Chapter 11 Jace
JACE
Sabine's laptop sits open on her kitchen table while morning coffee brews in the background, and the list of remaining names stares back at me from the screen with an accusation.
Six names off that list now and five left that I'm willing to eliminate, and that should be a little encouraging to me that I'm over halfway done, but it does nothing to quash the guilt I have to swallow every time I think of going back to Barone and telling him Sabine isn't dead.
Those who are left are guilty. They deserve what's coming to them, and I have to keep reminding myself that they deserve it.
Because whether I want to admit it or not, I'm going soft.
Barone warned me a few times early on that the first time I think of a target like a person and not a problem, I'd lose my ability to stay objective and do my job, and he was right.
But that little girl was not a target and I would never have been able to kill a child.
I should’ve done my homework better to know when that girl would be home.
I could've killed those people anywhere else, but I chose their home not knowing they had a kid in the house, and now I can't separate myself from my humanity and I'm paying for it.
The taste in my mouth is bitter, and the laptop screen blurs slightly while my mind works back to everything I've learned about the man who hired me through that broker.
That broker and my boss hired me to do a job, no matter how ethically challenging it is, and I have to finish it.
Which means I have to start seeing these fuckwits for the type of people they are.
And the only way I can do that is to remember how they treated Sabine.
Unfortunately, that only reminds me of the one name on that list I can't wrap my mind around killing.
I rub my hand down over my face and stare at my phone, situated beside the computer screen.
My hand reaches without thinking. I need to check in with the family, and calling Barone directly just doesn't seem like a smart idea right now.
I know how steamed he was about that kid and I know how he handles problems like the one I've created.
I don't want to give him any other reason to be pissed at me.
And Lucas has been with the Barone organization since we were teenagers running drugs through the West Side, and if anyone knows what Don Vittorio is planning beyond the official contract details, it would be him.
Enforcers hear things that don't filter down to hitters, and Lucas has always been better at reading the boss's intentions than I ever was.
The call connects after two rings, and Lucas's voice comes through sounding a little rough. "Morelli. Didn't expect to hear from you while you're working."
"Yeah, well I wanna meet." With Sabine off to work, I have some free time, and as long as I keep my phone on me, she can reach me. "One hour—that coffee shop on Cicero Avenue near the old factory."
There's a pause on the other end, long enough that I can hear him processing the request and deciding whether to ask why or just agree. "This about the contract?" Men like Lucas ask too many questions, but I'm not giving him free information to toss back up the food chain.
"Among other things." The vague answer will have to suffice until we're face to face. "Can you make it?"
"Yeah, one hour." The line goes dead, and I set the phone down while staring at the laptop screen and the face of Jason Bryan.
That fucker's going down no matter what, because I don't need to think about whether he's human or not.
He's a piece of shit who needs to be taken out.
But the other names on that list still accuse my guilty conscience every waking second.
I finish brewing the coffee and then go for a shower and get dressed.
The drive to the coffee shop takes thirty minutes through morning traffic, and I rock up to the neighborhood right on time.
The coffee shop itself is a small independent place that caters to factory workers and truck drivers who pass through this rundown section of town on their way to and from their real jobs and homes.
It's inconspicuous, though, and perfect for a little clandestine meeting.
Lucas is already there when I arrive, sitting at a corner booth with his back to the wall and a cup of black coffee in front of him.
It appears he's been waiting a while too, which seems about right.
Probably got here early to surveil the area the way I should have, but at this point, I have nothing to lose.
"Morelli." He gestures to the seat across from him, and I slide in with my injured leg protesting the movement. "You look terrible. The contract going sideways?"
"Contract's fine," I tell him. "Six down, six to go. Should be finished before Christmas."
"So why the meeting?" His eyes narrow slightly, and he takes a sip of coffee without looking away. "You don't call for updates when things are running smoothly."
The waitress appears before I can respond, and I order coffee. When she disappears back behind the counter, Lucas leans forward slightly and drops his tone to a lower register. His eyes are flighty, flicking around nervously like he's tweaking or something. He probably is.
"Word is the boss has plans for you once this job wraps up. Is that why you're here?" The way he leans forward even farther shows me he's not pulling shit. "Quietly told a few people in the family that you're to be ended as soon as the last name gets crossed off."
The confirmation of what I already suspected still feels like a gut punch, and my shoulders stiffen. I lean back as the waitress sets the mug of coffee in front of me and smiles.
"Anything else, honey?" she asks, and I scowl.
"Nah, that's it," I grunt and wait for her to leave before responding to him. "Because of the girl?"
"Yeah." Lucas nods slowly. "Boss thinks you're weak. Thinks you can't be trusted. You done fucked up bad, Jacey Boy."
"Are you going to act on it?" I came into this meeting feeling like I had the advantage—weeks to go still and half the job done. Now I'm not so sure.
"We've been friends since we were fifteen years old running product for corner dealers." Lucas scowls at me in contempt and disbelief. "You really think I'd take that contract?"
"No." Lucas has always been loyal in this business, but I can't ever turn my back on a Barone. "But I just needed to hear you say it."
"I'm not taking the contract and I'm not saying anything to anyone about this meeting.
" He settles back in the booth and his posture relaxes slightly.
"But you need to know what's coming so you can plan.
Once that last name drops, you've got maybe forty-eight hours before someone else gets the order to clean up the loose end. "
The timeline is tighter than I hoped but workable if everything goes according to plan.
If Sabine can access the files she needs and expose Bryan before the Barone organization decides I've outlived my usefulness and a dozen other variables align, then I may still be able to redeem myself.
Barone won't want anything to do with a corrupt military commander and an investigation, which is what will happen when Sabine turns in her evidence and testimony.
And if I play it right, the boss will be forced to listen to me, or at least take a meeting with me so he can hear what will happen if he tries to come after me.
"Appreciate the warning." My coffee tastes bitter and I set it down without finishing. "What else do you know about the contract? About the broker and the client behind it?"
Lucas glances around the coffee shop, confirming we're still alone and out of earshot of the few other patrons scattered throughout the space.
"Boss knows it's a military official. Captain in the army with connections high enough that having him in our pocket opens doors into military-grade weapons and smuggling operations we've never had access to before. "
The information aligns with everything Sabine has told me about Bryan's position and influence, and the pieces of Don Vittorio's larger plan start falling into place.
Talking strictly business-aligned, it makes sense.
They get a new source and contact, perhaps some sway, and he gets his diaper changed.
But it's a bad alliance for this city and our country as a whole.
"So this contract isn't just about eliminating twelve people. It's about leverage."
"It's always about leverage." Lucas sounds cynical, but he understands the stakes as well as I do.
"Boss does the captain a favor by cleaning up his mess, captain owes the family and can't refuse when we come calling for access to military supply chains and distribution networks.
Everybody wins except the people who end up dead. "
"And me." The addition is unnecessary—dead is exactly what I am if I can't pull this off.
"Yeah." Lucas doesn't try to sugarcoat it. "You're the final piece that needs removing before the arrangement is clean."
Don Vittorio never intended for me to walk away from this contract alive.
The moment I took that folder three weeks ago, my expiration date was set, and every name I've crossed off since then has been another step toward my own elimination.
A fucking hourglass dropping sand and I'm the one making sure it keeps moving.
"What would you do?" I ask him, not that I need his advice. "If you were in my position, what's the play?"
Lucas thinks about it for a long moment.
He drums his fingers against his coffee mug and stares at me with a blank expression.
Then he shrugs and scrunches his lips before his face relaxes again.
"Get leverage of your own. Find something that makes you more valuable alive than dead, or at least makes killing you too costly to be worth the cleanup. "
"Like what?" I sip more of the bitter coffee and watch him over the rim of the mug.
"Like proof that connects the boss to a military official ordering hits on American citizens.
" Lucas's voice drops even lower and he leans across the table again.
"Or documentation that shows Don Vittorio Barone facilitated the murder of twelve people, including active duty soldiers, on behalf of a military captain. "
The suggestion is exactly what Sabine has been planning all along, and the realization that our goals have been aligned from the start makes something click into place that should've been obvious days ago.
She needs proof to expose Bryan. I need proof to keep Vittorio from eliminating me.
The same evidence serves both purposes if we can get our hands on it before time runs out.
"How much does the boss know about the client's background?" My mind is already working out how to make this happen as easily as possible without letting Sabine get caught up in the middle of it.
Lucas shakes his head. "All he knows is a captain offered good money to eliminate twelve targets. The why behind the contract isn't relevant to the boss as long as the money clears and the leverage materializes."
"But it would matter if it became public." Now I'm thinking aloud. "If evidence surfaced that Vittorio Barone facilitated the murder of American soldiers to help a military officer cover up war crimes and sexual assault, that's not just bad publicity. That's federal investigation territory."
"That's life in prison territory." Lucas corrects. "The boss would burn you to the ground before letting that information surface, which means holding that evidence is the only card you have left to play."
The waitress refills our coffee without asking and disappears again, and I watch her go but I'm not focused on her.
My mind is flooding with ideas on what to do next.
Sabine is right. We have to prove Bryan is dirty because in doing so, it ties him to this list. If we can tie him to the list, and the broker, then the murders will come back on him too.
And Barone will want nothing to do with his precious military commander.
"You didn't hear any of this from me." Lucas finishes his coffee and stands, dropping cash on the table for both our drinks. "And if anyone asks, we talked about football and the weather and you're on schedule to finish the contract by Christmas."
"Understood." My hand extends across the table and he grips it hard. "Thanks for the warning, Lucas. I owe you."
"You don't owe me anything." His expression softens slightly. "Just stay alive long enough to collect, yeah? Would be a shame to lose you after all these years."
He leaves, and I sit in the booth staring at my coffee while processing everything he told me. The boss wants me dead. The contract is about leverage over a military official. The only way to survive is to gather proof that makes killing me more dangerous than keeping me alive.
Which means Sabine's plan isn't just about justice anymore. It's about survival for both of us, and the evidence she needs to expose Bryan is the same evidence I need to keep Don Vittorio from putting me in the ground.