Page 48 of Jael

Danny looked at Eva. “You think you can get him free?”

She nodded. Her focus was completely on him, too afraid to look anywhere else.

“I’m sorry for all this,” he said to no one in particular. “I thought I’d be able to do more. Burger, for what it’s worth, you have a good girl here, and she deserves the best from you. This is your chance to turn your life around for her sake. Whatever you’re mixed up with, stop.”

“I can’t. Artus won’t let me go. He’ll kill me first.”

“Yeah, well, you never know what the future holds. If you have the chance to get free of him, make sure you do the right thing by Eva.”

Danny followed Christopher out to the car, wondering if he’d be better off walking. He would rather have walked, but Christopher buzzed his window down.

“You coming? Or what?”

“I thought you couldn’t stand the sight of me.”

“I can’t.” Christopher laughed. “But get in anyway. You may not be good for a proper job, but you can now consider yourself in the full employ of Artus Sisera. Desertion carries a death sentence.”

Danny paused. He wasn’t afraid of Christopher’s threat. This was the break he’d been hoping for, but pretending to grovel didn’t suit him. He took one last look at the house, then got in the car.

“You should have seen your face back there,” Christopher said in another round of laughter.

“I’m sorry if I don’t find it as amusing as you do.”

“That’s because you take yourself way too seriously. Wasn’t there ever a time when this was fun?”

“Not really. I did what I was asked because I was good at it, and I got paid well. But I’d never been asked to hurt a kid.”

“No kid was hurt, were they? Come on, Danny, even you have to admit that it worked wonders on Burger to have his daughter there.”

“He would have caved with the beating you gave him. That would have been more than enough.”

Christopher sped down the road. “I would have been better off on my own.”

“Then why’d you bring me?”

“Test run.”

“Oh yeah? Or did you know there would be a kid there, and you needed someone to wrangle her?”

“Of course I knew. Everyone knows Burger’s the only one stupid enough to keep a kid around when he works with dangerous folks like my father. He has only himself to blame. Oh, by the way, I can’t make any promises that you’ll get paid for today.”

Danny had to turn his head to keep Christopher from seeing the revulsion on his face. “I expected as much.”

“Good. At least you’re man enough to know when you’ve messed up. I can’t promise we’ll have any more work for you into the future besides what we’ve already discussed. I don’t know that you’re good for more than gathering gossip.”

“Probably not.”

Christopher grunted. “I should have known that Gregory would only keep weak men close to him. The sad thing is you prop him up. He’s fallen so far, even you stand out next to him.”

“That’s a pretty nasty thing to say about a man who’s given you so much.”

“If he hadn’t given it, we would have taken it. Gregory is too full of his own self-importance to know what’s going on right under his nose. Not that it will matter soon.”

Danny wanted to ask but knew Christopher wouldn’t give him any more information. He was on a high after abusing Burger. It made him boastful.

Christopher reached for the stereo and blasted his heavy metal, which meant Danny could focus on the houses streaming past out the window. He was relieved he wouldn’t have to keep the conversation going.

The drive home went faster than expected, and when they pulled up outside of Danny’s building, Christopher only turned the music down a couple of notches before shouting, “I’ll probably see you around. Don’t forget about putting in a good word with Jael.” He gave Danny a warning look. “What goes on at work stays at work. You got it? If I find out she heard about our little outing, I’ll end you.”

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