Page 64 of Balls to the Walls

“Are you supposed to contact him?” Again, he didn’t answer. I pulled on his body again until he screamed in pain. “Don’t make me gut you and send the pictures to your wife.”

“They were Gelbero’s men,” he screamed. “He’ll know that Jack’s good when they don’t return.”

“And you? What’s your part in his organization?”

“I take care of the jobs he doesn’t want to handle himself.”

“Then I better make sure to give you a good sendoff.”

His eyes grew wide with panic. “But you said?—”

“I said I wouldn’t touch your wife or your family,” I hissed. “I can’t let you live.”

“He’ll know!” he shouted, trying to find a way to save his own life.

“There are two ways we can handle this. I can kill you and make it look like an enemy got to you, or I can make it look like you died a traitor. The latter will force his hand. He’ll go after your family and kill them. It’s your choice. Tell me what you want to happen.”

Resignation settled on his face. He had been in the business long enough to know there was no way out. Men like him didn’t tend to have a long life expectancy. But he would do anything to keep his family safe.

“Fine. I’ll tell you. But you have to do exactly what I say.”

I nodded.

“He has an enemy that kills the same way every time.”

“Who?”

“You don’t need to know that. The only thing that matters is that you do exactly what I say.”

I disagreed. He could be lying to me to send a message to his boss.

“My family’s life is at stake. Trust me, I’m not going to do anything to put them in danger. If I give you any more information, it could trigger a string of events that you don’t want to be in the middle of. I need to give my family a chance to escape and get somewhere safe.”

“Fine. Tell me what I need to know.”

“When you kill me, it needs to be—” His eyes dropped for a moment before he looked at me again. “You have to shoot me in the face. It’s his version of wiping his enemies from all existence.”

“Okay,” I said, accepting what he was saying. No man would ask to be shot in the face. He was telling the truth.

“You need to leave my body in a location that sends a message. Uh…there’s a shipping warehouse—Gelbero does all his business out of there. If you leave me in front of the gates, he’ll get the message.”

“And trigger a war,” I added on.

“But my family will be safe, which is all I care about.”

“Then I’ll make it happen.”

I pulled my gun from the holster and pointed it at his face. “Any last words?”

“Make sure they’re safe. I’m trusting my family with you.”

I didn’t make him any promises. I just pulled the trigger and made his death quick. His head flopped back as he continued to hang from his wrists. I didn’t move for a long time. I stood there with my weapon still pointed at his head. A sharp pain lodged itself in my chest, something close to regret.

I’d seen death way more than a man should in his lifetime. It had never been a problem before, but I’d also never used a man’s family against him. All I could think about now was if I was in his shoes and how much danger I was putting Tahlia in. This shit with Rafe had to end. I never thought I would want to work for a man like Cash. I stupidly thought that I was serving a higher purpose because I worked for Rafe. How wrong I was. I almost got my brother’s family killed and now Jack was in serious danger that only he could get himself out of.

It was time to head back to OPS and finally get on board once and for all with Cash. I would protect my family and find a way to get Jack out alive. Because if he didn’t make it out, I knew I would never be able to forgive myself for allowing him to step into my shoes.

“That’s a shame,” FNG said as he walked over, munching on Funyuns. “You know, it sort of reminds me of the woman in Utah.”

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