"I can go,” Slater responded eagerly. "What's the pay for this one?"
Well, that was interesting. Alex hadn’t inquired about pay in the past.
"Solid. Let me know how it goes. What time will you be there?"
“Midnight.”
Midnight was the perfect time to die. I gave him the address, and he promised he’d be there. Just like me.
Exactly fifteen minutes before Slater was due to arrive, the soft rumble of my bike engine died down when I found my spot. Through my helmet, I had the perfect view of the address I’d given him.
This was good, everyone had cameras in these neighborhoods, the police would get access to the entire footage and Moretti would fucking lose it.
I waited, as calm as lake water.
Finally, Slater's car did a drive-by and stopped a few houses down from the target. I pulled up slowly.
"Holy shit!” Alex exclaimed, incredibly startled. “What the fuck are you doing here?" He rolled down his window after my knock almost gave him a heart attack. Damn, he was jumpy.
"Why’re you so rattled?" I posed the question, and he chuckled, looking incredibly nervous, but again, I’d probably be nervous too if I was a rat.
"Nah, man. Just wasn't expecting anyone to pull up right beside me. Phew!" Alex tightened his grip on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.
We stayed together in the darkness, him in his car and me on my bike, both of us waiting for the other to start talking. I watched him carefully, expecting him to chat like always, but he stayed silent this time.
Instead, he laughed, his voice shaking, which was odd because Alex was confidence personified. Staring straight ahead, he clutched the steering wheel again.
A feeling of unease tickled my insides, and I glanced around discreetly, noticing nothing out of the ordinary, except that’s when Alex checked his rearview mirror, sending my intuition into overdrive.
Fuck. Was he waiting for something?
"Why'd you do it, Alex?” I shot the question out, listening for anything unusual, but all was quiet and deserted on the street. “You didn't get paid enough? Or are you on a noble quest to find justice in this world?"
Men I’d trusted for years had new allegiances, and it was a painful stab in the back.
Alex’s blue eyes looked up at me from the front seat of his car, and that’s when it dawned on him: I knew everything.
"I—what? What are you talking about?" He made a last-ditch effort to deny it all.
"Fuck, man. We were doing so good, too. The shipment you helped fuck up would have landed everyone a huge bonus. Alas, now we're all on the brink of prison or death. Did we do something to make you turn like that?"
I was boiling inside. I had come to trust Alex more than some of my other seasoned guys. He was always genuine, eager, and came up with great ideas.
Alex shook his head, his defeat now evident to both of us. "You're too late,” he scoffed. “You're going to kill me now and only add more sins to your list of transgressions. They're always watching Alex, even now."
Even…now? What the fuck did that mean?
The realization crawled into my mind at a snail’s pace—this was a trap, and I wasn’t the one who set it up. Did I just ride into my own execution instead of Alex’s?
“Did you know I'd be here?" I kept my voice even, clasping my fingers around the handle of my Glock. Alex had no reaction—he stayed silent, staring straight ahead, as if looking for someone. Waiting for something.
It was eerily quiet, and my helmet muffled any subtle street sounds, sending a real shiver of fear down my spine. Something…something was happening in the background. I was blind and deaf to it, but I could feel it.
"Like I said…” Alex reached for his lighter and cigarettes on the dashboard. Slowly, he wedged a cigarette between his lips and turned to me, the look in his eyes cold like never before. “They're always watching.”
He flicked his lighter on, but it was nowhere near his cigarette. The flame flashed right above his steering wheel, and I understood it all then—it was a signal.
I pressed the trigger half a second later. The bullet flew straight through his forehead, and the little lighter flame went out just as Alex’s body slumped over.
