Page 38 of The Plunge

Since the Covey's only way to contact me is via the cell phone I left behind, I was the one who had to initiate contact, using a secure voiceover internet connection. I called Tom for the first time two days ago. My heart raced in tense suspense as I expected him to accuse me of abandoning the Covey when my job was still unfinished. After all, I had been out of reach for more than forty-eight hours, something that has never happened before.

But he wasn't suspicious at all, revealing that he hasn't dialed my number once since I left my phone behind, which also meant there was nothing new to report.

That was a relief on the one hand and annoying on the other because it meant the Covey was getting nowhere with their approach to Clyde Abbott. And as long as he's still alive, I'm not off the hook.

Today, however, is different. I can tell by the tone of Tom's voice right away.

"Keane!" he barks at me. "Where the fuck are you? Why aren't you answering your goddamn phone?"

There we go. This is the kind of response I was expecting.

"Lying low for a while," I simply say, trying to sound nonchalant while my pulse is racing at top speed. "Remember, I was the last person Clyde looked at before he jumped inside that elevator. I was wearing a mask, but just in case he or any of his men knew who I was... I should probably be careful myself."

There's a pause at the other end, making me wonder whether Tom is buying my bullshit. He's not the brightest bulb in the box but not a total idiot either, so this could go either way.

"Any news about Abbott?" I ask, attempting to stop his contemplation before he has time to become suspicious.

He lets out an annoyed growl before he replies. "Not really, man, or well, kind of. The guy is gone! We had eyes on him during the first few days, holding back while they were getting ready to put his wife to rest. But once she was in the ground, boom! Asshole disappeared."

I furrow my eyebrows as anger and surprise blend in a grimace on my face. "What do you mean, he disappeared? How is that possible?"

"We don't fucking know! He's not at any of his usual places. We checked them all. There's security at every single one of his places within the city and the family's country home, but he's not there."

"How can you be so sure?"

"We are," Tom insists. "We've been watching all his places since the event, and we haven’t seen him enter any of them. He stayed at the hospital first, then a hotel, but we have no fucking clue where he went after his wife's funeral."

"Fuck!" I hiss. "Why didn't we take him out while he was still at the hotel? We had him then."

Tom lets out a dark and evil laugh at the other end.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he exclaims. "Why didn't you take him out on the tower like you were supposed to? We wouldn't have all this trouble if it wasn't for your massive failure!"

I nod, biting my lips to keep myself from saying something I might regret.

"And where the fuck were you for Jered's funeral?" Tom probes. "He was our buddy, man. What kind of chicken shit are you not to show up at his funeral?"

Jered wasn't really a buddy of mine, more like a work colleague who I had very little to do with. Tom was a lot closer to him, so I know that the loss is harder for him to bear than it is for me.

"I'm sorry, man." It's a heartfelt apology, apparent in the low and circumspect tone of my voice.

Tom sighs. "Well, yeah... what can you do. It's not like the bosses really cared."

He huffs in disgust, and I'm sure he's the one now biting his lips to keep himself from saying something stupid. I know he isn't in it as much as other Covey henchmen are, at least not anymore. He's grown tired of it just as I have. But neither of us ever had the courage to say it out loud.

"Fuck, man, I just want this job done," he adds, almost sounding desperate. "We need to fucking find this Abbott asshole and hope he didn't leave the country or something."

His words hit a spot with me, causing my head to spin as an idea forms within the walls of my afflicted skull.

An idea that could lead the Covey to Clyde Abbott and free myself from their bounds especially since I would be the one to finally enable his assassination.

Because I possess knowledge about the Abbott family that no one else does.

Clyde Abbott may not have left the country.

But he could've retreated to a place that no one in the Covey knows of.

No one but me.

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