“Do I get paid?”
“Not a lot. But yeah, some.”
“Jack?” Grayson’s voice kicks me out of the past as he walks me into the FBI building.
The Deputy Director comes out, shakes hands with Gray, then leads me into a small room. There’s a mirror on one wall, a camera facing me, and some kind of microphone built into the table.
Again, I wait. With nothing more to do, I close my eyes and remember…
Three months later, I was stocking shelves in the canned goods section when my mother enters from out of the blue.
“Hello Jack.” She smiles and opens her arms but right at this moment, I wish she was dead.
Just like always, she’s going to ruin everything. Mr. Gregory has been real nice and his wife invites me to dinner every night. There’s a shower in the back of the store, the town has a library with a computer, and I almost feel normal.
I checked out a shitload of books and even signed up to take my GED.
“Where you been?” I squirm out of her embrace an it’s like I’m really seeing her for the first time in my life.
“Here and there.” She takes stock of the small store as she pockets a can of tuna. “Looks like you done alright while I was gone. You find the cash register?”
Having a job and a place to work means I’m my own man and I need to start making my own decisions. “Mom, I am not stealing from these nice people.”
Her eyes go wide. “Is that so? Well, just so you know, it’s not stealing. It’s a loan until we get some place to live. We’ll pay them back later.”
How many times has she lied and how many times have I believed her?
“No.” I use my cutter to open another box and throw multiple cans of green beans on the shelf.
My mom points her finger, all angry and disappointed in me. “After all I’ve done for you, you ungrateful little bastard.”
“Whatever. I’m staying, here. I like it here.”
For some reason, she grins and walks away. “Bye-bye, Jackie-boy.”
Two weeks later I’m standing in front of the judge, trying to explain how I didn’t steal nothin’. This time, I’m going straight to juvie.
Memories suck so I’m actually relieved when the FBI man saves me by grabbing a chair, straddling it, and sitting.
“Hello, Jack. I wonder if you could answer a few questions for me?” His grin reminds me of the Grinch in that TV cartoon.
“I would like a lawyer.” I imitate his smile exactly.
“Sure thing. I understand you got one in transit but there’s no reason we can’t talk until he arrives, right?”
“Free country. Go ahead.” I close my eyes feeling more like a sixteen-year-old than a grown-ass marine who did two tours in Afghanistan.
The agent leans in as if sharing a secret. “Well, here’s the deal. We got your fingerprints on the gun that killed Yan.”
Well, no shit, Sherlock, it belongs to my wife.
“And, we got Blakely’s prints on it, too.”
“Lawyer.” I cross my arms over my chest, my teeth clamping down in the back.
“So, here’s what we’re figuring. We know you worked him over in the men’s room. Then, you and your boss coerced him into taking you to the warehouse.”
Where you assholes got credit for finding a shitload of fentanyl.
As if sharing some big secret, he leans over the wooden table breathing out a mix of coffee, stale cigarettes, and peppermint. “The way I see it, while you were shooting it out in the O.K. Corral, Yan gets free. This is where it gets interesting. You with me?”
I don’t even give him the satisfaction of blinking.
“Then, you followed him to the embassy.”
That much is true. However, I lost the little worm and went home.I raise one eyebrow a minuscule amount and he takes the bait. “I see I have your interest. Apparently, the Chinese Ambassador wants nothing to do with him because he was summarily let out the back door. So, you followed him into a tunnel, the same one where your wife was kidnapped and shot him with her pistol.”
I applaud slowly. They got nothing but circumstantial evidence and Andy will eat them alive…
If he ever gets here.
