Page 47 of Justice for Radar

“There’s more, a lot more.”

“Fuck,” I muttered.

“Hey, Papá.” Mariposa’s voice was soft behind me, and I jumped.

“Shit, ah, hey buddy… gonna have to fill me in a little later if that’s alright,” I said.

“Sure thing, no problem. You coming to the beach with the rest of the crew today?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ll see you there,” I said.

“Good deal – see you then.” He ended the call.

“Everything alright?” Mariposa asked, sliding up onto one of the kitchen stools.

“Yeah, baby. Just Uncle Atlas about work is all.”

“Ah, is there coffee?” she asked hopefully.

“Coming right up, baby.”

I got my hands to work, finishing up and getting the coffee maker going, but how I couldn’t tell you. My mind was going a mile a minute, the hamster wheel turning the cogs and gears in my brain going at warp fucking speed trying to digest everything that Atlas had told me. I had a gut feeling, but I wanted to see what he had to say first, before jumping to conclusions.

All the while, no matter how many revolutions that hamster wheel took, it kept sticking on one awful thought…Jesus Fuck the things Jussy had been through…and then this, on top of it all.

I tried my best to shake it off. This was going to be my last day with her for who knew how long, and I wanted to make it count.

But first, coffee…

* * *

“Hey.”I watched Hope, Faith, and Charity sort of mob my new girlfriend and take her into the captain’s house to find her a suit to wear. The girls were all smiles and laughter, easy going postures and just an all-around brightness, which was slowly working its magic on my girl’s stiff posture and rictus fake smile for politeness’ sake despite her discomfort.

I turned to Atlas and Cutter, who were grouped with me in the drive. “What’s going on, brother?” Cutter asked.

“You didn’t get a chance to fill him in?” I asked Atlas.

Atlas shook his head, and we filled the captain in. Cutter got a hard look in his eyes.

“What prison you say this scumbag was in?” he asked.

Atlas rattled it off and Cutter just met my eyes, gave me a single nod, and turned around and went in the house, pulling his phone out of the inside pocket of his cut.

“Well, that’s one down,” Atlas declared, and he turned back to look at me.

“Who’s to go?” I asked.

“Right, so I tracked both names you gave me and you were right, ‘Billy’ was an alias he was using to play your girl.”

“So, who is the motherfucker really?”

“Well, Travis Morrisonishis real name, and hedoeswork for the kind of company that Jussy described, but he gave her a fake name there, too.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “Gimme the rundown.”

“Travis Morrison, no criminal record, works as a transient contractor forCommunications Direct, a company that lays fiberoptic line and gets infrastructure set up for internet service. No wife, no kids, no girlfriend, no permanent residence that I can tell. Uses his sister’s address out there in Texas near Jussy. About two hours from her – but here’s where it gets interesting,” he said.

“Ah, yeah?” I crossed my arms and waited him out and it didn’t take long.

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