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“You did and I already told you I won’t smother you with a pillow. Take the pills, Carter,” she demanded then was gone. He grinned, shaking his head before sitting up, flinching from the pain in his shoulder. It was better but still uncomfortable. After a minute or so, he stood to get his phone which was still on the charger where McKenna had plugged it in for him hours ago.
Once he had the device, he powered it on and waited for the messages to load. There were two voicemails which he bypassed and moved to the text from Brooks.
Things have been quiet.
Moving the same but quiet.
Instead of texting, he called and Brooks answered after the first ring. “You get my text?” was how he responded.
“Yeah, so nothing new?”
Carter listened intently to the background noise while he waited for Brooks to respond. He recognized the low hum of traffic.
“Nobody’s saying anything. It’s like people are afraid to bring your name up at all.”
Scared to be singled out or unintentionally accused or connected.
“Anything feel off?”
Brooks snorted. “A lot of shit feels off, Carter. You’re low right now and that’s never happened before.”
“Lono been around?”
“No. I’ve been keeping an eye out so I could finish this but he’s been MIA.”
My target is missing and I was shot before taking him down.
“He didn’t just up and disappear. That shit feels off.”
“Yeah, it does. For two weeks, he’s been consistent. Now he’s in the shadows.”
Carter recalled the conversation he’d had with McKenna. “Money makes people stupid. Me being out of the way creates the potential for someone else to make a lot of money.”
“Not someone, Carter. Me. The goal was for you to replace your name with mine and to be honest, after what happened last night, I’m having second thoughts.”
At thirty-four, Carter was ready to step away. He wasn’t sure if he would ever completely let things go but he would be more selective about the jobs he accepted. That meant leaving an opening for a new face and new hired gun. He had offered the spot to Brooks. With Carter’s endorsement and support Brooks would have more work than he could handle, but his heart had to be in it. No connections, no responsibilities but the most important thing would be, no fear. Being a hired gun was not for the meek or weak minded.
“You’re telling me you would decline?”
“You don’t make connections. No friends, no family. You barely fucked with me. That works for you but I don’t know if I want to live my life without anyone important in it. I don’t want to die alone or knowing that money is all I have to show for my time here.”
“Then don’t fucking die. It’s really that simple.”
“I’m not you, Carter. I’m good at this shit but…”
“You’re damn good because I trained you,” Carter made clear.
“I am, but what if I’m not built for it? I don’t want to fuck this up for you.”
“You don’t have anything to prove to me, Brooks. You only need to prove it to yourself. If you’re second guessing then you need to let me know. You’re right, this life isn’t for everyone and it’s lonely as fuck. Real connections mean liabilities. You have to be able to shut the world out in order to focus on getting the job done. You can’t do that if you have liabilities.”
After a long pause, Brooks responded, “I want this. As soon as we figure out what the hell went wrong on this job then I’m in. Two-hundred percent.”
“You need to be sure.”
“I am.”
“Aight, I’mma holla at you.” Carter ended the call and laid back on the sofa. His thoughts were heavy. Brooks’ words settled over him.
