Chapter 20 #3
The man notices me almost immediately as I begin examining buildings facing the business, like I’m looking for a good vantage point. There’s a small bakery on the corner that sits below some apartments, so I zip inside.
I waste a couple of minutes getting cookies before I slip out a side door onto the street he’s not facing.
I hurry down and toward the back of the apartments once I see him tailing me, but I’m careful not to indicate that I know he’s following me.
I see a door that doesn’t seem to shut all the way and dart inside.
Careful to make sure I leave it cracked just enough for him to get in without it locking, I stand to the side, using the stairwell to hide myself.
It doesn’t take him long to slip inside.
He probably has this idea that if he takes down the Sandman, he can brag about it for years to come.
I consider choking him out, tying him up, and tossing him somewhere, but I’d rather have him think he can’t find me.
They’ll waste time trying to pinpoint where I’ve chosen to station myself, and in the meantime, we’ll be over at a birthday party.
He’s quiet while he makes his way up the stairs and out of my sight, and I only have to wait a minute before the door opens and another man walks in. He glances at me, but nothing more as I use his open door to slip out and rush around the corner to where the SUV is waiting for me.
I get inside and Jeremy takes off.
“So?” Cassel asks.
“He followed me into the apartment building and promptly lost me,” I say as I open my bag of goodies.
Henry’s eyes are on them the moment they’re revealed.
“Everyone has to say one nice thing about The Fence or sing me a song to get one,” I announce.
“I find The Fence less o-fence-ive than you,” Tavish says, and then plucks out a cookie that he hands to Ellis. “I got you one.”
“You just want to harass him a second time, don’t you?” Ellis asks.
“Honestly, I’m on the fence about that,” Tavish says.
“Just like Jackson’s ass. Heh.” I smile at the memory.
Tavish seems to think that wins him another treat because he grabs another cookie then discusses with Ellis which one he’d like before they decide to break them in half so they each get to try two different kinds. It’s sappy and disgusting.
“This wasn’t a roast,” I remind Tavish.
“Wood you care to explain?” Cassel asks before choosing a cookie.
“Who said anything about puns and jokes! I said compliments or singing! Jackson, they are refusing to listen.”
“They’re never going to get on ‘board’ with your ideas, hon,” Jackson says while I stare at the traitorous man. “But I’ll come to your de-fence.”
“I think Jackson ‘nailed’ it,” Henry comments as he takes one.
“Leland’s just being de-fence-ive,” Micah says.
I sigh, wondering what hell I’ve found myself in where they’re all making fun of my precious fence! “This is never going to end, is it?”
“I don’t gate it,” Everly says as dryly as he could possibly deliver it.
With raised eyebrows, I look over at Everly, astonished that even he is getting in on this. “You too? Alright, Jeremy, lay it on me. You’re the only one without a cookie.”
“I’m just trying to figure out where I’m going but I’m drawing a plank,” Jeremy states.
“Ah, that was a good one, babe. Oh… you’re being serious. Sorry, I totally forgot I was giving you directions,” Cassel says.
I pass a cookie up to him and then grab one for myself before passing the box around for whoever wants a second helping… not that they deserve it.
“Are we killing this Raul guy?” Tavish asks.
“It’s sickening, the way he’s controlling people,” Micah says. “He pushes them until they have nothing left, until they cave and reach out to him for help, and then he takes control over them. He needs to die.”
“Not yet. He has a price on my head. I want to learn what’s going on and possibly get him to call it off—” I start.
Everly looks over at me. “You’re not going to kill him?”
And it reminds me that when I found Everly way back when, he was getting through life by selling his body. But I don’t know how much of that was his own choice. Was he like some of Raul’s victims? People who were given absolutely no choice?
“Everly, listen to me, I will not continue allowing him to do this. But I don’t want to shoot him and run.
This isn’t a one-man show, it’s an organization; the moment we kill him, someone else steps up and takes over.
They will make the whole organization even harder to infiltrate.
We have to destroy the organization before we take that final shot so we’re positive we’re getting all of the roots, not just the tree, if you get what I’m saying.
We can’t let any part of that tree survive.
Cassel, I’m not sure how much you can learn from his data, but I want to be able to send what I can to Tucker or the police or someone who can abolish this entire business, instead of just allowing it to trade hands. ”
“Yeah, makes sense. The easiest way isn’t always the best,” Micah says.
I glance at Everly, who just gives me a nod. Besides Jackson, I’m pretty sure no one knows about his past, and I don’t plan to share it. I still feel like I’m on edge dealing with him because I’d caused him so much pain, but he’s here and he’s not alone, and that’s what really matters to me.