup. The camera is actually pointed right where it needs to be.”
He took a long breath and nodded his head in a jerk. “In for a penny, in for a pound.”
“You talk like you’re ninety.”
They left the parking space and the garage all together, causing more questions from Taran. “That place is like perfect!”
“It’s also run by the Algerian Mafia. They protect all the cars in there or they’re up for grabs from them. This tool kit is how they make some pocket change on the side, and why there is a camera there, so they know who to go after if someone takes the shit and doesn’t leave payment.”
“What if someone just steals the car?”
Liam sighed and said, “There’s only three trustworthy places in Denver to fence a car. They own two of them. They’re decent enough guys, looking out for their own people, like the mob of the old days. I’m not telling you this, if you’re thinking of going after them.”
“Grand theft is a city and county thing unless they’re running them out of state.”
“Nah, they part them out, mostly. Too risky to steal cars in the middle of the country, landlocked, and try to ship them overseas or down south. It happens, but it’s risky as fuck. The parts, though, all together bring in as much as the cars. Brand-new cars devalue as soon as they’re driven off the lot, but the parts are precious. A transmission for a Ferrari is like ten grand or was when I went inside. You get the car, disable the GPS first, the alarm, of course, and then you’re golden. Part that bitch out, and you have enough to buy another regular car free and clear, or you find cars that will fit the parts nicely inside, and you send them overseas, and someone on that end takes the cars apart and puts one back together. It’s pretty great.”
“Great…I didn’t know it was so…complicated.”
“You’re a fed!”
“I don’t specialize in car theft.”
“Oh, so you’re like some pediatrist and can’t deliver a baby if the need arises.”
Taran was laughing and finally admitted, “Okay, maybe I know a little about a lot of things and only a lot about certain things. I can admit that. Can you?”
“I never said differently.”
“You’re frustrating, Liam.”
“I told you. Call me Cosmo.”
Taran reached for the bag and Liam put his hand over it. “You’ll see soon enough.”
“Are you making me do it?”
“Scared? Those fed lawyers heavily on your mind?”
“No, Liam…Cosmo. No, I’m not worried about them.”
Liam looked over at him quickly, and thought he saw sincerity, but in prison, there was a lot of sincerity without the actions to go along with. “Okay. No, we need to do this fast, so I’m not making you do it, but I might just tell someone you blackmailed me into it. I’ll get all over the news and scream about how the fed pushed me to commit a crime to use it against me.”
“You’re doing that to me!”
“Not the way I’ll tell it.”
Pulling into a parking lot on the Northside of the city, a discount store a couple hundred feet away, Taran pointed again to the cameras. “You’re about to get caught.”
“Let me explain the real world to you, Taran. See those cameras? They’re live, no tape. Recording costs money. So, they have a security guard sitting in front of them. He’s making minimum wage and couldn’t give two fucks who steals what in the parking lot. If he’s paying attention at all, and that is a big if, he’s watching the aisles inside the store for loss prevention. Go inside and steal. You will more likely get busted a thousand times more than stealing one car in the lot.”
The way Taran was staring at him, Liam felt terrible that all of it was so shocking to him.
“You thought the world was so fair. Criminals bad. Everyone else is inherently good. I’m sorry to be the one that tells you differently.”
“I know you’re good, and you’re a criminal.”
“Now you’re getting it. Most people are criminals.”
“I get that now.”
The parking lot wasn’t full by any means, and Liam knew he was taking a chance, but he was with a fed. Maybe that emboldened him. Or maybe he was just itching to prove a point.
Either way, he got out of the car, bag in hand, and winked at Taran. “Come on, baby. Let’s steal this car.”