Page 8 of Safe Enough

“So how would you feel if you dropped a penny and it rolled down the storm drain? A single lousy cent?”

“I wouldn’t really give a shit,” I said.

“Exactly. This is like a guy with two hundred in his pocket who loses a penny under the sofa cushion. How uptight is anyone going to be?”

“With these guys, it’s not about the money,” I said.

“I know,” he said.

We went quiet and drank our beers. Mine felt gassy against my teeth. I don’t know how his felt to him. He probably wasn’t tasting it at all.

“They’ve got this other guy,” he said. “Dude called Octavian. He’s their investigator. And their enforcer. He’s going to come for me.”

“People get robbed,” I said. “Shit happens.”

“Octavian is supposed to be real scary. I’ve heard bad things.”

“You were robbed. What can he do?”

“He can make sure I’m telling the truth, is what he can do. I’ve heard he has a way of asking questions that makes you want to answer.”

“You stand firm, he can’t get blood out of a rock.”

“They showed me a guy in a wheelchair. Story was that Octavian had him walking on his knees up and down a gravel patch for a week. Walking on the beach, he calls it. The pain is supposed to be terrible. And the guy got gangrene afterward, lost his legs.”

“Who is this Octavian guy?”

“I’ve never seen him.”

“Is he another Colombian?”

“I don’t know.”

“Didn’t the guy in the wheelchair say?”

“He had no tongue. Story is Octavian cut it out.”

“You need a plan,” I said.

“He could walk in here right now. And I wouldn’t know.”

“So you need a plan fast.”

“I could go to LA.”

“Could you?”

“Not really,” the guy said. “Octavian would find me. I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder the whole rest of my life.”

I paused. Took a breath.

“People get robbed, right?” I said.

“It happens,” he said. “It’s not unknown.”

“So you could pin it on the Boston people. Start a war up there. Take the heat off of yourself. You could come out of this like an innocent victim. The first casualty. Nearly a hero.”

“If I can convince this guy Octavian.”

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