CHAPTER 49 Soldier


    Dan


    After cautiously stepping out of my Subaru SUV so I wouldn’t get my expensive leather shoes wet, I


    fixed my ck trench coat and pulled up the cor to hide my face. I disliked this neighborhood. It was


    exactly like the one I grew up in.


    I knocked on the door of the Emery household. Jack had turned off his phone and now we


    had to do our meeting at his house.


    His house was built in the 1980’s. Everything was outdated especially the smelly brown carpet that ran


    throughout the household. I would have preferred to have had the meeting at Cris’ newly renovated


    modern-styled home, however, there was the peculiar case of the Undersheriff. Jack’s massive truck


    was parked beside the small hybridpact car his mom


    drives, so I had no doubt he was home.


    A stout middle-aged woman swung the door open, allowing us to enter. Mrs. Emery was our third grade


    teacher when we were kids.


    “Good evening Mrs. Emery,” I greeted her with a smile. “Tell Jack we’ll be downstairs in the basement


    when he’s ready.” She nodded her head withoutint, knowing full well why


    ere there.


    estured to Cris and Liam to follow me inside. I walked towards a door beneath the stairs


    to the second floor and opened it to reveal another set of stairs that led to the basement. I switched on


    the lights and carefully walked down the short flight of steps with the other two slowly following from


    behind. This basement used to be Jack’s bedroom and a ce we


    would hang


    ng out after school when we needed a ce to chill or goof around. Now, it was an empty space with a


    small chalkboard and a table surrounded by four chairs. We took our seats and waited for Jack toe


    down.


    When he finally showed up, he was wearing pajamas and his hair was still wet from his


    shower.


    “What are you guys doing here?” Jack asked. I rolled my eyes. I hated it when he yed.


    dumb.


    “We wouldn’t be here if your phone wasn’t off, dufus.” Liam answered back, obviously


    peeved; a clear reflection of what all three of us were feeling.


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    CHAPTER 49 Soldier


    “Guys, can we please get on with the meeting? I need to get some sleep. I have meetings tomorrow,”


    Cris said impatiently.


    “Yeah, I know. You have a meeting with Virtue,” Jack said.


    “She told you?” Cris asked, feigning ignorance. “I forgot… You went shopping with her. Did you enjoy


    carrying her stuff around looking like her driver?”


    Jackughed. “Why would you care? You’re married, Cris.”


    “Knock it off, will yah?” Liam eximed, taking charge. “Jack, you and I have to talk. Cris, you can’t


    afford a scandal so near the election, soy off Virtue and Dan, I need you to pay off


    our friends.”


    I took out two thick envelopes from my inner coat pockets and threw it on the table. While Cris


    enthusiastically took his, I saw Jack hesitate.


    “I can’t keep doing this, Liam,” Jack said. “I want out.”


    “Have you finished paying off your father’s medical bills, Jack? Have you even started fixing this house


    like you promised your mom you would?” I asked.


    but I’m almost done with the medical bills and I can take a loan out to fix the house,”


    eplied.


    ou do know the cost when I inform the boss of your, uhm, exit, right?” Liam asked, staring


    at Jack.


    “I won’t tell anyone about the business. You know I’ll keep quiet. Please, I don’t want to do this


    anymore,” Jack pleaded. “Abigail is in aa and I-”


    “Jack, why the sudden change of heart?” I asked, puzzled. “Is this because of Virtue? Are you already


    falling for her?”


    “I just want a chance at a normal life with her- raised a finger to cut him off. I was surrounded by im


    beciles.


    “Do you


    think she’ll want to be with you when she finds out you’re in debt?” I asked, crossing my legs and


    leaning back against my chair. “Do you actually think she’ll get married to you and invite you and your


    mom to move in with her? Do you think someone as beautiful as her will y caregiver to your mom at


    her old age? Are you f ucking insane?”


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    “I don’t know, but-”


    “That’s right. You don’t know,” I said, looking at my nails. “She drives a Mercedes-Benz, bought a


    house on her own, even renovated it, and is nning to open a business of her own. Do you know the


    dress she worest night was Armani? Do you know that small white Louis Vuitton bag she was


    carrying with her at the hospital costs more than what you make in a month? You seriously think your


    sparkling personality will win Virtue over? You are f ucking dumb.”


    “So basically you’re team Liam,” Jack scoffed, taking the brown envelope in front of him. He opened it


    and peered inside, nodding his head appreciatively at the gracious amount.


    “No, Jack. I am rooting for our team. We’ve been friends a long time,” I said. “A woman shouldn’t be the


    reason why we stab each other in the back. Maybe… the three of you can share…just like what you


    guys did with Joy Taylor.”


    Jack’s face darkened with rage. “Don’t you ever say her name in this house ever again! If it weren’t for


    my dad’s cancer, I wouldn’t have agreed to that.”


    “But your d ick surely agreed,” I argued. “If I remember correctly, you came after you f ucked her. Sorry,


    my mistake. You came after you raped her.” I leaned on the table and stared directly into his eyes so IProperty belongs to N?vel(D)r/ama.Org.


    could get my point across. “Before you ever think of leaving the


    m, remember I have evidence against you. I can walk to Virtue Sullivan’s house and tell


    you are a rapist. Do you think she would want to have a rtionship with you after I spill e beans? She


    will never ever want to speak to you ever again. Got it, Jack?”


    Jack nodded his head and sighed, looking defeated. “Anything else on the agenda? I have to be up


    early in the morning.”


    “We have a problem,” I said. “After doing some digging, the boss himself says Virtue checks out and


    just like the three of you, he has taken an interest in Virtue.” I heard the sharp.


    intake of breath from all three men.


    “That is a problem,” Cris said. “He isn’t the type Virtue would go out with even if you him up. So what


    do you propose? Don’t tell me you want us to y matchmaker?”


    dressed


    I sighed and looked up at the basement ceiling, praying for a miracle. Even I couldn’t do the


    impossible.


    “I can only do so much,” I said. “Virtue isn’t the type to take money for a one-night stand. She isn’t


    desperate.”


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    I watched Jack shake his head. He didn’t want to step aside and have the boss take a chance with her.


    Actually, even if the boss tried, Cris was right. He wasn’t the type Virtue would date. She was a Barbie


    and he was definitely not a Ken.


    Liam was quiet. I already knew what was going through his head.


    If I failed to get the boss what he wanted, the boss will tap Theodore and Liam to abduct


    her.


    Cris and Jack didn’t know all the details regarding Joan Summers, but I did. Just like Theodore Cohen,


    I was a soldier of the Angels of Darkness, the reigning mafia family of the Central States. I carried vital


    information and withheld it from my friends, including Liam


    and Nicole.


    It wasn’t easy bing a soldier, but because of me, the production and profit of crystal meth went up,


    earning us millions.


    I first met the boss during high school, but he wasn’t the boss then, his mother was. He was just a


    regr student like the rest of us. When his mother ‘stepped down’, he continued the business.


    Currently, he’s hidden in in sight and acted like any of the town’s folk.


    One day, during gym ss, he asked if I wanted to make some money. His mother needed orge Taylor


    to sell his property by theke. The only way for him to sell is if he needed


    money. The boss offered us one hundred and fifty thousand dors in exchange for the orutal assault


    of Joy Taylor, George Taylor’s most cherished daughter. Since I was from a poor family who didn’t have


    the means to send me to college even if I got a schrship, I quickly agreed.


    It wasn’t easy to convince the others, but once Jack caved after discovering his father had cancer, Cris


    and Liam agreed.


    We raped her, but we weren’t able to kill her. Joy was like a co ckroach who was almost- impossible to


    kill. When I called the boss that night, terrified the Sheriff woulde to arrest me, heughe d and


    told me his mother’s friends would take care of it. Sure enough, without even batting an eysh,


    Theodore Cohen told his men to clean the mess. up and threatened Abigail he would set her family’s


    bee farm on fire if she ever spoke a word to


    anyone.


    The boss said his mother would only pay up if the Taylors sold thend. Fortunately, they did. So Cris


    and I got money to help with college, Jack for his dad and Liam for his extravagant lifestyle.


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    After graduating university, I became New Salem’s Auditor,undering money and helping with the drug


    business. Unfortunately, I couldn’t unt my wealth, but if I decided to turn


    back on mafia life, I could retire in Asia and livefortably for the rest of


    life.


    my


    my


    “Dan, I’ll talk to the boss first to get details,” Liam said. I saw Jack open his mouth to argue, but Liam


    raised his hand to silence him. “I’ll go see him Friday night.”


    Chapter Comments


    Luna-Mom


    ha jackey boy you think your in with a chance