The Devil's Copper by Jamie Crothall (ink ebook reader .txt) 📕

Riley and fill her in, but decided not to.  I hated leaving her out of the equation, especially after she placed so much trust in me.  But I couldn’t risk everything going awry with police involvement.  I just wanted to hand over the notebook, get my Jack back, and be done with the whole thing.

I ended up working late that evening. I really had nowhere else to go.  At seven o’clock, I took the keys to one of the service vehicles and locked up the office.  It was a pick-up truck with a club cab, which I figured I could use to sleep in, if I had to.  I made my way to the other end of town and waited in the parking lot.  It was overcast, making it appear darker than it already was.  Eventually another car arrived, a white Lincoln Town Car.  Two generic heavies got out, (likely the two police officers on the take), followed by Frankie.  I did not see Shay.

“Where’s Walter?” called Frankie, as I approached.

“I told you he wasn’t coming,” I replied.

“I thought you were joking,” he said.

Oh god. Was this going wrong already?

“I have what you want,” I said.  “Isn’t that good enough?”

He gestured me forward.  “Show me.”

I eyed the two men carefully as I stepped forward.  The fact that Shay, his ‘good shot’ was not visible had me worried.  I felt as though a bullet could strike me at any given moment.

“I never wanted anything to do with this,” I said, holding out the book.  “Not me or Jack.  I just want this to be over with.”

I put the notebook in his hand.  He kept his bemused look fixed upon me as he opened it before finally scanning the contents.  He then handed it to one of his men.

“We’ll assess this info and verify it.  If it’s what we want, you’ll hear from us soon.”

“Thank you,” I stated, firmly as I could.

It was just starting to rain.

Frankie had his men get back into the car.

Frankie hesitated.  “Oh, one thing though.  You’re a bit misinformed, I think.”

“About what?”

“You said neither you or Jack wanted to be a part of this.” He then shook his head.  “You’re only half right.  Your boy Jack knew what he was getting into.  If you see him, and I mean ‘if,’ remind him this is what happens when people don’t pay up.”

Frankie started to get into the car.

I had to toss his implications aside to ask one more question before he left.

“You’ll leave us alone?”

Frankie got into the car, rolled down the window, grinned and then nodded as the car drove away.

I stood there in the rain until the realization I had survived the ordeal struck home.  I got into the truck and started to drive away.  I wasn’t sure where I was going.  Eventually I simply decided to go home.  If Frankie was to be believed, perhaps I might be safe now after all.

I found my place in no further disrepair than when I was there last.  I checked each room.  The place was empty.  As if tempting fate, I lay on the bed, waiting for sleep to come.  It surprisingly didn’t take too long.

NINE

I didn’t want it to be a dream.  Not this time.  Jack’s hand gently touched my shoulder.  His voice softly whispered in my ear.  He drew me out of a deep sleep with such feather-like care that it was the most natural and seamless transition I had ever experienced.

“Billie.”

“…”

I was afraid to open my eyes in case I was wrong.

“Billie,” he said again, a tickled laugh in his voice.

I allowed the world to come into focus.  He remained a blur as everything sharpened.  So wary was I to confirm what I needed to be true.

“How long have you been asleep?”

“I don’t…”

“Your beeper is going off.”

My eyes sprung open.  Why did it take that to get my full attention?  The room was silent, except for the pouring rain beating on the window.  Nothing was said by me, and nothing was said by Jack.  Jack, who sat on the edge of the bed waiting for me.

“…is this real?”

He smiled and squeezed my hand.

“It’s real.”

I scooted up into a seated position and took it all in.  It had to be real.  He didn’t have a halo, or a perfect completion.  Rather, he looked roughed-up and worse for wear.  He had a partially healed black eye, and scratches on his arm.  And he was still wearing the same clothes from Saturday night.

“You’re…alive?”

He nodded.

I lunged forward and hugged him.  I wrapped my arms around him, felt he was real, and refused to let go.  I sobbed like the fragile mess I was as I gripped his shirt and buried my face in his chest.

“I missed you so much…”

“I can’t believe everything you did for me,” he said.

“I wore a dress,” I pouted.

“And I missed it?”

“I almost shot a policewoman.”

“Wait, what?”

I pulled away.  “It’s a long story.  Don’t worry, she’s cool.”

“Billie, we need to go.”

“Where?”

“Away.  Far away.  Just for a while.”

My heart sank.  Though the concept wasn’t terrible, his motivation disturbed me.  “Why?  They said we were free.”

“I don’t trust them,” he said.  He put his palm on my cheek and though he tried to speak calmly his words were dire.  “Pack a bag.  Just one bag.  And we’ll get out of here.  We’ll go down south for a few months.”

“None of our cards work.”

“I can get some money.”

“The car isn’t here.”

“We’ll call a cab.  Please, Billie.  Just get some things together, okay?”

“Wait,” I insisted, clutching his arm as he tried to pull his hand away.  “Frankie said you should have seen this coming.”

“Billie,