“I spend my time chasing the monsters that hide in the bright light of day, not filth like Chul Pak.”
“Then why are you bothering with him now?” Crusher asks, seeming to relax and sitting down. The man at his side follows suit. I’m taking that to mean we’re getting somewhere, but who in the fuck knows.
“Because I got a call in the middle of the night by a woman who was terrified.”
“A woman?”
“I don’t like it when men hurt good women. Now, I don’t know if this woman is good, but I get the feeling she is. I know she was laying it all on the line to get your boy in there a good burial and to protect his son. So, to answer your question, she is the reason I’m doing this.”
“My boy in there ain’t dead yet, Agent Lodge.”
“Your man in there was found in a dump face down, bullet holes through him and so much blood gone from his body, I called the coroner not an ambulance.”
“He’s still breathing,” Crusher argues.
“Through a machine.”
“Semantics. Diesel has something to fight for. He’ll pull out of this.”
“I see hope springs eternal in Tennessee,” I mutter.
“You got kids?”
I tap down that burn… the one that has never let me go—even years later.
“Not a one.”
“Then, you have no idea. Diesel would come back from hell itself if it meant making sure his boy was okay.”
“I will tell you what I do know, Alex—”
“Crusher.”
“Crusher, I know that Mr. Cross’s son is far from okay and so is Rory McDaniels and since they are breathing on their own and I want to keep them that way—they are my only concern. Now, I’m going to ask the question again. How did Mr. Cross get on the bad side of Chul Pak?”
“Chul Pak doesn’t even know my boy,” Crusher says and I frown.
“Right. I’ve had enough bullshit. I didn’t haul my ass all the way across the U.S. to get spoon fed shit,” I shrug. I’m actually stationed in Montana, but I’ve been in Quantico the last few weeks. I’m not one to enjoy dealing with bureaucrats and that’s all I’ve been doing. What’s worse is that when I leave here I have to hop another plane and go back for more meetings and more bullshit. I hope I can find some strong ass coffee to chase the shit already in my system.
“Chul’s stepbrother King, though, that’s different,” Crusher says and I turn to face him.
“Now you have my attention.”
“Timothy King, brother to one Rory McDaniels.”
“You’ve been doing your homework on Rory,” I mutter, sitting back down.
“We’ve been turning over every fucking stone we could find for the last week trying to find Diesel’s boy. I’m hoping you can help with that—which to be frank, is the only reason I agreed to meet with you today Agent Lodge. Your kind and mine, we don’t mix.”
“You don’t know what kind I am, but I’ll give you that…for now. How did your boy get on the bad side of this King?” I ask, finally feeling like I might be getting to the end of this damn riddle I’ve been pouring over for months.
“He stuck his dick in the same skank as King,” the guy with Crusher says, finally proving he apparently can talk.
I frown.
“I’m going to tell you this because I feel like I’m finally getting information I need and I don’t want to see this go downhill and stop that progression,” I warn him. “I happen to have a lot of respect for Rory McDaniels. I don’t take kindly to you calling her names—and by that, I mean, not at all. The woman I met is a good woman, doing what she can to protect a little boy who might not be hers by blood, but is hers in her heart.”
“You met her?” Crusher asks.
“I did. I helped get her out of Virginia. Wanted to do it one way, she wouldn’t agree so did it the best way I could.”
“How did you do it?”
“You might not get this just yet, because we’re strangers. But, I don’t give information without getting it. I don’t see as if I’ve gotten very much from you at all, Crusher.”
“Fine. Ask a question get an answer and then I get mine,” he says. “Seeing as how I’m easy to work with.”
A ghost of a smile filters across my face. This bastard is about as easy to work with as the bureaucrats in Washington, he’s just a little easier to understand.
“The woman I met, is King’s sister. There’s no way she’d let him touch her and if he did she’d kill him or die trying to make that happen. So, my question is, why does King hate your boy?”
“As far as I know he doesn’t.”
“Bullshit. He was shot several times, left for fucking dead, his truck was torched and his woman and child are on the run. I’d say—”