Page 173 of In Death, Love Survives
“Oh, right, that.”
“Yeah, man. Are we about to murder this club? Something just isn’t sitting right with a few of us about that.”
“That’s why I’m calling the cops.”
Ted’s eyes practically bug out of his head.
“What?” he shouts.
It garners a few looks around us, including Caleb from across the warehouse.
“I’m not saying this is us going legitimate, but I’m tired. I’m exhausted from it all. Aren’t you?”
Ted gathers his composure and then sighs. Backing up to be in line with me once again, he crosses his arms and stares out at everyone working.
“Yeah. Maybe a bit.”
“Maybe if we weren’t spread so goddamn thin then I wouldn’t have had to go to prison. Maybe Sam wouldn’t think that he and the Vipers could do this to us. A lot of maybes about the past, when I want to plan for the future. This is step one in doing that.”
“Maybe you’re right about all that.”
He sighs again.
“I won’t tell anyone tonight though. That’s a bigger discussion for another time. For now, if they ask, I’ll let everyone know we’re calling the cops instead of murder.”
“It still could be considered attempted murder, if anyone is stressed about going straight with this.”
Ted chuckles and pats me on the back.
“That’s a good angle to take.”
“Thank you.”
Ted takes a few steps forward and pauses. As he turns around, I recognize my tired friend must feel the same way I do. So much is unspoken as we battle what we’ve known and work for a different life. One for the better.
“Anytime. You know I’m on your side.”
“I do.”
And I do. Ted is a friend, a good one at that. I had my suspicions about who I could trust, but I’ve come to realize that this brotherhood? It’s as forever as Nova and me. Ted’s been around for a long time, so something like money isn’t going to get him to turn on his brothers.
Sometimes it can be as simple as someone bad wanting fucking revenge. Doesn’t make it any easier.
“I’m going to go see how much longer we have.”
“Take your time. I’ll be here all night too.”
“I’ll be back.”
Ted takes off in Caleb’s direction, and I watch as the process continues seamlessly. It’s as if we’ve done this before, when we’ve never had to work this diligently and last minute.
I know when tomorrow comes, it’ll be a new dawning light.
Caleb and Ted talk to each other across the way, and a few minutes later, Caleb is heading in my direction. He’s sweating as he arrives.
“You good?” I ask.
“Yeah. Just wanted to check if you needed anything else outside of this.”
