20. Connor
Connor
The Richardsons describe the event Renne witnessed the night she went to a yacht party. They confirm the dates and times of the events and the location of the yacht, as well as what happened to it after the incident, namely that the perp sank the yacht.
The witness protection records include Renee’s testimony, but they don’t contain the name of the man she’s hiding from. There is a description, but the cops were smart enough not to log in a name. I wonder if the Richardsons know who he is. Whoever can confirm his identity will die.
From what the couple told me, multiple people gathered on the yacht that night. The Richardsons can’t help me identify which individuals, but they’re locals and would recognize strangers they might have seen in town.
From my computer, I show them the faces, mostly of our enemies, though some friends too. I save two pictures for the end for fear that my speculations are correct.
The Richardsons say that Renne told them the argument started between two men wearing suits. One of them pulled out a gun, and the other followed. Suddenly, there was a shootout in a confined place in the middle of the ocean. No witnesses is the standard policy.
“This is what happens when a big deal goes bad,” I tell them. “Otherwise, the carnage isn’t worth the exposure. Were there drugs on the yacht?”
“Yes, Renne mentioned drugs,” Roy says.
“Do you know if that was the main product exchanged?”
“We think so. What else could it be, you know?” Sidney asks. “These men want to poison the youth.”
“There are many other things to sell and make money from that aren’t drugs.
Nukes, for example. Governments sell uranium all the time.
But we can’t say that. That would question the righteous decision makers you place on pedestals, evoke self-critique, and invite independent thought.
We can’t have that. We might find that we disagree with the majority, and then what?
Stand alone? Horror. Don’t stand alone when you’d rather be a part of the herd. ”
They stare.
“I digress.” It’s late in the evening, and the couple yawn as they hover over my computer.
Sidney offers me another piece of bread. I accept.
“You mentioned your brother, but you never told us anything about him,” she says.
“Sorry, I got carried away with the important work.” My brother is not important.
Protecting their daughter is. Identifying everyone who knows anything about her is critical.
We are so close. I can feel the finish line even though I have no idea what it is yet.
I can tell they’re hiding something from me.
“Declan Crossbow,” I say. “That’s his name.”
“Isn’t that the man from Selnoa who hung his wife from the bridge?”
“No, that was my dad. My dad did that. Massio Crossbow, not Declan.”
“She was your mother, then,” Sidney says.
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry,” she says.
“Thank you. Good riddance.”
A blink, then, “Have some more bread, dear.”
I eat some more. “The moment the trial starts and Renne opens her mouth, she’s dead. That’s unless they get to her before the trial. Which they will.”
“They haven’t gotten to her yet, and it’s been over a year.”
“That’s probably because they have nothing on him, so they can’t put him on trial.
They probably don’t have enough evidence.
They’re still collecting, wiretapping, hoping for a miracle that probably won’t come.
But let’s predict they get something on him and let’s speculate they even arrest him, and let’s say they have a judge willing to risk his life to bring the man to trial.
Then they will have to disclose that there’s a witness.
And not just any witness. A nurse. Everyone loves nurses.
They care for people. Renne is the perfect witness. She can put the man away for life.”
Roy crosses his arms over his chest. “What’s your point?”
“If you don’t give me the guy’s name today, she’s as good as dead.”
“We told you everything we know. Do you have more pictures to show us?”
With a heavy sigh, I pull up a picture of my uncle Endo. I recall him saying he sank the yacht of a family that owns the island across the coast here. I doubt the family is stupid enough to commit a massacre in their own backyard, but people get carried away while using drugs.
“I remember him,” Roy says, and the certainty in his voice makes me want to crawl out of my skin.
I lace my hands at the back of my neck. “You sure?”
Roy rolls his eyes. “Of course not! I don’t know any of the men you showed me.”
He had me there. He really did. “I see where Renne gets her temper from.”
“You seem to know our daughter well,” Sidney says.
“Not well enough.”
“You seem interested in her. Going through all this to come here and speak with us.”
“I told you, I need to protect my brother.”
“Is that all?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Renne is a nice girl,” Sidney says. “Adventurous. Silly. But with a good heart.”
“You don’t have to sell me on her good nature.”
“Let’s just say she does end up on the stand and she testifies.” Roy interrupts our conversation. “They’ll convict him, and he’ll be put away, and then all this will be over and Renne will come home.”
“I explained to you what will happen with her.”
“Mr. Pembroke says otherwise. He told us they will secure her before, during, and after the trial.”
HOLY SHIT. Daniel Pembroke, the man my uncle Cass has been hunting for over a year, is behind all this?
Is it possible that Renne witnessed the fallout between my uncle and Pembroke?
The one where Pembroke took out all my uncle’s people and forced him to give up a load of arms?
Pembroke took Cass hostage and tried to get him to reveal the locations of my uncle’s depositories.
All the names of all the people he’s ever worked with. Governments. Kings, even.
But Pembroke didn’t count on my uncle Endo taking Pembroke’s daughter as collateral and demanding Cass’s return. In the end, Pembroke lost Cass, Endo killed off all his associates, and then he married his daughter. But Pembroke escaped, and we’ve been looking for him.
Now, I know he wants revenge. A conviction in an international court. If the international authorities can get Cass, Endo would negotiate. He’d give up a lot for his brother as I would for mine.
I steady my heart and lick my lips so that I don’t drool over the bone Roy just threw to me.
“Very few people can guarantee your daughter’s safety.
Here I thought you were smart enough to know I was telling you the truth of what would happen to her.
” I put my laptop away. “I’m curious. Why do you have dogs if they don’t bark at intruders? ”
“They keep us company.”
“Can I keep you company tonight?” They know I’m not really asking.
“Renne’s room is empty,” Sidney says.
They miss her. Is this how normal parents behave when their child is gone? I can almost feel their love. Must have been nice to grow up like this, but my job isn’t finished here. I need more information, and I’ll get it if I’m nice. “I bet you taught her how to ride a bike.”
Roy chuckles. “She taught herself. Took the bicycle and rode it up and down the street. She fell, got back on, and did it until she learned. Renee is independent. Always has been.”
“I like that about her,” I say.
“You like more than that about her, Mr. Crossbow,” Sidney says.
I tilt my head. “You think so?”
She nods.
“You don’t know me.”
“But I know what love looks like.”
“You’re hoping I will protect your daughter from the wolf, but you have no idea what the wolf looks like. What if I’m the wolf? What if I’m the very person she’s hiding from?”
No answer. I almost feel sorry for them.
“What, then?” I push.
“Are you?” Roy asks, swallowing again.
I shrug. “I could be. I’ve killed people on yachts before. I’ve killed people off yachts. I feel no guilt. I feel nothing. Do you have scissors?”
“What?” Roy asks.
“Scissors.”
Sidney retrieves a pair of scissors for me. I take out the photobooth style row of photos of Renne and Hanna and cut the top one. I lay it on the table and push it toward Sidney because she will crack first.
The moment Renne’s parents see the image, they start crying. It would break my heart if I had one. But luckily for me, I don’t.
Sidney picks up the picture. “Look at my baby girl. Is that my grandbaby?”
“Her name is Hanna.”
“Oh my Lord. She’s so cute. Look at them, Roy. Oh God, we can’t… How did Renne manage with a baby? Who is the father?” She looks from me to the picture, then back at the picture. “Is it you?”
“I am not Hanna’s father. But if I were, I would protect them.
I would use all my resources, which are many, to shelter them.
I would not let them get on the witness stand because a witness is a snitch, and nobody loves a snitch, not even the cops.
People don’t love them because they fear them, and they don’t trust them.
If I can’t trust someone, I can’t have them around, because sooner or later, a snitch will betray me. ”
“Unless they have a reason to keep quiet,” Roy says.
“Now you’re catching on.”
Roy stares at the photo. “Mr. Crossbow, can you… If you learned the name of the man she’s testifying against, could you protect her from him?”
“Yes.”
“Roy, be quiet,” Sidney says.
“This man…this man is very powerful.”
“Yeah, well, I’m very crazy. Give me the name.”
“Cassian Macarley.”
I lean back. “Shit.” There it is. They know. Fuck!
“You know him,” Roy concludes.
“He’s my uncle.” When they bought up Pembroke, I knew Cass was involved. Everyone who knows needs to die.
“Some family you have there,” Sidney states.
I point my finger at her. “Watch it.”
“I need a drink,” Roy says.
“Make it two.” My phone rings. By the sound of it, I know it’s Declan. I ignore it.
He keeps calling.
And calling.
“Someone wants to get ahold of you,” Roy says.
“Yeah.”
He clears his throat, fidgets, uncomfortable with the phone ringing. “Why won’t you see who’s calling?”
“I know who it is. It’s Renne,” I lie.
Sidney’s breath hitches. “Why won’t you answer? Please answer it. We…we want to hear her voice.”
I can say without a single sliver of doubt that I am sad my parents never loved me the way these people love her. “I have a better idea.”