He started laughing. “Then is my work done here? I have a sexy woman waiting for me back at home. I take too long; she’ll probably have sex without me.”
Jesus fucking Christ. “I’m definitely opting for death. Go on. Put me down. Before she gets off without you.”
He laughed again. “Look, all you need to do is stay on the case for now. Keep feeding Jeff the information we feed you. The phone has been retrieved, and the postcard is gone. That means he only has his word now, that anyone named Bennett was ever involved. That’s thanks to you. You helped us keep Lenore and Cass safe.”
I stared at him. “Am I supposed to feel proud of that fact? Harvey might have been a monster, but this is his poor dad. The man is broken. Childless. Family-less, if I’m not mistaken. Lying to his face is killing me. I’m not that guy. I can’t just keep telling a crying man that nobody hurt his child, or that I’ll found out what really happened, when I know full well that I’m going to bullshit him, and make sure justice is never served.”
Marco frowned at me.
“And before you go nuts at me, because this is all to protect Lenore, I get it, Marco, I do. I’d do pretty much anything to help you protect her. I have been. This whole fucking time. Trouble is, I’m not like you guys. I can’t just switch off my fucking conscience, and lie to people. And then there’s…” Fuck, I nearly mentioned Julie. Could I tell him though? Wouldn’t he understand?
What the fuck am I talking about? He came here to convince me or, let’s be honest, kill me.
“And then there’s what?” He prompted, staring at me. Dammit.
“Well, my credibility is getting shot to shit, by the fact that I look like a fucking walking punching bag. You think you guys could all hold your tempers for a while?”
He laughed, throwing his head back as he did. “If you can keep your head out of your ass, Teller, I think we can stop slapping you around. So… are we good?”
Were we? Just ten minutes ago, I thought I was about to die. Was I relieved not to be? Or was the pressure still right there, making me wonder whether it was worth fighting on?
“Teller?”
I shrugged, and then groaned. “This would be so much fucking easier to decide, if I wasn’t in so much damn pain. I can’t fucking do anything right now.”
Marco raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you need a woman, Teller.”
“Fuck you.”
He snorted, pulling a knife from his pocket, and unfolding it. I watched him warily, as he moved in my direction with the knife, but he simply sliced through the cable tie, and released my hands.
“Bastard.” I rubbed at my wrists, soothing my reddened skin.
“So what happens now?”
Marco stood up, folding his knife, and tucking it in his pocket.
“Now you get some rest, and tomorrow, you’ll wait for a heads up from one of us in the morning, and you’ll go from there. Steer clear of Jeff Clarke, until we send you back in.”
“That easy, huh?”
He laughed as he headed for the door. “Nothing I just described is difficult, Teller. Just follow this through, and everything will be fine. Also, ditch the burner, and get your main phone back on.”
“Burner?”
He stopped and shot me a look. “We know everything, Teller. You might want to bear that in mind. Keeping it in your car? Sloppy…”
He slammed the door after him, and I slumped on the sofa, as my mind replayed what had just happened. One thing had just been made abundantly clear.
I was so far out of my league, that survival was still a slim as fuck chance.