Chapter 68 #2
“Now let me tell you one more thing, and it’s important. Real important.”
Nash looked at the man, all attention.
“I trained you as best I could in the time I had. You can take out ninety-nine and nine-tenths of the guys out there, Walter, and I’m not exaggeratin’ ’cause that shit don’t help nobody.
But the one-tenth? They will be a problem for you.
And the one-tenth is what somebody like Victoria Steers will be bringin’ to the party.
So here’s what you got to do when you got them comin’ at you.
” Shock paused, no doubt for emphasis. “You got to use everythin’ at your disposal, Walter.
Anythin’ you can reach that can be a weapon, you go for it.
And here’s the other thing: Some of these dudes are, well, for want of a better term, honorable warriors.
They conduct themselves a certain way even when they tryin’ to kill you. ”
“How does that help me, knowing that?” said Nash.
“Here’s how. The last thing you want to be is honorable.
No bowin’ and shit like that. No quarter.
It might give you the second you need to walk away.
So what I’m tellin’ you, Walter, is to cheat your ass off to win.
Ain’t nobody gonna hold it against you. You hear me?
You do what you got to do and to hell with everythin’ else. Promise me?”
Struck by the man’s heartfelt tone and intensity, and his voice full of emotion, he said, “I promise, Shock.”
“Now, there’s somethin’ else you need to consider. It ain’t nothing physical. It’s up here,” he added, touching his temple.
“I’ve worked on my mind sets, observation, and situational awareness, and I lost my humanity when I found out Maggie was dead. I can kill someone, Shock, trust me.”
“Ain’t talkin’ ’bout that.” Shock looked at him so intently Nash’s pulse quickened.
“Thing is, you never know when you might get snatched,” he said.
“And Steers won’t be messin’ ’round if she the one doin’ the snatchin’.
That woman will torture your ass like it ain’t nothin’.
And when it comes to torture, ain’t nobody got nothin’ on them muthers. ”
“So what can I do about that?” asked Nash. “I can’t necessarily stop it.”
“No, but you can prepare for it, choose how you want to handle it, react to it.”
“How?” asked Nash curiously.
“Your daddy was held as a POW by the North Vietnamese for two months. Did you know that?”
Nash shook his head in surprise. “No, I didn’t. He never said.”
“Yeah, well, Ty don’t like to talk ’bout shit where he thinks he failed. But he didn’t fail. It was just bad timin’. Anyway, after he escaped he told me how he’d hung in there when they was torturin’ him.”
“How?”
“When we was growin’ up in Mississippi, your daddy found this big, old horse roamin’ his parents’ farm.
Nobody knew where that damn critter come from.
Now your daddy, he was maybe fifteen, he took ownership of that horse, feedin’ it and groomin’ it and fixin’ up an old shack on the back of his parents’ property like a stable.
He would ride that thing bareback for miles and miles.
Or sometimes I’d see ’em walkin’ together ’cross the fields.
Your daddy seemed to be talkin’ to that creature and it seemed to be talkin’ back.
I was with your daddy pretty much every day back then.
And so was that there horse. He named him Sunshine, ’cause your daddy say whenever he was with that horse the sun was shinin’ on him no matter if it was rainin’ or thunderin’ or whatnot.
So when your daddy was a POW and they were doin’ shit to him, he told me he’d close his eyes and make his mind believe he was ridin’ Sunshine ’cross those fields back in Mississippi.
And no matter what them muthers did to him, he didn’t break, didn’t even really notice.
’Cause he was with Sunshine. He told me that.
And then he got loose, killed all his guards, and hightailed it back to our side. ”
“What happened to Sunshine?” asked Nash.
Shock shook his head sadly. “Your daddy joined the Army and I went off to college. When we both come back on leave his momma told him Sunshine got out and was hit by a truck. Had to shoot the thing, put it out of its misery. Your big, strong daddy cried for a week. Nobody’s fault, just happened.
Hell, I think Sunshine was out lookin’ for your daddy.
I tell you this, Walter, so you can find your Sunshine, ’cause maybe you gonna need it one day. ”
Nash thanked him, then did the last thing he needed to do before leaving. He got some soap and water and massaged his finger, lubricating it thoroughly. And then, with Shock’s help, he tugged and pulled until he got it free.
Then Nash handed his wedding band to Shock.
“It’ll be here waitin’ for you, Walter.”
As Nash had started to leave, Shock said, “One last thing.”
Nash turned back. “Yeah?”
“I’m proud of you, Walter Nash. No lie. Truth, bro.”
And now Isaiah York’s large eyes held a cluster of tears.
Nash had set up an auto pay for the credit and debit cards coming out of a new account he had established under the name Dillon Hope and in which he had deposited the FBI funds.
He had no expenses other than food and gas and wherever he would be staying.
The physical address attached to the account was a rental owned by a shell company that was connected to one of Shock’s friends.
Shock had also provided him a flash drive with intel on Steers.
Some of it he already knew, but parts of it were new to Nash.
When he’d asked Shock how he had come by it, Shock told him, “You don’t want to know, but I had to call in every marker I had.
Victoria Steers is a damn enigma, but maybe a little bit less so after you read that. ”
Byron Jackson had driven him to a town near the state line.
And now Walter Nash was on his own.