Page 49 of Lay Me Down
“Zeke’s great. He’s just a little out there,” I point out. “Plus, he’s my brother. So, that’s another reason to put up with him,” I joke and smirk at Zeke.
“Clearly,” John retorts, completely unamused.
“Hey, alright. Listen here, old man—” Zeke points in his direction, but John snaps and grasps his finger in his fist. He twists violently, and Zeke grimaces. “I’m kidding, damn!”
I can’t help but laugh when John lets his finger go.
“As I’ve said, now for the third time, I was looking up some old contacts from my casefiles. Everyone except the man we’re going to talk to now is either dead, in prison, or out of the country,” John says aggressively.
“And this guy is related to DeLuca and Saconne how?” Zeke asks as he massages his finger.
“He was a hardware dealer.”
“Hardware?” I inquire.
“Yes. He would supply things like chains, cuffs, restraints, locks, and cell gates. They were all made with a tungsten alloy, and while it’s almost impossible to break, it’s also very hard to work with due to its melting point. The craftsmanship of whoever he gets it from is unmatched.”
“Great. So, pretty much anything to hold someone captive, this douchebag had,” Zeke interjects.
“Precisely.”
“Well, it would definitely take a lot to contain D’s big ass. He’s strong as hell.”
I roll my eyes at Zeke.
“Exactly. And when it comes to DeLuca and Saconne? They only go with what, and who, they can trust.”
“Whichcouldbe this guy,” I conclude.
“Most likely this guy, from the sounds of it,” Zeke corrects me.
“Yes. Plus, I find it strange he’s in the state again. We lost track of him after I retired, and now he’s suddenly within a couple of hours from the city? I don’t like it,” John seethes, and I suddenly get a little nervous. This could potentially be a lead, and it has to go perfectly. If this is a chance to find Damien, we have to get everything we can out of him, and that means doing whatever it takes to get that information—whateverit takes.
We continue to drive in heavy silence, and now that we’re only about ten minutes away, we’re all getting antsy. John’s grip on the steering wheel is so tight that I can see the veins in his hands, and Zeke’s leg is bouncing again. Daisy, who was at one point relaxed, is now starting to twitch in the seat, like she knows what’s about to happen. I keep fidgeting with my hands, and I hate that I know how it feels now. Whenever the guys have gone out on missions before, I always wondered how the hell they stayed so calm until the action started.
Now, I realize that they weren’t calm at all.
“You’ve got your silencer, right?” Zeke asks John, and he looks back at him like he got dumber in the past few minutes.
“She’s carryingmygrandchild, and you don’t think I packed a silencer?” John asks, completely dumbfounded.
“Well, she’smysister. I have to check,” Zeke argues back.
“Alright. Enough, you two. I am fine, and the baby is fine. We’ll work with whatever we have. Stop focusing on me. Let’s get what we need and head back.” I sit up a little straighter and try to stretch out the best I can, because I don’t know how this is goingto go, but I imagine with people as volatile as John and Zeke are, that this is about to bereallyinteresting.
We pull into a rundown neighborhood, and I notice John focusing on the houses to the right of the street. Zeke sits up straighter, and his gaze bounces across both sides of the road, on high alert. Their reactions make it clear that this is where we need to be, but I’m curious how they can see if something is out of the ordinary when we don’t even know this place. We have no prior surveillance, no information other than an address, and then of course, John knows what he looks like. But apart from something that screams ‘danger,’ I’m not sure what to look for.
The car finally stops in front of one of the more decrepit homes, and John turns in the seat to face me.
“You stay right here until it’s safe,” he demands, and I can tell by the seriousness in his tone that any argument is out of the question.
“Yes, sir.”
John gets out and storms up to the front door. Just when I think he’ll try to sneak inside or at least look around, he acts in true Hartley fashion and thrusts his heel into the door, busting it down. He sprints inside, and my heart starts to beat out of my chest.
“Huh. So that’s where D gets it from,” Zeke says in a smartass tone, and I can’t help but chuckle nervously. I know he’s trying to lighten the mood, but I’m still trying to gear myself up. This kind of thing isn’t new to him. I just hope he remembers that it’s new to me.
We suddenly hear a loud crash from inside, followed by shouts, and then a man that isn’t John runs out of the front door.
