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“What do you mean you’ll pay ten thousand dollars?!”
A booming shout pierces my unconscious mind, kick-starting a pounding headache as I begin to drift awake.
Ouch…that hurts so bad…what’s going on?
“This is not what you promised!”
As my thinking faculties come back online, I realize I recognize the voice talking.
Chief?
I crack my eyes open and wince as my headache intensifies. It feels like my whole head is throbbing, but I can also feel a significant sting at the back of my head.
Did someone hit me?
My vision clears up, and I see that I was right. ItisChief Noah who was speaking. He’s standing with a man I don’t recognize. Both of them are so engrossed in their conversation that they don’t notice me. All I did was open my eyes, so I haven’t done anything to draw attention.
Not that I could… Is that a gag in my mouth?
Something is stuffed in my mouth, keeping me from opening it. I glance around quickly without turning my head.
Am I in a warehouse?
I’m also tied down to the chair I’m in. The bindings are tight enough that I can’t even flex my hands and feet.
What’s going on?
Oblivious that I’m listening in, the men continue talking.
“I don’t know what you’re yelling over. I think I’m being generous,” the man I don’t know says.
Chief Noah is practically steaming from the ears. “Generous?! You bastard! I could have just gotten the location from her and taken the stash for myself! I wouldn’t have even needed to work for it, because she trusts me and would have told me easily! Yet you’re giving me ten thousand?!”
The stash? There’s no way.
“Ha. Look at this pig. You should have done that then if it was so easy! Why don’t you admit that you came here submissively, because there was nothing you could do with the stash by yourself?” The man pushes Chief easily with one hand, making him squeal as he falls to the ground.
“What were you going to do? Kill the bitch yourself? Then what? How would you move the cash? What would you do with the drugs? Who would you sell the guns to? The minute you try to make any sales, you’re basically outing yourself.” The man laughs cynically. “Admit it. You can’t handle that stash, and that’s the reason you came to us. One wrong move and you lose your little position as Chief, along with your life.”
I want to deny it, but my ears and eyes can’t be wrong. Did Chief Noah really betray me?
Desperate to come up with some explanation for the situation I now find myself in, I dredge up my memory from my aching brain.
I remember telling Chief Noah about my dad’s journal. He’d asked if I could get him the journal, but I told him how I’d burned it to be safe. He then asked how I could be so sure I’d remember, and I reminded him I have a photographic memory.
That seemed to be enough for him, so I asked him about the Sins of Man gang, and told him my suspicions regarding who could have killed my dad. He agreed that it was probably them.
From my own obsessive research, I knew that they’d been quieter lately. It was hard to catch them in a crime that would give us an excuse to put surveillance on them. Chief let me know that they’d clashed with another gang recently, and it was supposed to be the perfect opportunity to go watch them.
At least, that’s what he told me. The last thing I remember is driving out to do a stakeout with Chief, and then getting hit in the back of the head while I hid.
I feel tears of betrayal stinging the back of my throat, and I bite the gag in my mouth angrily. I’m careful not to make any noise so I don’t draw attention to myself, but it hurts my soul.
So he was the one who hit me.
Chief swallows loudly, looking up at the man. “But I… I brought it to you instead of doing any of that. Doesn’t that loyalty deserve something more?” His voice is small and pathetic now.
The man laughs like he just heard something funny. “Did you just say loyalty?! What does a pig like you know about loyalty? You didn’t do this for loyalty. You did this because you thought it was your chance to make it big. That’s selfishness, not loyalty.”
