by Brian Cotton
Chapter .41
Kaspar looked to the front. Something caught his eye out of the windshield. This neighborhood…it looked too familiar. He searched his mind for a moment. It took a few seconds of reflection to realize where they were. It had been a while since the last time he was here, when Krys helped him escape his apartment.
“Hey, boss,” Kaspar said. “What are we doing here? Does Danny have a recruit for us or something?”
Paxton sighed. “Yeah, kid, something like that.”
“Well, that silly son of a bitch picked a funny time to tell us about it, right in the middle of an operation.”
“This operation hasn’t ended.”
Kaspar could feel his stomach turn. What could that mean, this operation hasn’t ended? Did Danny know something vital? But, how could he, if he only handled the recruiting part? Kaspar decided just to sit and wait. He didn’t have the heart to ask Paxton what he meant. He looked around the back and saw Krys’s eyes staring into his. Kaspar looked away from them and stared down at his gloved hands. He rubbed them together. What did it all mean?
The van came to a halt. The team threw on their masks then filed out. Kaspar was the last team member out. His feet hit the pavement. He grabbed the double doors and slammed them shut. With his PSD slung over his shoulder, he started to make his way towards the house. Something grabbed him from behind on his arm.
“Ryan.” Paxton said through his mask.
“Yes, sir?”
“Danny…he’s been playing both sides.”
Kaspar gripped his PSD with both hands. “Run that by me again?”
“He’s been working for them.”
“No way,” Kaspar said. A wave of denial hit him. “Not Danny…there’s no way.”
“I’m afraid it’s true. Robert confirmed it for me.”
“Then there’s a mistake.”
“No,” Paxton said. He shook his head. “There is no mistake. His name is all over those reports we just got. He’s signed off on all of them.”
“No…no.”
“Ryan, I know this is going to be difficult for you. But, I need you to stay calm in there. We need whatever Intel he has.” Paxton said in a soft yet stern voice.
“Look, we’ll get the information from him. But, I’m sure there’s some kind of explanation for all this. If he is working for them, then how come he helps you with your recruiting?” Kaspar wondered.
“That’s what we’re here to find out. Can I trust you on this?”
“Yes, sir.” Kaspar replied. He reaffirmed his grip on his gun.
“All right,” Paxton replied with a head motion to move in. “Showtime, kid.”
Denial still filled Kaspar’s mind as he followed Paxton to the house. There’s no way, he kept telling himself. Not Danny, not the man who became like a father to him…the father that he never had. When he reached the front porch, his fists balled together in anger as another thought entered: Mother.
The front door’s foundations where shattered after a hard kick from Kilbourne’s boot. Everyone filed through the front of the house with their weapons drawn. Kaspar was last once more, his PSD shouldered, his finger on the trigger and ready to fire. Danny walked through the back hallway with his robe on and a drink in hand. He didn’t look surprised at all, almost like he had invited guests over for drinks.
He was ordered to place his hands on his head by Paxton. Danny did so. His glass went crashing to the ground and shattered on the tile floor. The light brown liquid moved in all directions. Danny showed a look of disappointment.
Danny walked across the kitchen to the dining room. He pulled back one of the chairs next to his table and sat down. He pulled a pack of his cigarettes out of his bathrobe and laid them on the table. Danny moved his eyes across to each of the masked vigilantes in his kitchen; he didn’t say a word to any of them. Kaspar had to fight back every impulse inside to shoot Danny in his face and be done with it.
Answers first. That was the only thought that kept him from pulling the trigger.
“You all can take off those masks,” Danny said. He opened the pack of smokes and shook one out. “I know who you all are.”
Kaspar was the first to rip his mask off. Moisture started to build up in his frozen blue eyes; tears that were all parts anger, fatigue, and sadness. He looked Danny square in the eye, the only thing his old friend could do was look away. Kaspar kept his gaze on him, as well as his PSD aimed right at the chest.
“Ryan,” Paxton said as he took of his mask. “Lower your weapon.”
The order went unheard. The PSD remained aimed. His trigger finger ready to fire if Danny so much as made a move or a sound. Just do it, Kaspar said as his trigger finger began to tremble. Do it!
“Kaspar!” Paxton yelled.
“Sir,” Kaspar replied.
“Remember what we talked about outside.”
Kaspar lowered his weapon. He shook his head as he did so. Danny breathed a sigh of relief. At least he would get to live a little bit longer, a prospect that Kaspar did not want to acknowledge. He wanted the treacherous son of a bitch killed right here and now. He breathed in then spit on Danny’s carpet. He rubbed the saliva in with his boot. Kaspar turned his back to his new enemy; the only thing he could do to prevent something stupid happening. He looked at Krys as he walked into the living room. Her face, which had given him comfort before, did not do so. Not now.
“Just a matter of time, I guess.” Danny said. He placed the cigarette between his lips.
Paxton stepped forward. “Danny, just what in the hell is going on?”
“I guess you figured me out, eh, John?”
“Just answer the question. We’ve got you signing off on USR documents. Documents that name you as a team lead for one of their operations. Is that true?” Paxton demanded.
Danny removed the cigarette. “Yes.”
“Why? What caused you to turn?”
“Whoever said anything about turning?” Danny asked with a laugh. “Has it even occurred to you that I’ve been working with them this whole time?”
“How is that possible?” Paxton wondered.
Danny laughed and replaced the cigarette back between his lips. He took his Zippo, using the flame to light up. He took a slow drag. He laughed in between drags. Danny stared at the five faces that looked stone cold right back at him.
“We need you.”
“What?” Paxton demanded.
Danny took another drag. Paxton pondered in the brief moment of silence what he was just told. Danny had been a double agent, playing both sides at the same time. Or, was he only playing one side? Something about that statement, ‘we need you’, caused his heart to sink and mind to race. He gripped his Glock with both hands. Danny had better start answering his questions right now.
“You ever notice,” Danny said between puffs, “how every time you guys cause a ruckus, the USR seems to get bigger? The enforcement on the streets grows. The arrest counts stack higher.”
Paxton gritted his teeth. “You’ve been using us…this whole time.”
“Life’s a bitch, ain’t it, soldier?”
Escalation. A term that Paxton was very familiar with; something he knew would happen when he built his rebel unit. His team would fight the corruption around them. The USR would step up enforcement as it would be necessary for them to fight back. They would grow desperate to find the ‘terrorists’ responsible for the chaos in the city. Paxton was desperate, as well, to see things change; to aid in the destruction of the USR. In that desperation, it never dawned on him that he could be used so that the tail end of escalation could take place. Paxton’s breathing grew heavy.
“How deep does this shit go?” Paxton demanded.
“You think there are other rebels out there, don’t you?”
“Of course there are.”
“We’ve been able to eliminate them.” Danny took a drag. “One by one, we’ve just focused
the media attention on you guys.”
“Why just us?”
Danny laughed. “We know you very well, John Paxton. We knew that you would stop at nothing to bring this whole big, bad, evil government down. You’ve been playing your part…very well.”
“Played my part?”
“That’s right. We’ve been playing you all like instruments. And, we government types do enjoy a good symphony.”
While he rocked back and forth on the couch, Kaspar couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t listen to Danny’s voice any longer. He couldn’t care less about being used. Only thing was on his mind. Something had to be done about it.
Right now.
