Page 41 of Fixer
“We don’t want your money.Give up this corrupt roadway project.Treat your tenants right, do repairs when needed, and you can keep the rest of your fortune intact.But don’t think you can sell those buildings and vanish from our sight.” I told Wade, “Nine.”
A list appeared in the next slide, some of the properties Rosswurn owned, sold, traded.
“We can find you.”
Rosswurn slumped.“Okay.All right.You win.Will you give me those slides now?”
I laughed into the voice changer.“We have the negatives, and lots more.No, you’ll have to go on with your life knowing we hold the key.You can even keep fucking Sheila.As long as you stay within the law.Your morals are your own problem.”
“Fuck you!”Rosswurn glared in my direction.“All right, but fuck you.”
“Leave now.Go home to your wife’s house, bought with her millions.Enjoy your life, but remember, the Justice League is watching.”
Wade repeated, “Go!” and Rosswurn jumped, glanced over his shoulder, then stomped out.
We waited while listening to his steps, the car door, the engine revving.The sound of his car retreated down the road and was lost to even my sharp ears.I waited thirty seconds, a minute, but he didn’t return.
“Come on,” I urged Wade.“Get the projector.I’ll get the rest.Let’s hustle.”
“You think he might call the cops?”
I ripped the tape off a light switch and turned it on to help us pack.“Probably not, but he’s angry and humiliated.He might let that overcome his common sense.He might figure he can buy the cops.Or he might call Quentin, who has more resources, to send someone after us.Either way, I’d rather not be here.”
“Makes sense.”Wade yanked the projector plug and packed up the case, then helped remove the last tape strips while I pulled down the blackout drapes and stuffed everything into my bag.
I hefted the duffel, took a quick look around, and ushered Wade out, turning off the light behind us.Despite the urgency, I paused to relock the front door.If Rosswurndidcall the cops, I wanted zero evidence anything had happened.Side by side, we strode off down the poorly lit sidewalk with our bags at a businesslike clip.
My car sat where I’d left it, apparently untouched.We shoved the duffel and projector into the back seat, jumped in, and sped away.
“Gonna take a winding route,” I told Wade.“Make sure he isn’t way more prepared than I think.”I drove several blocks, making left and right turns on the dark residential streets.I stopped at a light, then whipped through an illegal U-turn and headed the other way.No one followed.
At a small suburban park I’d picked, I turned in to the parking area and stopped under the trees in the darkest corner.There, I jumped out, leaving the car running.
“What?”Wade asked.
“Plates.”I bent and untaped the borrowed plates I’d stuck over my own.“I steal some from wrecking yards every couple of years, and cover mine when I’m on an op.If he was sharp enough to cruise around first and spot my ride, the license number will be a dead end.”I tossed the used plates in the park’s trash barrel and got back in, peeling off my gloves.“You can unglove now.”
“Wow.”Wade tugged the cotton down his wrists and off his fingers.“You weren’t kidding about being prepared.”
“The survival of our species, or at least the secrecy, which we think may be the same thing, depends on Fixers.‘Be prepared’ is our motto.”
“Also the Boy Scouts’.”
“They share with us.They just don’t know it.”I backed out of the parking spot and headed off down the road.
“So…” Wade mused.“Justice League?Isn’t that legally copyrighted by some comic book?”
I laughed and couldn’t stop, till I had to pull over to wipe my eyes.“Yeah.Probably.They don’t know they’re sharing with us either.”
Wade slid over across the seat and kissed me, there on the dark street.His mouth was hot and real and I sank into that kiss.
When we parted, he smiled at me, his eyes shining in the dim light.“I like working on the part of justice,” he said.“Now you can show me your bed.”
Chapter 12
Wade
By the time we got close to Dustin’s place, I’d reconciled with what we’d done.If we could force a slimeball slumlord to stick to the straight and narrow, that was Justice League indeed.
