Wolf's Revenge

by Lachlan Smith

  “How can you call what you do law enforcement?”

  Braxton stopped walking, turned to face me. His eyes were emotionless. “In a few months, the dust is going to settle. A lot of bodies are going to fall between now and then. Eventually, a new leader of the AB will emerge. At that point, you can expect a visit from the new leader’s lieutenant. I expect you to notify me as soon as that occurs.”

  I stared back at him. This man had used me and my family. He’d used up my father and then he’d focused on Teddy and Tamara, turning them into bait for a trap that didn’t spring in Anaheim. Now he’d set his sights on me.

  Braxton held my gaze. “Don’t you want to finish the work your father started?”

  “There’s no finish,” I said. “You’ve just proved that. The old faces merely get replaced by new ones. It’s a revolving cast. You accepted long ago that you can’t stop them, can’t deter them, can’t punish them, so you’ve merely adopted their tactics in an effort to contain them. It’s a game, and I’m not playing it.”

  “I’m not playing either.”

  I suddenly saw him for what he was: not a man, or, rather, not merely one. Rather, he was an instrument capable of channeling the immense power of the federal government, the thumb of a giant that could press down and crush a man at will.

  “Don’t forget. As long as you’re a free man, the AB owns you.” He paused, holding my gaze. “And that means I own you. Because the alternative, believe me, is federal indictments for you and Teddy. You’ve spent your career helping men on the wrong side of the law. For once in your life, do the right thing.”

  “Do you even know what that is?”

  Braxton ignored my question. “They’re going to come after you, regardless of what you and I decide.” His voice was utterly calm and completely certain. “They’ll give you the same choice I’ve given you, in essence, except their consequences will be more sudden than mine, and far more permanent. When push comes to shove, you’ll realize that whoever takes over for Bo will expect to inherit your services, just the way Sims expected to. The only freedom for a man in your situation’s the kind I’m offering.”

  I took a step away from him, shading my eyes against the suddenly bright sunlight piercing the trees. I needed to be at Kaiser Permanente, the hospital where my family was being taken, to hold Carly’s hand and hear my brother’s account of their ordeal, help them begin the long process of healing from this trauma. But the certainty in Braxton’s voice froze me.

  Hard experience over the previous three years told me he was right. They would come.

  I thought of the box of ashes still sitting in my office. Maybe Lawrence hadn’t felt any braver than I did. Maybe he spent all those years as a CI as frightened as I felt now, not primarily for himself but for those he loved and couldn’t protect.

  My voice shook. “What do you mean, freedom? What ‘freedom’?”

  “The freedom to fight back,” Braxton said. “That’s the only one that matters. For your sake, I hope they leave you alone. But if they don’t … call me. Don’t make me come for you.”

  Our business for now concluded, Braxton walked back toward the house where my brother’s family had been held.

  I watched until he turned the corner. Then I went the other way, striding blindly down an unknown road.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to everyone who made this book possible. The list begins with my wife, Sarah Moody; and our parents, whose love and support make writing possible. Leo Maxwell wouldn’t exist without my agent, Gail Hochman; my publisher, Otto Penzler; and my editor, Michele Slung. I’m grateful to everyone else who worked on this book, including Allison Malecha, Sal Destro, Julia Berner-Tobin, Tom Cherwin, Gretchen Mergenthaler, Carlos Beltrán, and Deb Seager. Last but not least, thank you to my readers.