Retribution: The Cure for Agony

Chapter 16: Denial

The windy road went through the desert and rose into the high mountains. Gradually, the brown disappeared under the moonlight, being replaced by a mass of shrubs and large pine trees. Canyons took shape and a thick forest covered their steep surfaces.

I couldn't afford to peek at the extraordinary view; the only thing separating me from my death was the guardrails and I refused to trust those wooden beams. Although, the thought of falling to my death wasn't what made my blood pressure rise. It was thinking I was going to get pulled over, seeing as I passed half a dozen State Troopers' with a corpse and captive in the trunk.

I white-knuckled all the way up to Payson and slowly drove through town. The old dingy houses were worn down, lacking any recent exterior renovation, and every few blocks I'd get a glimpse of the people living in them. They sat under yellow porch lights, being swarmed by moths, and were either smoking or staring at their iPhones. Sadly, most of them were like the houses―tattered and used.

There was a Pizza Hut Ben and I would stop at whenever we had to work weekends at The Boneyard—where he showed me a different way of life. I pulled into the crumbling parking lot to give him a call, because after town, reception was nonexistent.

I stayed in the car, letting the phone ring as I saw a light through the dusty annealed glass of the pizza place. There was a woman, making preparations for the day, and I leaned against the steering wheel as my eyes narrowed in on her face.

"Yo!" Ben answered and I jumped, accidentally hitting the horn.

"Uh... hey, I have a favor to ask," I spoke clearly.

"Yeah, anything. What's up?"

"I'm gonna need you to sabotage the phone records and location of both Melody and Daniel Roberts' cell, if that's cool with you?" I tried to be polite considering our last conversation. Even if it did end on a high note, I didn't want to give him another reason to bash me.

"Yeah, I'll get Jason on that now." He was shuffling papers.

I tittered, shifting in my seat. "Yeah... I'd prefer if Ricardo does it. There's just something about Jason that doesn't sit right with me."

"Well, you fucked his girlfriend, so there's that." He laughed, but quickly choked on it when he didn't hear a response. "Yeah, I'll get Ricky on it."

"Thanks and to be fair, she didn't admit to being with anyone when I asked. I'm done with unfaithful women. Remember that." I hung up.

When I looked back inside the Pizza Hut, the woman was gone. I sighed and pulled out of the parking lot. Not far down the street, the road came to a T and I took a right onto Highway 260.

Usually, it took about an hour to get to Heber-Overgaard, but between the two towns, there was a side road. After turning, one could find The Boneyard twenty minutes in. Fortunately, cops and rangers didn't go up there as most of them were paid off and told to ignore it.

I no longer worked weekends with Ben, but still had to come up here once a month to attend a gathering our superiors put together to punish those who didn't fall in line. It was the whole reason Ben and I gave it that name. It was never a pleasant experience, but the surroundings made up for it.

For the rest of the ride, I turned off the radio and let the windows down. The cold wind rushed through the car, blowing through my hair and hoodie. I welcomed light pressure as if getting a massage from nature itself.

The sweet scent of pine trees and fresh rain lingered in the car. I inhaled deeply, wishing I could close my eyes.

A smile formed on my face before I suddenly slammed on my brakes, nearly missing the turn. The car behind me laid into their horn and zoomed down the highway behind me.