She turned, her red eyes looking up at me. “Something went wrong,” she stated, her voice croaky.
I nodded. “One of the guys who was part of the operation was on Simon’s payroll…” I clenched my fists, “…he made a call to the main office where another guy managed to scramble the signal before we could get a firm location.”
“How did he do all this? Why didn’t these men just speak up and say something?” she asked, her anger flaring. “They must have known what he was doing was wrong?”
I brushed her wet hair away from her face, cupping her face in my hand. “He had money and power, Hadley. If bribes didn’t work, he had the Shadow Syndicate behind him, ready to do anything he ordered. He threatened their families and in some cases, he followed through. And when that kind of pressure is put on…” I forced back the burn of tears that threatened to break through my defenses, “…people will do anything to protect the ones they love.”
She sobbed loudly, and I wrapped my arms around her small frame, pulling her against my body as the water sprayed over us.
I wanted to say something to comfort her, tell her that he was in a better place. But it wouldn’t help. We were all mourning Slider’s death, and nothing could be said to fill the hole that we would feel inside for the rest of our lives.
The pain would slowly ease, but we would never forget today.