What Travis had just suggested to him was to kill them, or as he’d put it, “take them out.” Asher had wanted to scoff at the suggestion, but there was something in the younger man’s eyes that let him know that he was serious.
“You saying you could do them? Why would you do that? I thought Charlie brought you here.”
Travis nodded and leaned back in his seat, a mirthless grin on his face.
“He did. But he’s crazy. He’s erratic. He’s overly emotional and is going to ruin everything we’ve already done.”
This statement revealed many things at once. First, Charlie Henry wasn’t as much in control as he probably assumed. Whether it was Anna or Travis that was actually pulling the strings, David didn’t know. It was clear that the real power behind this thing was still up for grabs, though. The second thing it showed was that Travis was a true believer in what they were doing. All along, David had thought of him as a hired gun, a mercenary.
The third, and potentially most important thing this statement revealed was that Travis was implicitly offering to enter into a partnership with him. Instead of David Asher being the third wheel, he could be a partner. He could have more control and more influence. He sat back in his seat, pensively looking around the bar. It was a lot of information to take in at once. Still, he had to be clear.
“So you’re saying it could be you and me in it together?” David asked finally.
Travis nodded, happy that the man understood his implication.
“How do I know I can trust you?” David asked, then taking a swig of beer from a glass.
Travis shrugged noncommittally.
“You can’t know that, just like I don’t know if I can trust you. But there are a lot of people here that aren’t happy with Charlie. He’s a smart guy. He’s experienced. He knows a lot of players. But he’s—”
“—erratic,” David said, interrupting him. “Yeah, you mentioned that. My question is, why would we move on them before we even got control of this thing? It would be easier to take something that has already been established.”
Travis nodded again. He was impressed. Of course he and his cohorts had thought of this, but they were anxious to get Henry out of the way as soon as possible.
“That’s a good point,” Travis acknowledged. “But you don’t have to work with that son of a bitch every day. You don’t have to get his calls at three in the morning because he’s angry or depressed. Like I say, he’s not easy to deal with. But… you make a good point. Maybe we should wait until you’re in office.”
“No maybes about it,” David said after a pause. “I’d insist on it. It’s pointless otherwise.”
Travis nodded calmly, his arms folded across his chest. He was glad to hear that his companion was seriously considering his proposition. It would be messy, but he knew that they could work together. Hell, working with anyone other than Charlie Henry would be better by default.
“Okay,” Travis said then pursed his lips. “You win, you get the ball rolling, and then we start to make a transition.”
Transition, David thought. A wry smile formed on his face. Transition was another way of saying “We kill everyone in our way and then we take control.” But Asher accepted the guarded words. No reason to broadcast their plans to the patrons in the bar.
“Good, then,” David said, offering his hand.
Travis shook it firmly. He sat grabbed his beer and drained the remainder of its contents. He belched lightly and wiped his lips. He stood.
“So are we good?” Travis said, clearly ready to leave.
“Yeah, for now.”
“We’ll be in contact,” Travis said and then walked towards the bar.
“We” will be in contact, not “I” will be in contact, David thought. Why the “we” instead of “I”? He wondered if Travis was trying to intimidate him—to make him feel that he was past the point of no return in their agreement. David swallowed hard then thought he might be reading too much into the statement.
He swirled the remnants of a whiskey and Coke in his glass and then swallowed it down. In an attempt to get his mind off of Travis’s last statement, he began to scope the bar for tonight’s companion.
“That’s him,” Patton said, handing the binoculars to Mike. He raised a digital video camera and started to film the man walking down the sidewalk that was now wet with rain.
Mike held the binoculars to his eyes and clicked his tongue. “That shaggy haired kid is in cahoots with David Asher huh?”
“Uh huh,” Patton said quietly, nodding grimly.
While Travis and Asher were sitting together in their booth, Patton walked by and saw them. There were obviously in the middle of a serious conversation because neither of them noticed him.
Patton and Mike followed David Asher to the bar to see what he would do and who he would talk to. It seemed strange to Patton that he would meet up with another man. And it was something about David Asher’s drinking buddy that raised those silent alarm bells inside of his brain. It was an instinct he’d developed in his old life, in his old work. There was something going on here, Patton thought, and it wasn’t innocent.
“Did he walk here?” Mike asked.
“I don’t know,” Patton said, shaking his head. I guess he was here before Asher got here. We followed Asher remember?”
“Well, wherever he’s going,” Mike said, gesturing towards Travis with the binoculars, “he’s not getting there in any kind of hurry.”
The kid was loping along at a leisurely pace, oblivious to the fact that he was being stalked. He got to the corner and then crossed the street. Patton pulled away from the curb and followed him, making sure to stay at least a half block behind their prey. The longhaired man walked another block and then turned left, continuing to walk casually, his hands in his pockets.
“Must be going home,” Mike said, hating the silence. Patton grunted in agreement but said nothing. He had his game face on and he didn’t want any distractions.
The kid walked two and a half more blocks and then jogged diagonally across the street, entering a narrow driveway. There were trees obstructing their view, but it looked to be a small apartment building. Patton drove past, drove halfway up the next block and then turned around. He parked a block away on the opposite side of the apartment building and shut off the engine.
“Looks like this might be where he lives,” Patton said almost to himself. “It’s weird, though. Anyone who wanted to could have a house. Why wouldn’t he have a house instead of living in an apartment?”
They both sat in the dark and pondered the question. Finally Mike said, “Well, people were given a house, a business, a car and cash… or the equivalent in cash, remember?”
Patton hadn’t remembered that fact but that must have been the reason. What was he going to do with all that cash but buy a house, car and what not? It didn’t make sense… yet.
It wasn’t just the loud clattering of pots and pans that let Patton know Jennifer was angry with him. She hadn’t talked to him since he’d tried to sneak into the house just before dawn. Worse, he’d been unwilling to tell her where’d been or what he’d been doing. He was in a tough spot. If he told Jennifer he’d been following people in the streets of Blue Creek all night she would tell him that he was acting crazy and paranoid. Instead, he chose to go with the silent treatment. He would tell her everything once he verified the thing that had been bothering him.