Page 67 of Milk
“You slimy bastard,” I grunted. He laughed, a dry, rattling sound.
“Mr. Carter Hill,” Komodo said, “Today is the day! The deal we had is done.”
I glanced at Sarah again. She rubbed Komodo’s arm with her free hand and gave me a shy smile. A part of me wanted to drag this out, to have a proper reunion, but that could wait another few minutes, just a few. Some things couldn’t be delayed.
“Today is the day,” I agreed, gesturing towards my laptop. “The last transfer should already be in your account.”
He turned and said something in another language, but not one I spoke, to one of his assistants. He took his phone, grunted, then nodded, putting it down. Komodo turned to me.
“It seems it is,” Komodo said, full of gravitas for a man so small. “Now there is only one thing left to do.”
One of his goons approached, revealing his hand was handcuffed to a briefcase. Komodo took a key out of his maroon jacket pocket. Unlocking the cuff, he snorted quietly as if he had just remembered a mildly funny joke, then he signaled for the bodyguard to approach me. He did, turning the briefcase horizontal and opening it. U.S. hundred dollar bills. Many stacks of them. I nodded, trusting the right amount was there. Komodo’s reputation spoke for itself. The goon closed the case and passed it to me. I closed the latches and left it on the sand.
“Two things,” I said after. “There are two things left to do.”
“Is that so?” Komodo asked. “What is the other?”
It was my turn to motion to Susan. She reached into her purse and produced a clam phone, a relic of another time, but it served its purpose. I took it and handed it to Komodo.
“Call the number programmed,” I said, sitting back on my lounge chair and opening my laptop.
The cameras overlooking the facility were still working. I heard the beeps of the old phone as Komodo navigated to the number. I spotted the footage of the KKK members holding up their guns, sweeping the ranch, trying to find Jason. I had sent them the keycard myself after dismissing the whole staff along with a note telling those fucking Nazis where they could findtheir boss. A dial tone echoed from Komodo’s phone. I smiled. Another few seconds and the phone he’d call would set off the explosives placed all across Sunshine Sanctuary.
A few cameras went offline, and the rest flickered briefly. The wet cement dams detonated, flooding the elevator shaft with several metric tons of concrete. The above-ground buildings of the facility collapsed in a controlled demolition. That rubble would be the tombstone that marked the graves of Jason’s friends. I watched with a smirk as they panicked. There was no sound, but I could see their faces contorting as one of them screamed, finding Jason’s body in the stable where I left it.
The generator would run for a couple of weeks. I’d watch them succumb to starvation and cannibalism in their final desperate hours, as they became the last witness of my father’s cursed legacy.
It was over.
“Thank you,” I said to Komodo, closing the laptop.
“Our partnership was … very prosperous, old friend. You honored your father’s debt. That’s all I could ask of you,” Komodo said.
“Good. Because - I mean no offense,old friend, but I’m done.”
“Understandable,” Komodo said, leaning on his cane.
“No. I have a man in Manila that I’d rather not leave waiting,” Komodo said.
My eyes went to Sarah, and she offered me a bittersweet smile and a shrug of shoulders. I cleared my throat. “No time for a reunion?”
“Not this time, brother,” she said gently. “But you’re welcome to visit,” her eyes flitted behind me. “Or perhaps invite us to something soon.”
Us,I hated the word and the idea of involving Komodo in my future, but I had a feeling I’d be seeing Sarah again. Not afeeling, but an unspoken promise. She was the only family-by-blood that I had left. I’d wanted to find her and know her for so long.
“You’re welcome to visit with an …advanced notice,” Komodo corrected.
Sarah rolled her eyes, but smiled. “That was implied. I’m sure Carterhas manners.”
Komodo looked from the phone I’d handed him to the laptop, then Sarah. Nothing more had to be said. Komodo just cleared his throat and said, “Have a good life, Mr. Carter Hill. WhetherIsee you again or not.”
He walked away, my sister’s hand in his. I watched them go, a hollow ache in my chest. She was a hostage, a piece of leverage to keep me in line, and somewhere along the way, she’d learned to call her cage home. Maybe she was happy. Maybe she loved him. Or maybe she was just like me, a survivor who had learned to love the monster who held the keys. I couldn’t judge her for it. In the end, we were both free, and we had both chosen our paths. I sighed, then I heard Susan’s voice.
“Was that really necessary? We could’ve demolished the facility a couple of days ago.”
“Not if we wanted to trap those nazis,” I said.
“We could’ve done that months ago.”
