“And what about the little guy?”
Dalton stopped looking out the window and turned toward him. “Chris?”
“What are we gonna do with him?”
Dalton shrugged. “Send him on his way.”
“You’re serious?”
“After this is over, he can’t hurt us.”
“The hell he can’t. He’ll know what we did, where we went, and he’ll know about that bank.”
“So? We’ll never be using it again. And who cares if he knows what we did? He won’t know where we’re going.”
“We both know what we need to do with him.”
“No. That doesn’t need to happen.”
“Know what I think?”
“I don’t really happen to care what you think.”
“I think you got a soft spot for him,” Kenny said. “I think because you had a thing for his brother, and his brother’s now dead. Maybe you can’t do what you know needs to be done.”
“Because it doesn’t need to be done.”
“Loose ends. We both know in this business loose ends get you killed. And he’s a loose end.”
“I’ll take care of him.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. I’ll give him a little money or something.”
“That ain’t coming out of my share.”
“I’ll take care of it. Is that OK with you?”
Kenny stared at her for a few moments. He then shrugged. “We wouldn’t even be having this problem if you could’ve kept yourself in check.”
“Oh, you talking about Gary now? Is that what you’re doing? You didn’t have to kill him.”
“He wanted out. He wasn’t coming back here. He wasn’t helping us anymore. And most of all, he didn’t want you anymore. And you still haven’t accepted that.”
“I could’ve talked to him. I could’ve convinced him.”
“Bullshit. He was done. He was having second thoughts, and he didn’t want anything to do with anyone anymore. Not you, not me, and not the money. He was out.”
“I still could’ve talked him into it.”
“You’re deluding yourself. What you had with him was gone. You had a nice few months with him and thought you were living the fairy tale. But guess what? You put your slippers on at midnight and the dream was over. And you haven’t come to grips with that yet.”
“Go to hell.”
“I’ve already been there. Remember what I said about loose ends? Gary had become a loose end. He wasn’t willing to help us anymore. All he could do was hurt us.”
“He wouldn’t have talked.”
“And you know that how? He was working for the CIA, for Christ’s sake. You think he wouldn’t at some point reveal how that whole mole storyline shit was a bunch of crap? You think he really wouldn’t say what this whole thing was really about at some point? He was a loose end. You know it. And in this business, loose ends need to be dealt with. I knew you weren’t going to do it, so I did what had to be done. I dealt with it.”
Dalton turned her attention back out the window. She didn’t really want to hear anymore. It was all hitting too close to home. Everything Kenny was saying was probably correct, but that didn’t make it easy to hear. She didn’t want to. She still wanted to believe she and Gary had something special and would’ve continued to have it.
“You need to cut the crap, Zara.” Kenny stood up, ready to leave the room. “You’re a former MI6 agent, for crying out loud. You’re the best of the best. It’s time you start acting like it. Loose ends get you killed in this business. But you know what else does? Soft spots. Abbott needs to be cut loose. If you won’t do it, then I will.”
Kenny then walked out of the room. Dalton looked at him as he disappeared. She was angry. She looked out the window again, hoping to gain some clarity in her own mind. Everything was going through it: Gary, Chris, Kanelos, Kenny, the money. What Kenny had told her wasn’t pleasant to hear, but maybe she should have listened to it. Maybe he wasn’t wrong.
Dalton then went into the other room, where Magareth was watching Abbott. She stood there for a moment, watching her lover’s brother, thinking about the future. Kenny’s words still raced through her mind. She wasn’t sure she could do it, though. She didn’t want to do it.
“You can go,” Dalton said. Magareth looked up at her. “I’ll watch him for a bit. Get some rest.”
Magareth nodded. He wasn’t about to argue with her. He was tired of watching Abbott, anyway. Not that Abbott had given any problems, because he had complied with their wishes every step of the way, but it would be nice to stretch his legs without having to worry about where their prisoner was. As Magareth left the room, Dalton took the same seat against the wall, with Abbott sitting against the adjoining wall.
“You hungry?” Dalton asked.
“No.”
“This will all be over soon.”
“I just want to go home.”
“I know. By this time tomorrow, we’ll have everything we need. And then it will be over.”
“And what about me?”
“What about you?”
“What are you going to do with me?” Abbott asked.
“I told you before. After it’s done, you can go.”
“What about Kenny? He killed my brother. I get the feeling he wants to do the same to me.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just worry about playing your part and helping me get the money. After that, everything will take care of itself.”
“And Kenny?”
“I have control of him. He’ll do what I tell him.”
Abbott felt only slightly better. Though he honestly believed that Dalton meant everything she said, he didn’t get the same feeling about Kenny. He seemed like the type of guy who did what he wanted, regardless of what he was told, or what anyone else wanted.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Positive,” Dalton said. “He’ll do what he’s told. He’ll do what has to be done.” Dalton thought about it a few more seconds. “And so will I.”
19
Bridge, Nicole, and the rest of the team were at the substation, trying to dig up any leads that they could. Though they couldn’t be sure of any
