Edge of End (34 page)

“
Tell me,” I
said.

“
What?” Jack raised his
eyes on me.

“
Who the guy was? Why the
hell he had our money.”

He looked at me thoughtfully for a
long moment. Then he sighed and said:

“
He was a very good
banker. So you found him about eighteen months ago and involved him
in your new project.”

“
What project?” I asked
impatiently.

“
You remember Nick
Montana, don’t you,” he looked at me with questioning eyes. I shook
my head no. “A big fish from Philadelphia. He and you… you,” he
paused. “The son of a bitch tried to take our business, sell
narcotics in our streets. He even had someone to kill you. In short
we made peace with him afterwards–”

“
And I hired the guy to
steal from that Nick,” I realized.

“
Yeah. You remember?” Jack
asked with hopeful voice.

“
Just fragments,” I
replied mildly. “So the guy stole from us too.”

“
Correctly he took our
part as well and disappeared. Risk is still too great. If Nick
realizes we’re behind all this, the war will begin, bloody war. You
put me to track and find that prick.”

“
And you found him,” I
mumbled recalling the vision I had had in the night world. I had
seen Jack rushing into my office and telling me he had found the
guy. I couldn’t take anyone else with me as I trusted only Jack and
nobody must know about the banker and my deal. Nick would use all
his power to destroy me, I’d lose my alleys, my partners, and I’d
stand alone against the Philadelphia gangster. That’s why I darted
out my office with Jack and together we drove to the
guy.

The son of a bitch hadn’t even left
the city. Clever move, I should attest. He knew we’d think he’d
taken the money and left for Europe or South America but obviously
he’d underestimated Jack.

He was in the room and fled through
the back door as soon as we parked at the door. That time I didn’t
know yet I was going to be dogged by the alley that lay right
behind the back door. I entered it determined, the gun in my hand,
ordering Jack to cut the banker’s way.

I pursued him, at first having
intended not to kill him as I didn’t know where he had hidden the
money. But then I realized he was slipping out of my hand. My mind
worked making a new plan. Honestly I wasn’t in need of the money
I’d stolen from Nick. Five million dollars. Without the money
Nick’s business was going to slow down giving me an opportunity to
chase him and leave him out of the game. That was my real
plan.

There were three people aware of my
plan. One of them was running in front of me. I made up my mind and
lifted the gun. Without him there remained two men knowing my
secret–me and Jack. The deal was too high, my very life stood on
top, so, determined I shot, taking out one pawn from the puzzled
chessboard. I didn’t know clearly what I was going to do to Jack
when the guy crashed to the ground letting out a painful cry, but
I’d find the right way to sacrifice my friend, my right hand. In
the right time when Jack’s death would help my business, I’d do the
move and there would be only one–me.

I found Jack’s eyes that watched me
friendly. After what I experienced in the town I felt ashamed that
once I’d been ready to kill my friend for my business, for money. I
was coming back, or my memories had begun to fill my empty head.
Slowly yet but now I had one–the alley.

For a long moment silence fell on the
ward then he spoke.

“
I’m sorry, John. I
shouldn’t have left you alone. This is all my fault–”

I cut him off with a gesture: “It’s
not your fault Jack,” I interrupted him. I looked at his worried
face. “I need you to find somebody.”

“
Anything you wish,” he
added obediently.

“
Turn all the hospitals
upside-down. I don’t know how, but find me a red-haired woman named
Elizabeth. She has tried to commit suicide,” as I talked about
Elizabeth, the image of her brown eyes lingered in front of me. She
was like a ghost in my mind; the most beautiful and lovely ghost
I’d ever met. “Start at this hospital. She must be somewhere
around, she must be found.”

Jack leaned back against the chair
pensively. He had every reason to think I was crazy and was talking
utter madness.

“
I’ll find her, don’t
worry,” he said instead.

“
Okay,” I murmured and
added. “I need a lawyer.”

“
Benedict has already been
working on it trying to get you out of this shit,” Jack said, and I
realized that this Benedict was my lawyer. “He told me we could
make this all out to be a case of self-defense.”

“
Good thinking,” they were
the only words managed.

“
He’s outside, waiting to
talk to you,” Jack informed. “I told him stay put until you call
for him.”

I wasn’t in the mood to have a talk
with a lawyer, but it seemed like I had no option.

“
There is something else
you should know, too,” Jack broke the silence. I nodded for him to
continue, and he went on. “Your ex-wife has sued you. She wants
half of your property and what belongs to your
daughter.”

My
daughter
. The person the
town
had tried to
threaten me with. Apart from the visions I’d had, I knew nothing
about her.

“
Give them what they
want,” I said sadly trying to sit up. The hole in my chest was
still burning, and I moaned in pain as I pushed myself up. Jack
jumped to his feet taking me by my shoulders and helping me into a
more comfortable position.

“
Are you supposed to
move?” he asked.

“
Don’t know.”

When I leaned against the pillow that
Jack had carefully put behind me, he sat down again
sighing.

“
John,” he began. “I know
you’ve lost some part of your memory, but it’s my duty to remind
you that you didn’t intend to give your wife a penny.”

I observed Jack’s face carefully as if
that would be able to restore some of my memories, but only
darkness and emptiness filled my head.

“
I don’t care what I had
planned before,” I muttered hardly letting out my breath. He raised
his eyebrows in surprise. “Go, find me Elizabeth now,” I
ordered.

He stared at me for another long
moment, probably searching for the right words to say to me, but
eventually he thought better of it and stood up.

“
See you,” he said and
hurriedly disappeared out the door.

I closed my eyes in relief. My
thoughts wandered around that little girl I had seen in my vision,
my daughter, Melissa.

Had I been a good father? Or had I
been an absolute monster as I had been in those
nightmares?

The door swung open again, and a man
of about fifty with graying hair and glasses stepped in. He wore a
huge fake smile from ear to ear. It was my money that made him feel
so delighted.

“
Benedict, I’m guessing,”
I spoke first, beckoning him in.

“
Yes. How do you feel Mr.
Cruss?” he asked shutting the door behind him.

At the very least I now knew my last
name. I smiled slightly and invited him to take a seat.

The night wore on. Benedict had left
some time earlier. We had talked, and he had given me some advice
as to what I should and shouldn’t say in court. Just like Jack had,
he had urged me to refuse my wife’s demands, but I made it clear
that I wanted to be fair to them. Of course, I was willing to give
money to my daughter, my child; it didn’t matter whether I knew her
or not, whether she loved me or hated me–that was
irrelevant.

The first dream visited me
that night since I was back to my body. I was walking in the storm,
along the empty street of the
town
, soul-eaters hovering around me
broad and wick smiles pinned to their hideous faces. I wasn’t
afraid of them, I knew they wouldn’t hurt me as I wasn’t the part
of their world anymore, not yet. But their gleaming and creepy eyes
talked to me, saying I’d be back to them one day, sooner or
later.

Yet I pressed on deep into the storm
until I was standing at the familiar house. I regarded it expecting
to see Melissa and her mother. As my eyes traveled over the garden
and met the door, I saw Malcolm, the black rag wrapped around the
left side of his head, beckoning me with a wan smile. I grinned
back glad to meet the old man who had aided me and led to the
light.

I walked across the garden and climbed
the stars now standing in front of Malcolm.

“
Hey,” I said
cheerfully.

The old man’s smile faded away. He
looked me from up to down with his one magical eye, then patted his
hand on my shoulder. He opened the front door and invited me
in.

I looked at him uncomprehendingly, but
I trusted him and walked in. The door shut behind me, the storm
wheeze deafening in my ears instantly. I was in a cubicle, the
doorway to my right leading to the kitchen. Having seen nobody I
paced slowly to it.

The table was laid, a boy about ten to
eleven was seated at it his head tilted over his plate full of
spaghetti.

“
Say thanks to God for the
food, honey
,” a woman’s voice echoed in my
ears. A second later she got into the kitchen–a blond-haired, tall,
with athletic body beautiful woman of her middle thirties. She came
up to the boy and put her hand on his head softly as the boy prayed
soundlessly.

“
Good
boy,
” she said as he opened his eyes and
looked up. He was as blond as the woman, blue-eyed and thin.
“
Mommy loves you, you know that, don’t
you?
”

“
Yes,
” the boy replied his voice sad.

“
Now eat. I need you to
grow up a strong man. You’ll take care of your Mommy, won’t
you?
”

“
Yes,
” the boy answered as his eyes dropped down to his
plate.

But he didn’t know he wouldn’t be able
to keep his promise. I remembered her–the woman. Despite the poor
and hopeless life she had, suffering and working hard to stay
alive, she had been giving too much love to her only child–the boy
who wouldn’t give the same back. That was the last time he would
ever see her again.

The boy sensed it, that’s why he was
anxious, his voice sad and eyes mournful.

The front door opened and I jerked
around to see a lusty man dragging himself in, his hair disheveled
covering his face, his clothes dusty and dirty. He stopped and
brushed his hair back regarding the cubicle. His eyes rolled and
finally focused on the woman standing at the kitchen entrance. A
wick smile curled his lips.

“
Woman,” he said his voice
loud and husky. “Help me with this,” he tried to kick off his
shoes.

The woman obediently approached him
and got down to her knees. I looked back at the boy and met horror
in his eyes. He had come up to me now lurking behind the
wall.

When the woman took off his shoes he
kicked her aside rudely and started walking towards me limping. The
man was drunk or had drug. He entered the kitchen approaching the
table and his malicious eyes missed the boy who noiselessly sneaked
out.

“
Jonny!
” the man cried out and the boy stopped dead in the middle of
the cubicle looking at his mother dreadfully.

“
Yes
Daddy,
” the boy responded his voice
shaking.

“
Come
here.
”

The boy turned around and reluctantly
marched back into the kitchen.

“
How many times I have to
say you not to call me Daddy?
” the man
asked angrily. The boy just dropped his eyes to the floor standing
at him quivering. “
Little prick. Why don’t
you eat?
”

“
I ate,
” the boy lied.

As he closed his mouth the man slapped
him across his face and the boy tumbled to the floor cupping his
face.

The woman shrieked hysterically and
ran into the kitchen.

“
Why is your plate full?
You lie to me little son of a bitch.
”

The woman flung herself
between the man and her child. “
Please,
Tom. Let him go.
” She begged with hateful
eyes staring at him. “
I’ll do everything.
Don’t hit him,
”

“
You’ll do everything I
want,
” the man roared.
“
What else would you do? But I can’t stand
this little liar in my house. This prick.
”

I saw the boy’s eyes twitched, anger
filling him. He looked at the table searching the knife, determined
to rush and grab it and stab it in the man’s fresh.

The man squeezed the woman’s hand and
lifted her. Her sobbing voice followed but she pressed her lips
together. He rudely bent her over the table.

“
You have to be punished
every time you lie to me, little man,
” the
man said with a gloating smile while the woman did some desperate
tries to get loose. “
Stop,
” he grabbed the boy who had
tried to run away and tossed him back to the floor.