Page 83 of Conquering Oz

“Why?” Trey asked.

“Because aside from him, there was a little girl riding her bike. She went from one end of the street to the other. Back and forth.”

“His kid?” Rogue asked.

Sal nodded. “Jimmy and Artie wanted to do it that night, but that girl didn’t need to see that. Eddie was a fucking piece of shit, but for her, he was her dad. I wouldn’t let them take the shot. Not with her there. Made the call to go back the next day and take care of him.” Sal glanced over at Oz. “You, me, Jimmy, and Artie.”

I remember.The background hadn’t jogged his memory until the end of Sal’s recollection. Oz recalled Jimmy being furious that Sal refused to let him take out Eddie that night. It was one of many fights the brothers had. Sal always won.

Oz drew in a breath. Rogue and Trey were too young and too new to remember. But Oz did. How could he forget?You never forget your first.

“Made arrangements to ambush him at his house. Make it look like a random home invasion. At that time, the neighborhood had a string of break-ins. It was an easy coverup. No one would question it. We had it all set up. As predicted, he was alone, and it was going to work out.” Sal sighed. “But that’s the beauty and tragedy of it. Some plans don’t work out as one would hope.”

“Sal, I—” Trey paused, sharing a look with Oz. They were on the same page. Sal was veering off course again. “What does this have to do with Elodie?”

Sal’s lips pulled down in a frown. “Eddie was supposed to be alone in the house. His wife left for work at eight thirty, and their daughter was in school.” Sal paused, shaking his head, whispering, “She wasn’t supposed to be there.”

Who?

Oz had been there that day. He didn’t remember all his jobs through the years. There’d been too many. But he remembered this one. As he could recall, it went down according to plan. Oz himself had taken the final shot at Eddie Burns.

“Sal?” Trey urged.

It was as if Sal was caught in a memory he couldn’t quite shake. “We’d roughed him up and flipped the house. There was only one thing left to do. No witnesses, boys. Jimmy took the first shot.” Sal angled his head, looking at Oz. “You took the second.”

Oz gave a curt nod, remembering the details.

“As we were leaving, I noticed a small movement, like a flash. Looked around and didn’t see anything until I was halfway across the room. Right past the doorway to the kitchen. Her light hair blending into the cream-colored wallpaper. She was so little. And she never moved. Just stared.” Sal’s voice hitched, repeating himself. “She was just so small.”

Oz’s chest tightened, and he turned in his seat, staring at Sal.

“Wide eyes, frozen in fear. I’m going to remember that look until the day that I die.”

“His kid?” Trey asked.

Sal nodded.

There was a long stretch of silence as everyone tried to piece it all together. But how did this link to Elodie? Before anyone could inquire, Sal straightened in his seat and looked over at Oz.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Oz asked.

Sal flattened his lips and sighed. “You know why.”

Oz cupped his mouth and sat back in the chair. There was a certain code even for the worst of them. Children were never on the table. But not everyone lived by the rules. Jimmy would’ve been a liability seeing Eddie’s child as a witness.

“You’re still fucking here, Sal, so obviously the kid didn’t say anything,” Rogue said. “Probably doesn’t even remember from back then.”

“She remembers.” Sal cleared his throat. “Elodie Martin is on her birth certificate. It’s her mother’s maiden name. Had she been given her father’s last name?” Sal paused, angling his head, looking directly at Oz. “She’d be Elodie Burns.”

Oz’s muscles tightened, blood rushing through his veins and a strangling hold tightening over his chest. No one made a sound. He stared across the room, gathering all his control, refusing to react.

“How’d you know she wouldn’t go to the police?” Trey asked.

“I didn’t.” Sal shook his head. “But I knew that if I could get to her mom fast enough, she’d do the right thing. Silence Elodie.”

“You threatened her?” The accusation came out harsher than Oz intended.

Sal drew in a breath. “Her mother denied Elodie seeing anything. Refused to admit what I knew as fact. Elodie saw us. Her mom was protecting her. I respected that. But I had to protect the Underground. Told her as long as her daughter kept quiet, they’d be safe and offered her cash. Paid her out over the years. She took Elodie and moved across town to a nicer section of Lawry. Her mom stayed silent.” Sal sighed. “And so did Elodie.”

---