innocent. At the very least, there ’ s a lot more to his case than meets the eye. This is a unique opportunity, Mr. Black. I ’ m giving you a second chance. Even when you get out of here, you ’ ll have a difficult time finding work. People don ’ t hire felons, as you said. Most reputable military contractors wouldn ’ t touch you with a ten-foot pole. Your days as a soldier are over. I know a bit about your colorful past, but I also suspect that you don ’ t want to fall back into that world. I ’ ve had two friends killed over this case, and I need your help.”
Black still didn ’ t trust the government man, and Munroe ’ s comments about his discretion didn ’ t help to alleviate those concerns. It sounded as if Munroe might be some kind of fixer for the DOD, someone who could make scandals go away. But Black knew that he wasn ’ t in a position to judge anyone, and if he stayed in Holman, the Southern Brotherhood would eventually find a way to kill him. He may have been able to hold them off for a while, but eventually, they would catch him off guard and bury a shank in his back. And maybe he ’ d also get a chance to help Corrigan. There really wasn ’ t much of a choice.
“Okay. When do we leave?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It took a while to get Black ’ s release processed, and once they were on the road, Munroe lied down in the back of their dark GMC Yukon to get some rest. Jonas rode up front with Annabelle. She filled him in on the details of their current case and then told him stories about her brother, who had been Munroe ’ s partner. Jonas could tell that she was devastated by the loss, and he could empathize with how she was feeling. He had lost his brother as well, but at least she could say that hers had died a hero.
It was a long drive filled with awkward silences and bittersweet memories. But as Georgia and the Carolinas whipped by outside the window, Jonas convinced Annabelle to let him make a stop in Stafford, Virginia to pick up a few of his old things.
He had never seen the house, but he had kept tabs on its residents even from inside the walls of Holman and knew the address. It was a tiny two-bedroom ranch-style surrounded by a small lawn of dried-up, brown grass. The siding was decades old but newly painted. The dark gray shingles had weathered too many storms over too many years and had begun to crack and warp. The doorbell didn ’ t work, and so he opened the screen and knocked on an old wooden door with a small diamond-shaped window in its center.
A moment later a face appeared in the glass. The look in the small blonde woman ’ s eyes went from shock to disgust to fury. The door slowly came open, and she stepped out onto the porch, shutting the door behind her. Her breathing was fast, her jaw clenched. She looked pretty much the same as Jonas remembered. Short, blonde, and beautiful. Maybe a bit heavier, a few more wrinkles around her eyes.
When she spoke, each word came slowly as if her rage could barely allow her to speak at all. “How dare you come here, Jonas.”
“Hello, Stacey. I just stopped by to see if you still had my old duffle and…maybe see Will. Is he here?”
She slapped him hard across the face and shoved him down the steps and off her porch. “Your duffle is rotting in the old shed around back. I hoped it would rot there forever, just like I hoped you ’ d rot in prison for the rest of your worthless life. But I guess things never work out the way you hope.”
Black ’ s gaze didn ’ t waver under her hateful stare. “No, they don ’ t.”
“The shed ’ s unlocked. Get your stuff and leave. If you ever come back here, I ’ ll call the police and slap you with a restraining order.”
“Listen, I realize you ’ ll never forgive me, but I want you to know that I ’ m sorry for everything. I want to be part—”
She turned her back on him, stormed inside the house, and slammed the door.
Jonas watched the clouds rolling through the gray sky
Black still didn ’ t trust the government man, and Munroe ’ s comments about his discretion didn ’ t help to alleviate those concerns. It sounded as if Munroe might be some kind of fixer for the DOD, someone who could make scandals go away. But Black knew that he wasn ’ t in a position to judge anyone, and if he stayed in Holman, the Southern Brotherhood would eventually find a way to kill him. He may have been able to hold them off for a while, but eventually, they would catch him off guard and bury a shank in his back. And maybe he ’ d also get a chance to help Corrigan. There really wasn ’ t much of a choice.
“Okay. When do we leave?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It took a while to get Black ’ s release processed, and once they were on the road, Munroe lied down in the back of their dark GMC Yukon to get some rest. Jonas rode up front with Annabelle. She filled him in on the details of their current case and then told him stories about her brother, who had been Munroe ’ s partner. Jonas could tell that she was devastated by the loss, and he could empathize with how she was feeling. He had lost his brother as well, but at least she could say that hers had died a hero.
It was a long drive filled with awkward silences and bittersweet memories. But as Georgia and the Carolinas whipped by outside the window, Jonas convinced Annabelle to let him make a stop in Stafford, Virginia to pick up a few of his old things.
He had never seen the house, but he had kept tabs on its residents even from inside the walls of Holman and knew the address. It was a tiny two-bedroom ranch-style surrounded by a small lawn of dried-up, brown grass. The siding was decades old but newly painted. The dark gray shingles had weathered too many storms over too many years and had begun to crack and warp. The doorbell didn ’ t work, and so he opened the screen and knocked on an old wooden door with a small diamond-shaped window in its center.
A moment later a face appeared in the glass. The look in the small blonde woman ’ s eyes went from shock to disgust to fury. The door slowly came open, and she stepped out onto the porch, shutting the door behind her. Her breathing was fast, her jaw clenched. She looked pretty much the same as Jonas remembered. Short, blonde, and beautiful. Maybe a bit heavier, a few more wrinkles around her eyes.
When she spoke, each word came slowly as if her rage could barely allow her to speak at all. “How dare you come here, Jonas.”
“Hello, Stacey. I just stopped by to see if you still had my old duffle and…maybe see Will. Is he here?”
She slapped him hard across the face and shoved him down the steps and off her porch. “Your duffle is rotting in the old shed around back. I hoped it would rot there forever, just like I hoped you ’ d rot in prison for the rest of your worthless life. But I guess things never work out the way you hope.”
Black ’ s gaze didn ’ t waver under her hateful stare. “No, they don ’ t.”
“The shed ’ s unlocked. Get your stuff and leave. If you ever come back here, I ’ ll call the police and slap you with a restraining order.”
“Listen, I realize you ’ ll never forgive me, but I want you to know that I ’ m sorry for everything. I want to be part—”
She turned her back on him, stormed inside the house, and slammed the door.
Jonas watched the clouds rolling through the gray sky
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