by Chad Zunker
“Is that all that was in the letter, Jessica?” David asked.
“No, my father also mentioned that he’d left some money for me and Cassie Ray. He said you’d send it to me.” She sighed again. “I’m not expecting much of anything.”
“If I find something, I’ll definitely send it to you. I promise.”
“Okay, thank you.”
David felt a deep sadness settle on him. This was Benny’s daughter. His only family. “Jessica, you need to know that your father was a special friend to me. As a matter of fact, he was special to a lot of people here in Austin.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Did he suffer?”
“No, he passed away instantly.” David didn’t feel it necessary to expound on the wild story behind Benny’s death. Jessica had suffered enough already.
“I’ve got to go,” Jessica said.
“Okay, but keep my number. If you or Cassie ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to call me. I want to help you any way I can.”
She thanked him and hung up.
David looked over at Jen. She held up her phone to show him a map on her screen.
“Where is it?” David asked.
“Austin Bike Tours and Rentals. Four blocks from here.”
“Let’s go.”
David did a quick U-turn, spun the tires.
David pulled the car to a stop in front of a huge light-blue shipping container that had been converted into a makeshift bike shop with a sign above it that said AUSTIN BIKE TOURS AND RENTALS. It was late—the bike shop was currently closed. Just the same, David and Jen got out, walked up to it, the note with the number combination in Jen’s hands.
“The lockers,” Jen said, veering around to the side of the container.
At the end of the shipping container, they found a wall of built-in small metal lockers where bikers stored small amounts of gear during rides. The lockers were labeled from one to two hundred. The address Jessica had passed along to them said #82. David found the locker on the bottom row. Like dozens of others, it currently had a combination lock on it. What was inside? The video? His heart raced. Jen read out the combination as David spun the lock back and forth in his fingers until the lock released. Tugging open the locker door, he found a small black banker bag inside. David quickly unzipped the bag and took a peek. Not only did he find the X envelope Benny had on him the first night they’d met, still filled with a load of cash, but David also discovered a handheld Flip video camera. David looked up at Jen, both of them feeling the energy of the moment.
They rushed back over to Jen’s car and dropped inside. Turning on the ceiling light, David quickly skimmed the cash in the envelope. Benny still had thousands of dollars left. He’d make sure to get that to Jessica. David examined the handheld camera. It had a port that popped out to download captured videos easily onto computers or external drives. But did the camera still have a video loaded on it? He pressed the camera’s red circular button and watched the small digital screen come to life.
He found only one video—a screen capture of Jerry Landon’s now-familiar face. David pressed “Play” as they watched in silence.
THIRTY-NINE
On the video, Jerry Landon sat in the same chair by the window where they’d tried to engage with him a few hours earlier. However, he looked much different. His eyes were focused and alert; there was even a bit more color in the old man’s face. He seemed lucid, like he was another person. As Kim had mentioned to them, Benny’s visit had somehow momentarily snapped Jerry back to reality. In his hands, Jerry held the framed navy group photo, as if the two men had been reminiscing about old times. The recording started when the two old men appeared to be deep into their visit together. Jerry seemed at ease sitting there with Benny. However, David noted that it didn’t seem like Jerry was even aware their conversation was being recorded, as if Benny were discreetly holding the camera in his lap. The video showed only Jerry in the shot.
“You remember that night?” Benny asked, off camera.
Jerry, who had been smiling, suddenly frowned. “It’s haunted me my whole life.”
“I think it’s haunted all of us,” Benny added.
“Should’ve never happened,” Jerry said, shifting his frail weight in the chair.
“We were young and stupid. But Cliff always blamed you.”
This made Jerry sit upright. “To hell with Cliff! He was the instigator. Not me.”
“How do you remember it, Jerry?”
Jerry looked off, took a long moment. “It was Cliff’s birthday, remember?” he said, turning back to Benny. “We hit the bars hard that night. We were all drunk as hell. More than usual. Marv took a swing at that big jarhead, and all hell broke loose. They kicked us out of that joint fast. We were all pretty worked up on the walk back to the barracks. That’s when Cliff spotted her—the Asian girl. Cliff tried to be smooth, but he was a blabbering idiot. That girl didn’t want any part of him; she just kept walking away. We all had a good laugh at his expense, which made Cliff really angry. He was always a hothead. Hell, he’s the one who snapped that night! Not me! Cliff’s the one who grabbed that girl and pulled her into the alley . . .”
Jerry swallowed, looked over toward the window again. A long moment passed.
“You take a turn?” Benny asked Jerry.
“Of course.” He looked back at Benny. “Didn’t you?”
“No, but I didn’t stop it, either. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen. I’ll never stop hearing her screams. I never said a word about it to anyone.”
“We had a pact,” Jerry mentioned. “I suppose everyone kept it all these years.”
“I suppose. We all deserve hell.”
“Probably.”
The video kept rolling as both men sat there in uncomfortable silence.
Jerry then turned to Benny again and angrily muttered, “Can’t believe Cliff is trying to put that on me. If I ever see that fool again, I swear he’s going to get a piece of me.”
The video screen went black.
David looked over at Jen, who sat there wide-eyed. “Benny clearly went to Harbor Courts to talk to Jerry and try to get this story on camera. He must’ve used it to email Nick and Lyons after discovering they were Joe Landon’s attorneys and tried to blackmail Landon. Having a father connected to something like this would certainly hurt Landon’s campaign. And you told me he’s already spent ten million dollars.”
Jen nodded. “Landon might not survive the all-out media spectacle.”
“So he tried to stop it. Enter Mark Appleton.”
They were quickly putting the pieces together.
Jen shook her head. “Landon knew from the video that it originated from one of his father’s old navy friends. He just didn’t know which one.”
“So he killed them all.”
“Oh, Benny.” Jen sighed. “What did you do?”
“Benny couldn’t have anticipated this kind of escalating result. He completely misjudged how far Landon would go to cover this thing up. He got himself killed because of that, and he nearly got us and the rest of the boys killed, too.”
“How wrapped up do you think your boss is in all of this?”
“I have my suspicions. But I need to confirm them.”
“What are you going to do, David?”
He started the car, punched the gas pedal.
“I’m going to get the truth.”
FORTY
David stood outside Lyons’s office door, took a deep breath, and tried to gather himself. His heart was pounding. He could feel the weight of the moment. Six weeks ago, he’d walked into this building with stars in his eyes, dead set on impressing the hell out of the man who occupied this corner office, destroying his rookie rival in the process, and making mountains of cash for the rest of his life. Tonight, he entered the building ready to take his boss down in a blaze of glory.
To do that, he needed to confront Lyons face-to-face and somehow pull the truth out of him. David’s gut said
his boss’s fingerprints were all over this deal. But Lyons was a savvy lawyer and still capable of sidestepping prosecution. David needed confirmation that Lyons was directly involved in Nick’s death. Otherwise, Lyons might still get away with it.
David put his hand on the door handle, stepped fully into the office. Lyons was standing over by the huge windows, looking completely strung out and on the phone. The man’s tie hung loose, and his hair was disheveled. One shirtsleeve was rolled up to the elbow, the other completely unraveled. He held a glass of brown liquid in his left hand, his phone pressed to his ear in his right hand.
Spotting David, Lyons immediately hung up without another word.
“What are you doing here?” Lyons asked, wide-eyed.
“You’ve been calling me incessantly, demanding I get back to the office ASAP.”
His eyes narrowed. “Who knows you’re here?”
“Why does that matter?”
“It doesn’t . . . I’m just—”
“Surprised I survived the car bomb?”
David wanted to strike first, try to push his boss off-balance. He needed to be aggressive. Lyons would not like his protégé challenging him.
Lyons’s forehead bunched. “Are you playing games with me, David?”
“This isn’t a game, believe me. I have dead friends. I have burns all over my body.”
“Don’t blame me for that, son.”
“Then who’s to blame, Marty? Joe Landon?”
Another punch. David stepped farther into the office, inching closer to Lyons.
Lyons tilted his head, as if trying to figure out just how much David knew about everything. “What do you know about Joe Landon?”
“I know that the man so desperately wants to win a congressional seat that he sent out his old army buddy Mark Appleton to ensure that nothing stopped it from happening.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lyons insisted.
“Are you playing games with me now?” David asked. “I saw Appleton outside Nick’s house that night. Just like I saw him rummaging through Nick’s office two nights later and then meeting with you on the tarmac outside our plane that day. Hell, I have pictures of you two together, Marty. Nick’s girlfriend told me about the blackmail email you received. I have the actual video of Landon’s father in my possession. I know Nick wanted to go to the police. But you couldn’t allow that to happen, could you?”
Lyons cursed, stepped over to his wet bar, refilled his glass. “I tried to protect Nick. Believe me, I exhausted myself. But he wouldn’t listen. Just like I’ve been trying to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
“From yourself, you idiot,” Lyons said, tossing back his drink.
“Is that why you sent Melissa Masters to keep tabs on me? To protect me?”
“Of course! You should be grateful. I knew you saw something you shouldn’t have seen. It’s why I’ve been repeatedly trying to pull you back into the fold before it was too late. I’ve only been doing what you asked me to do from the very first time we met—get you to where I am. So don’t stand there acting so self-righteous, son. You have no idea what all it has taken for me to build alliances with powerful people. I’ve only been trying to protect you and your future.”
“And when I wouldn’t listen, I had to die, too? Just like Nick?”
“Yes,” Lyons said matter-of-factly. But he measured his next words. “However, you’re still standing here. So, unlike with Nick, it’s not too late for you. I can still protect you, David. But you have to make that commitment to me right now.”
“Why, Marty? Why go through with all of this?”
“Joe Landon will be in the White House one day.”
“Even if people have to die to get him there?”
“Don’t be naive. People have had to die for decades to help candidates secure the White House. Can you imagine what that kind of power will do for us? We’ll be rich beyond our dreams. We’ll live like kings.”
“But you’re already unimaginably rich.”
“Nonsense. This is pennies compared to where we’re going. You can still come with me, son. Just say yes. All of this can be but a blip on the road map toward your glorious future.”
David felt like he’d just gotten an invitation to hand his soul over to the devil himself.
“Benjamin Dugan’s death is no blip. Neither is Nick’s.”
Lyons slowly frowned. “I can’t protect you if you walk out that door again.”
David glanced over toward the bookshelves, where he knew the secret surveillance camera Benny had installed was currently piping a live video feed to Jen’s detective friend in an unmarked vehicle somewhere outside the building. Jen had taken the equipment, along with all the other evidence they’d gathered, over to police headquarters.
“I don’t want your protection,” David said. “You’re going to prison.”
As he left the office, Lyons cursed after him.
“You won’t last a day, you fool!”
FORTY-ONE
Stepping out of the elevator into the lobby of the building, David breathed a huge sigh of relief. He’d accomplished what he’d needed. He’d gotten Lyons to own his involvement in Nick’s death. But his relief was stolen away by the sudden appearance of Mark Appleton right in front of him. David panicked. The white-haired killer raised a gun in his hand, pointed it straight at David’s head. A few other people who were also in the lobby noticed the armed man and started screaming and scurrying for safety. David glanced over toward the security booth, but no one was currently stationed there. His eyes went back to the glass doors to the outside. Where the hell were the police?
“You didn’t really think it was over, did you?” the man asked.
“The police will be here any second,” David warned. He was barely able to get the words out; his chest felt so tight. Staring at the gun, David thought of Benny and his last moments. Were they both going out at the hands of the same man?
“Not soon enough for you, I’m afraid.”
David flinched when he heard the loud thump of a silenced gunshot. But he was shocked when he didn’t feel anything right away. Had he been shot? In front of him, Appleton dropped his gun, fell to his knees. That’s when David noticed blood spewing from a hole in the side of the man’s head. What the hell? Then the white-haired man fell face forward onto the floor as blood pooled all around him. He heard more screams in the lobby, more shoes racing out building exits.
“You okay?” said a voice from David’s left.
David jerked around, watched as a gray-haired man in his sixties wearing a sport coat quickly approached with a gun in his hand. Stepping up to David, the man put his gun away in a shoulder holster under his jacket.
“You hurt?” the man asked David, looking him up and down.
“I don’t think so,” David managed. “Are you with the police?”
“Hardly.”
“Then who are you?”
“The guy who’s going to help you make sure the right people get served justice.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will.” The man pulled a tiny flash drive out of his jacket pocket. “Give this to the police when they get here.”
David took the flash drive, confused. “Okay.”
He suddenly heard sirens right around the corner of the building.
“Time for me to go,” the man said. “Take care of yourself.”
The man stepped around the dead body on the floor, then turned back to David.
“Hey, kid, I’m really sorry. I mean that.”
David didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t. He just watched as the man disappeared out a side exit. Seconds later, a host of police cars screeched to a stop in front of the building. Police officers jumped out of the vehicles and swiftly swarmed into the lobby with their guns drawn. David put his hands in the air out of reflex but was told by an approaching heavyset man in a brown jacket to put them down.
“You David?” he asked.
David nodded, feeling overwhelmed by the last few minutes.
“Detective Clark,” the man introduced himself. “Who’s this?”
The detective motioned toward the dead body on the floor.
“The man who killed my friend Benny, among others.”
“You shot him?”
“No, sir.”
“Then who did?”
“I honestly don’t know, Detective.”
“You okay?”
“Did you watch me with Marty Lyons?”
“Yeah, we got him. Good work.”
“Where’s Jen?” David asked.
“In the back of my Buick outside.”
David rushed out of the building as more police cars arrived on the scene. When he found the Buick, Jen jumped out to meet him. She threw her arms around his neck before kissing him on the mouth. He pulled her in even closer, kissed her back.
“Are you okay?” Jen asked, holding his face in her hands.
“I am now.”
“I should never have agreed to let you come here.”
“I had to do it, Jen. I’m okay, I swear.”
They both turned, watched the chaos for a moment. The glass of the building reflected the red and blue flashing lights. There must’ve been twelve police cars on-site. And David could hear even more sirens quickly approaching.
“Do you think it’s over, David?” Jen asked.
“Yes, it’s over.”
He kissed her again.
Or just beginning, he thought. He had no idea where his life would go from here. But something inside told him he was going to be all right.
FORTY-TWO
Two months later
David stood on the sidewalk, stared up at the old three-story redbrick building.
He smiled, shook his head. It didn’t quite have the glitz of the Frost Bank Tower, which sat directly across Congress Avenue behind him, but it would do just fine. Seconds later, the front door of the building opened, and Thomas Gray burst out onto the sidewalk toward him wearing blue jeans, a red polo, and penny loafers with no socks. He met David on the sidewalk with a huge smile, wrapped his arm around his shoulder.
