Dying Wish

[19]

The falling sensation faded.

I opened my eyes to a sloppy, dark room. The staleness of the linen on the beds made me queasy. Could've had something to do with my nerves, too. I was clinging to every morsel of courage I had. This had to be it— 111 Atlas Square— their crummy lair. Alice walked to the bedroom door.

"We'll come back for our bags," she whispered.

We dumped our stuff.

"Let's go, Gray."

The hinges squealed.

As I went to follow, I noticed something. My legs stopped to get a better look. Between a bottle of beer and a half-eaten sandwich was a revolver. I lifted it; the weight tried to pull my arm down. It was heavier than I thought. Much heavier than it looked.

The idea of wielding this— let alone bringing it— made Alice gasp.

"Gray, you don't need that," she tried to tell me.

"If I'm going to protect you, I might."

"If it makes you feel better, then ok. Come on."

A moldy, dark purple rug ran down the middle of the wood floor. Much like the bedroom we left, the paint on the walls was either faded or chipped. We crouched to the top of a staircase. What made us stop there of all places? The shouting.

"Great! Just great! Now it's on the news!"

We peered through the banister. Half a dozen bodies— maybe, more— huddled around a television. The reporter announced: "Indeed, Officer Stan Cutler, we know he's an eight-year veteran of local law enforcement, was shot tonight. His condition: critical. So far, no arrests have been made. We'll keep you posted."

The bickering began.

"Idiot, you shot a cop!"

"What kind of idiot shoots a cop?!"

"How was I supposed to know? He wasn't wearing a uniform, or driving a cop car!"

"What made you do it in the first place?!"

"Her!"

A collective gasp came from the room. Someone asked, "She called you again?"

"She said, if we did this, we were back in."

Alice and I looked at each.

They continued.

"We said we were done with her. We said no more chances."

"First, it was Carl. Then, Maria and Randy."

"And she said," he corrected, "we'd get their cut. 10 mill each... 30 mill total..."

Another gasp. The room went silent.

"I know what you guys are thinking, I was being greedy. Ok, fine, maybe I was. But I was also thinking about our friends. Remember that night, how crazy it all sounded. Go steal a, what, a magic coin? Give me a break. Carl was the one and only person just tweaked enough to think any of this was possible. So he went. He volunteered! For us... I thought it was a big joke, even after Maria and Randy told us how everything went down. 'No chance that actually happened,' I tried to tell myself. 'But if it is true, give up. Stay out of it.' We knew Maria wouldn't. She was going to try again, because doing nothing meant Carl died for nothing."

"And Randy went with her," someone added. "Reckless idiot."

"Always was a knucklehead," someone else said. "He was loyal, though."