Chapter 19 #2
“Where do you keep the copies?”
“There are no copies.” There really aren’t, but he knows Will isn’t going to believe that.
He stumbles to his side when Will slaps him.
“Where are the copies?”
“No copies! Turn this place upside down if you don’t believe me.”
And Will does. For the next ten minutes, Nate lies on the floor, still in pain, watching and hearing his belongings being tarnished. The scariest part is how in control Will acts. Even when he spreads havoc, he methodically moves from one spot to the next, careful not to miss a thing.
Once the place looks like it’s been hit by an earthquake, Will returns to sit on the couch, holding the photos and security camera tape he found in the nightstand. “Up.”
Nate grunts as he maneuvers himself back to his knees. His vision is still blurry, and there’s blood trickling from the side of his head.
“You took Owen to an undercover job,” Will says, still alarmingly calm. “You took him to buy drugs and encouraged him to use them.”
“A junkie’s a junkie, Will. He didn’t need much encouragement.
” He expects another punch, but Will lets it slide, maybe because he knows Nate is telling the truth.
“You think you’re going to have a happily ever after with a drug addict?
I know their kind—there’s no happy ending waiting down that shitty road. ”
“That’s for me to deal with. For me and him.” Will leans down and holds Nate’s chin. His green eyes fill Nate’s blurry vision. “You didn’t tell Sheryl, Nate. You didn’t tell her about the undercover work, about making Owen take drugs, and about threatening to send him to prison.”
Nate’s lungs tighten. Dealing with Sheryl has been the only variable he was truly scared of, the thing he had no control over. “The sheriff wanted me to take Owen to buy drugs. It’s not for me to call the shots.”
Will narrows his eyes. “Is that so? So it was Mitch who told Owen he should take drugs? Who got him on record so he could blackmail him? Mitch knew about all of that?”
Nate doesn’t answer. His heart drums in his ears, sweat underneath his clothes. But Will isn’t done. He tilts Nate’s face higher. “Does Mitch know about us, Nate? Does he know you had sex with the person he thinks killed his son?”
Nate holds back a whimper. He thinks he might faint. He wants to say that Mitch won’t ever believe that, but why else would Nate have blackmailed Owen? All his plans are crashing down on him.
“What would you do in my place, Nate?”
The question takes him by surprise. “What?”
“If you were holding the cards that I’m holding, what would you do?”
It’s a trap, but there’s no way around it. “I would have held it over you. Made you mine.”
Will nods as if he expected that answer.
“Yeah, you would have done that, but luckily for you, you and I are not the same. I don’t want to make you mine—I want to forget you were ever born.
If you leave me no choice, I’ll use everything I know against you.
And let me tell you, I feel sick with how much I’m tempted to take you down. ”
Nate snorts. “You love it, don’t you? Holding the power.”
“I hate it. Don’t dare act like we’re the same. I can go through hell and back—again—and I won’t ever lose so much of my soul to turn into you.”
Nate is not the kind of man to get offended, but the insult hurts. “You’ll never be happy with him. Maybe for a while, but it won’t last.”
“The way I see it, I haven’t been happy here in years, and now I am, and it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with him.
I have a feeling you’ve got the message.
You have everything to lose if you go against Owen, and even then, you won’t ever lay a hand on me again.
I’d rather burn myself alive. Look me in the eye and say you understand me, or this is going to be a very long and painful night for you. ”
Knowing that he’s lost this battle, Nate nods. “I understand.”
Will holds his gaze for a long time before finally standing up. “You’re a great liar; I’m sure you’ll find a lie to tell at work to explain your bruises. I’ll let you get yourself free. The place needs some tidying up.”
Nate lowers his gaze and smiles to himself through the pain.
You’re right, Will. I am a great liar.
*
The mayor watches him for a long time, barely blinking.
The man has the kind of glare that can turn a man into a puddle.
Nate wishes he were a puddle so he could slip under the door and out of this house.
He’s aware of Veronica standing close behind him.
She’s so quiet she might as well be dead, but her gaze presses against Nate’s back like she’s poking him.
“Haven’t I been paying you well?” the mayor finally asks.
Nate clears his throat, wishing he had something to drink. “You have, sir. As I said—”
“It seems to me that you have been playing for both teams. That makes me feel like a fool.” He shakes his head, still unblinking. “I will not be made a fool by the likes of you, Nate.”
What are the likes of me? he stops himself from asking. “That was never my intention. We both… we agreed that I should never make the sheriff suspicious about my work for you.”
“That has nothing to do with the information you kept hidden from me.”
I know. “The idea was getting them to befriend Owen so they would trust him and offer him a job.”
“You already said that.”
“And I’m here telling you everything before they offer him anything.”
“You are telling me about this now because the same Owen you worked with behind my back is now dating Will, with whom you are infatuated. You are also telling me about this now because someone—likely Will—beat you up.”
Nate crosses his arms, his stomach swirling unpleasantly. “You’re right.”
“It makes me wonder how many other things you have been keeping from me.”
“What? No! I told you everything the sheriff was working on. You know I’ve been helpful.”
“None of what you have ever told me has put me at a greater risk than this undercover job. I trust those pawns to hold up under pressure because I can take care of them if they’re caught, but if they end up willingly giving names to the wrong people…”
Nate shifts uneasily, wishing at least one of the tall windows were open.
He has nothing more to say, and he’s now doubting his decision to speak with the mayor.
After Will left his house, and Nate managed to get himself free, he sat for hours on the floor with dark thoughts raging inside his aching head.
A feeble voice suggests he should cut his losses and move on, but that voice failed to break through his rage until it faded into oblivion.
But now, sitting in the overly warm mayor’s office, that feeble voice echoes once more.
“Why are you telling me this now, Nate?”
His tongue feels gluey as he says, “Well, obviously Will and Owen staying together is bad news. Owen is too close to the police, and if Will happens to say something to him—”
“Like what?”
Nate scratches the back of his head. “Will comes here from time to time for your… events. Maybe he heard something he shouldn’t, and maybe he’ll end up mentioning it to Owen, who might mention it to his aunt.”
The mayor still sits like a statue, but his eyes indicate he’s thinking. Nate uses the opportunity to say, “I know you have power over Will. If you could just make him break up with Owen—”
“So he could be with you?”
“What? No! I’m not… it’s not about that. Remember how much shit you got during that mess between Will and Joel? You don’t need something like that happening again in an election year.”
“This isn’t an election year.”
“It isn’t? Oh.”
“But I agree.” The mayor picks up his pipe and lights it. He takes a lungful and blows out the smoke, signaling with his head for Veronica to open the window. She does, as quiet as a ghost and just as pale.
“You agree?” Nate asks, appreciating the breeze on his face.
“Those two should not stay together.”
Nate exhales, feeling lighter than air. “Great.”
“We’ll need to take out Owen.”
Nate frowns. “Huh?”
“I can’t have the sheriff start using undercover agents. He needs to see how bad such an approach can get, or he’ll try it again.”
“Hold on. He won’t send anyone undercover without going through me, and I’ll let you know.”
“Like you did with Owen?”
Nate no longer feels the breeze—his skin is too hot. “I’m sorry about that, but Owen is no longer a problem. He won’t do any more undercover work.”
“I didn’t reach this point in my life by not being paranoid, Nate, or by being forgiving. I’ll take care of Owen.”
“How?”
“You lost the privilege of asking that when you kept information from me. Luckily for you, I’m willing to give you a second chance.
” He takes another puff from his pipe. “And I strongly suggest you give up on any silly dream you have about Will. The second his sister dies, he’ll want to leave town.
That won’t happen, but you still need to let it go. ”
Nate is too confused to make sense of the mayor’s words. “What do you mean it won’t happen? He won’t leave town after Julie dies?”
The mayor puts down his pipe, but the smoke still rises. “Hal Darnell will take him.”
“Hal Darnell? The convenience store guy?”
“Yes. He has a ranch south of here, secluded and well guarded. He’ll keep Will there for however long he wants, doing whatever the hell he wants.
What happens after that is none of my concern.
That boy has been a headache for me since he crawled out of the closet, and I’m counting the days until I have no more use for him. ”
“But… that guy can’t just take Will.”
“He can do whatever he pleases. He has people who will do the job for him. I doubt the sheriff is going to look into a missing person case for Will Thomas of all people, but you shouldn’t concern yourself with matters that don’t involve you.” He tells Veronica, “Escort Nate out. We’re done here.”
“Wait. I don’t—”
“Out,” Veronica says, and the frost in her eyes clenches Nate’s stomach. He numbly gets up and follows her outside. As he stands on the street and digests what happened, he wonders if he might have made a terrible mistake.