Blood Money Page 22

  Kelton closed his eyes and took a deep breath, unsure of what to say next. It didn’t seem to matter anymore. Nothing did. “Unbelievable,” he said softly, mostly to himself, but loud enough so she could hear. “I thought I was fucked up before, but now . . .”

  He opened his eyes just as she turned her head away from him, but not before he saw tears beginning to well in her eyes.

  “What the hell are you crying for, you conniving bitch? You’re the one that screwed me over. You took my darkest hour and used it against me, manipulating me like I was some piece of clay, messing with my head, playing with my emotions. You don’t get to cry.”

  She turned toward him, her eyes leaking moisture but her face steady. “There’s no reason to make it personal. It wasn’t personal.”

  “It was personal to me,” Kelton said. “I spent the last five years putting my life back together, and you came along and knocked me over, leaving me back in the hellhole where I started. And for what? Your job? Your fucking job? Are you kidding me?”

  Jessica didn’t answer him. She wasn’t even looking at him any more.

  Behind her, Kelton saw the cavalry was indeed on its way. Another 30 seconds and they’d be here.

  “I hope you’re proud of yourself,” he said, his rage threatening to give way to despair. “I hope the next time you read about some guy who killed himself, you spend a moment wondering if it might be me. If, because of you, I am now dead.”

  “Oh, get over yourself,” she said. “You think you’re the only person in the world who’s lost someone they loved? Give me a break, Kelton. Millions of people have been through a hell of a lot more than you, and they find a way to carry on. Quit pretending that nobody knows what you’re going through, okay? It’s pathetic. And it makes you look weak. I feel bad about the way things played out, but it is what it is. Get over it already.”

  She sighed, shook her head, and started walking away from him. “Or don’t,” she said over her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter to me. Either way, it’s your choice.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Kelton had spent the last six hours sitting alone in a room that looked exactly like the one he had been in the first time he was in the custody of the National Defense Commission. For all he knew, it was the exact same room. Barren white walls, a ledge for a bed, a table with two flimsy plastic chairs and nothing else. For certain, the same exact person was sitting in the chair on the other side of the table, talking in the same exact, annoying, preposition-less sentences as before.

  “Well, Mr. Kelton,” Nicholas said. “I am sure you are sick of sitting here waiting, so let us get down to business.”

  “Yes,” Kelton said. “Let’s.”

  “It comes down to this,” Nicholas said. “You infiltrated a government safe house, extracted what you thought was a government prisoner, betrayed the National Defense Commission after agreeing to a deal, and almost single-handedly screwed up an operation that we have spent millions of dollars on, not to mention, one that I had a direct, personal stake in.”

  Kelton waited to make sure Nicholas was done, then said, “So what are you going to do? Hand me over to the proper authorities? Throw me in some unmarked prison? Make me disappear? What?”

  Nicholas shook his head. “We are going to do none of those things to you.”

  “Then what?” Kelton said. “Don’t keep me in suspense here, Nick. I’m not in the mood for any more games from you guys.”

  Nicholas looked at him, offered a little smile. “Believe it or not, we are going to let you go.”

  Kelton stared at him. “Yeah right. What is this, some kind of sick joke?”

  “No Mr. Kelton. This is no joke. You are a free man.”

  “Just like that, you’re going to just forget everything that happened over the past week? You’re going to forget that I knowingly betrayed you and helped a traitor steal from you.”

  “Just like that,” Nicholas said. “It never happened, we never existed, and you were never here.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Karen insisted upon it.”

  Kelton’s brow shot up before he could control his surprise. “She did?”

  Nicholas nodded his head.

  “Bullshit,” Kelton said, not sure how else to react.

  “I assure you, it is not, as you say, bullshit,” Nicholas said. “She was adamant about you being allowed to start a new life. She explained that you had no personal interest in our activities and that you only proceeded in the manner that you did because you believed that Walter was truly trying to help people that needed helping. She said that you would hold no grudge against the NDC and would be content to live out your life without ever thinking about retribution of any kind against us.”

  “And you believed her?”

  “To be perfectly honest, no. Not entirely, at least. But she made it quite clear that she would no longer be a part of this organization if we did not allow you to walk away a free man.” Nicholas shrugged. “And because she is an irreplaceable commodity, and far, far more valuable to us than you are, we decided that the risk was worth it.”

  Kelton leaned back in his chair, his disbelief quickly being replaced by apprehension. “What’s the catch?”

  “Only that you will live under an identity of our creation, and you may be called upon from time-to-time to perform a specific function for our organization.”

  Kelton snorted. “So I’m not really a free man after all.”

  “Nobody is truly free,” Nicholas said. “You should know that by now.”

  “But some are more free than others.”

  Nicholas offered a tight smile and a shrug. “As it will always be.”

  Kelton crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair. “And if I don’t accept your offer?”

  “Come now, Mr. Kelton. You know the answer to that question.”

  “Yeah,” Kelton said, letting his gaze drift down to the tabletop. “I guess I do. But still, I’m not sure what’s worse; life in a cell or a life in chains.”

  “Look,” Nicholas said. “I understand your apprehension, especially after what you went through the last couple of days, but certainly you can see that you have caught an enormous break here. You would be in a cell for the rest of your life if it was not for Karen putting herself on the line. Because of her, you have a chance to start over again, to put your past transgressions behind you, and embark on a new era of your life. You can—”

  “All right, all right,” Kelton said. “Enough with the hard sell already; you’re putting me to sleep. I’ll take the deal.”

  “Good,” Nicholas said. He reached down, picked up a sealed manila envelope, pushed it across the table. “The details are spelled out for you in there. Read the document, initial each page, and I will be back in ten minutes to get the document back. Trust me when I say you do not want to fall on our bad side a second time.”

  Kelton nodded his understanding. He knew he should be elated at the second chance, and perhaps someday he would be, but for now, he felt nothing but emptiness throughout his entire being, as though he was a hollow shell consisting solely of skin and bones. He knew the feeling well; he had experienced it before, although to a slightly greater degree, after which he had vowed never to allow himself to get into that situation again. He scoffed and shook his head, chiding himself for falling into the same trap again.

  “Is everything all right?” Nicholas said.

  “Fine. Great. Wonderful. All of the above.”

  Nicholas narrowed his brow, tilted his head slightly.

  “Don’t mind me,” Kelton said. “I’m just a little bit miffed at this whole thing.”

  “I assume you are still searching for some answers about how the situation transpired?”

  “You could say that,” Kelton said, knowing full well that the answers he was truly looking for could only be given to him by one person, and Nicholas was definitely not her.

  As for the other questions, the ones about the mechanics of
the operation, he had been thinking about them for the last six hours. As much as he tried to tell himself that he didn’t care, that the specifics didn’t matter, he realized he was just being stubborn. The analytical part of his mind was immensely curious about the planning and execution of the operation.

  “Yeah,” he said finally. “I guess I have a few.”

  “By all means, ask away,” Nicholas said. “This is your one chance to get answers. After today, the files on this case are closed for good.”

  Kelton took a deep breath to organize his thoughts. He had figured out quite a few things for himself, but a few key questions still remained.

  “First of all, was this whole thing an elaborate setup from the beginning, or is there a real Jessica Robbins?”

  “Jessica is very much real,” Nicholas said. “In fact, she was offered essentially the same deal you just were, and like you, she accepted. You will most likely see the benefits of her research on the open market within the next couple of years.”

  “So all that was legit?” Kelton said. “The stuff about Jessica, the AIDS vaccine, Walter as a traitor . . .”

  Nicholas nodded. “Everything I told you the first time we met was the absolute truth,” he said. “The only thing I did not mention at the time was that we had substituted our operative for Jessica Robbins after she had been picked up en route to visit Walter.”

  “And was that the plan all along? To pick up Jessica Robbins and then switch her out with one of your people?”

  “No,” Nicholas said. “That was worked out on the fly. It came about quite by accident, right after Jessica was originally picked up. Someone noticed that Karen bore a striking resemblance to Jessica and we quickly altered the plan. At first, we were just going to use Jessica as bait, but fortunately, we were able to take it a step further.”

  “So Karen was alone at the end? She had no backup at all?”

  “She was by herself as soon as you two entered the tunnels,” Nicholas said. “We had decided earlier that if you and Walter tried to pull something at the Cleopatra, we would let you go. We figured he would be too careful to allow us to watch the proceedings, even from afar. Our only hope of capturing Walter was to allow Karen to deal with the situation on her own.”

  “So you figured all along that I wasn’t going to go along with your plan?”

  “To be honest, we were not sure,” Nicholas said. “We thought it could go either way. But no matter what, we were covered. Although, I must admit, it was a difficult decision to let Karen take care of it on her own, with no backup. If things would have gone wrong . . . well, let’s just say that our current situation would be taking a far different path. Luckily for you, she is very good at taking care of herself.”

  “Yeah,” Kelton said. “Lucky for me.”

  Nicholas did not rise to the bait. “Is that all?”

  Kelton thought about it for a couple of seconds before nodding.

  “Then after you take care of the document, you are free to leave,” Nicholas said. “There is an agent outside the door who will escort you off the grounds, where your vehicle will be waiting for you.”

  After reading and initialing the document, Kelton stood up, walked to the door, and knocked.

  The door opened and Karen walked in. “Care for a ride to your car?”

  Kelton felt his heartbeat spike but he forced himself to remain calm. “Sure,” he said.

  She nodded once. “Then follow me.”

  They didn’t say another word to each other until they had reached the chain-link fence that marked the end of private government property. The pickup truck that Walter had left for them at the South Coast Resort parking lot sat on the other side of the fence, waiting for Kelton.

  Karen put the car in park but left the motor running and the air conditioner on. They sat in silence for a good ten seconds before Karen broke the standoff.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong, you know,” she said.

  Kelton just stared straight ahead.

  “Walter told you to bring me to him, and that’s what you did. It’s not your fault I wasn’t who Walter thought I was.”

  “I know,” Kelton said. “But still, I feel like I betrayed him.”

  “There is no reason to feel that way,” Karen said. “You have no responsibility for what happened to Walter. None. He brought the whole thing on himself, and he got what he deserved. You did exactly what he told you to do. You kept your word. Do not beat yourself up over it. You are a good man. That’s why I stuck up for you back there.”

  Kelton didn’t know what to say. He had so many conflicting emotions coursing through his body that his mind was literally frozen in place.

  “You know what’s funny?” Karen said.

  “What?”

  “If this operation would have gone as planned, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in now,” she said. “If we just would have met up with Walter in San Diego, he would have gone down without any problems. We had a team in place that whole time, just waiting for him to show his face. We would have taken him into custody and I wouldn’t have even had a chance to get to know you. But when things started to go awry, I had to figure out a way to try to get you on my side, just in case.”

  “So you tried to have sex with me,” Kelton said, his bitterness starting to take over. “With the hope that if the shit hit the fan, I would consider helping you instead of Walter.”

  “That was the plan,” Karen said.

  “And the relationship stuff? What was that? Just another way to try and get me on your side, once you realized I wasn’t going to give in to your advances?”

  “What can I say? I was thinking about my own safety more than anything else. I figured if you had my back, no matter what, I’d come out of this thing okay. So I did everything in my power to get you on my side.”

  Kelton turned his head and locked eyes with her. “So you’re telling me there was nothing between us at all. You were just playing me the whole time.”

  Karen returned his stare head-on, without flinching in the least. “Do you really think I would have put my ass on the line for you back there if I had felt nothing at all?”

  “I don’t know,” Kelton said. “Maybe that was just your guilt taking over. Maybe it’s the only way you can live with what you did to me.”

  “I’m sorry that you think that, but I assure you, it was more than that.”

  “So what are you trying to tell me? That you did feel something?”

  “Yes,” Karen said. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Are you happy now? Or do you just hate me even more.”

  Kelton exhaled audibly, let his gaze drop to the floor. He tried to muster some anger, but his reservoir was completely dry. Eventually, he looked back up, turned his head, and met her gaze.

  “I don’t hate you,” he said. “In fact, I should be thanking you.”

  Karen narrowed her eyes, gave him a suspicious look. “For what?”

  “For everything,” Kelton said. “For putting yourself on the line to keep me out of a cell. For having the guts to come out and say what you did just now. And most of all, for getting me to open up about shit I shouldn’t have held in for so long—no matter what your motives were for doing it.”

  Karen shifted her gaze and looked out the window. She appeared to be fighting tears. “It certainly was an interesting week, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah, you could say that.”

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I had fun. I really did.”

  “So did I,” Kelton said. “Right up until the very end, of course.”

  Karen barked out a laugh. “So, no hard feelings?”

  “I don’t know about that,” Kelton said. “But I think I’ll get over them in time.”

  “Don’t take too long,” Karen said. “You never know when we’re going to run into each other again. Especially now that you’re going to be doing some work for us.”

  She offered her hand. Kelton took it, shook it once, and
let go, resisting the urge to do more than just shake hands. Then, without another word, he flashed her one last smile and stepped out of the car.

  ###

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Brian Springer has been writing for ten years, most of which were spent managing a large brick and mortar chain bookstore in between stints as a financial planner and playing in the Spanish Professional Baseball League. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of San Diego and currently lives in Temecula, CA with his wife Kimberley and two children, 10-year old daughter Mikayla and 8-year old son Jake. Blood Money is his second book.

  CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR ONLINE

  www.brianspringer13.com

  Table of Contents

  PROLOGUE

  DAY ONE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  DAY TWO

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  DAY THREE

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  DAY FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE