Chapter 51
CHAPTER
AFTER AN ALL-NIGHT DRIVE THAT had crossed state lines, Shock finally pulled to a stop in the late afternoon of the next day.
“Okay, we’re finally here.”
Nash slipped into the passenger seat from the back, and looked out at the metal security gate that looked like it could withstand the charge of an Abrams tank. “Where are we?”
“At my trainin’ center.”
Shock hit a button on a remote attached to the sun visor, and the big gate slid back with a whisper of hydraulics. He pulled through the opening, and the gate automatically closed behind them.
Nash looked up at twin two-story buildings connected by a long enclosed passage on the upper floor. “How long have you had this?”
“Nearly thirty years. Been addin’ to it as needed.”
“Really impressive, Shock.”
“Your dad would come up here and help me train the folks in hand-to-hand combat and weaponry. He could still hit the bullseye nine times out of ten well into his sixties. Natural marksman.”
“No surprise there.”
They climbed out of the van. Shock unlocked the main door, and they went inside.
“But is it secure? I mean, might they be able to find out about this place?” Nash asked.
“All anybody knows is you and your daddy weren’t close. And why would anybody think I’d be helpin’ your ass out after the church crap? But if shit does happen I got cameras all ’round here and some special surprises for folks just droppin’ in.”
“Okay. But I called you on your phone. They can get the phone logs.”
“That phone number ain’t in my name. It’s untraceable, in fact. In my business, you got to take precautions. It’s why I gave you that number in the first place. Never know how things will shake out.”
“Right. I’m sure.”
“Now, livin’ quarters are in this wing. Sort of college dorm setups, but you got your own bath. There’s a big kitchen, TV room, pool, ping pong, relaxation stuff, even hot and ice tubs because the work here gets people pretty sore. The other buildin’ is all the trainin’ facility.”
“You have other people here now?” Nash said anxiously.
“Wouldn’t have brought you if there were, Walter. And like I said before, I’m windin’ things down. I’ve made enough money to retire comfortably.”
“Then you don’t need me blowing those plans up, Shock.”
“I’ve made my decision.”
“Okay, if you’re sure. And I have about ten thousand in cash I brought with me.”
Shock cracked a smile. “Good man. Still have places that take the green.”
“I can check my emails and texts and phone messages if you’ve got a phone I can use. I’ve got all my account info and passwords memorized.”
Shock was already shaking his head. “I can get you a burner phone, but the technology they got these days? You access any of your accounts even from a burner they can use that as a toehold to find you.”
“What about my contact at the FBI? He gave me a secure app to use. I can download it on the burner. That should be safe.”
“Let me think on that. Right now all the badges are potential enemies for us, okay?”
“I defer to your expertise, certainly.”
He led Nash to his quarters, where Nash dropped off his personal items. He took out the gun and knife and placed them in a secure receptacle that Shock showed him how to access.
“So what’s going to happen now?” asked Nash.
“We lie low. We see what the landscape looks like. We gather intel and then base our decisions and actions on that.”
“Sounds like your Army training talking.”
“It’s applicable to a lot of things in civilian life, too.”
“I suppose they have some APB out on me.”
“Hell, Walter, don’t sell yourself short, son. You are one of the most wanted fucken dudes in America right now.”
“I don’t really care what happens to me. I just want to get Maggie back.”
Shock wouldn’t look him in the eye and it slowly dawned on Nash.
“They… they can’t let her go now, because she would tell everyone that what she said was a lie. She’s probably already—”
“Look, I can’t tell you one way or another for certain, but the probabilities do lie there. I will never sugarcoat things, Walter, I told you that before. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”
Nash slumped back against the wall. “This is all my fault.”
“No, this is Victoria Steers’s fault and the dudes you work for. You and Maggie were just collateral damage.”
“If they hurt Maggie, or…” He glanced up at Shock. “I will kill them. All of them. Can you… teach me… how to do that?”
“Whoa, now, I think you gettin’ way ahead of yourself.”
Nash persisted. “Will you, if it comes to it, Shock? Because I’ve got nobody else to turn to. Nobody.”
“Walter, you’re a good man with all the best intentions.
But you are a normal man who ain’t never seen the part of the world you’re askin’ me to dump you in.
It’s not a good place, for nobody. Even dudes who got all the skills in the world, mean and cruel as shit, belly fire that never goes out?
They get eaten alive there every minute of every day by people like Victoria Steers, just how it is. ”
Nash just stood there and stared at him. “Please, Isaiah.”
Shock’s large brown eyes gleamed. “Okay, Walter, if it comes to it, I will teach you how.”