Anna nodded, but inside she felt wary. Charlie was being much too cavalier about all of this. She thought they were on the brink of losing everything they’d worked for. Nevertheless, she would advise David to follow his advice and help him draft the new policies. Satisfied that the meeting was now over, Charlie stood again, much happier this time. Neither of them tried to stop him and he walked down the hallway to his bedroom.
Despite all the bad news emanating from Blue Creek city hall, Patton decided to throw a party at Jennifer’s house in town. All of his employees were invited, as were many friends. Frank invited Bao and the two were having a private conversation in the living room. Music blared from a stereo in the living room. Televisions throughout the house showed different sporting events, including the UFC fights in Las Vegas. The house was filled with happy people. Any neighbor that showed up to complain about the noise was invited to join the party. Some left bickering, but many joined the festivities.
Noticeably absent from the party was Mike Wilson. He was usually the life of the party, but recently he had been distant. Before tonight, Mike would show up, but would sit alone in corner drinking hard liquor. Patton and Frank were getting worried about their friend and colleague, but he hadn’t been working much lately either. The party continued on past midnight but slowly petered out. Frank took Shontae home but returned. After everyone else had gone, it was just Patton and Frank. Jennifer went to bed when Patton promised he’d clean up. Frank assured her that he’d help and keep Patton on task. They quietly cleaned up beer bottles and paper plates without a word. After a half hour of awkward silence, Frank finally addressed the elephant in the room.
“No Mike again. You seen him?”
Patton continued cleaning and seemed to be trying to avoid the question. Finally he shook his head no. Frank grunted and moved to the living room to begin cleaning.
“I’m worried about him, Patton. He hasn’t been himself since the election and he’s gotten worse since everything started going wrong.”
Patton was worried too, but Mike’s recent behavior hadn’t been weighing on his mind as much as Frank’s.
“He’s adjusting, Frank. His mom died. His business is cruising along so he doesn’t have anything to challenge his mind. You know how he is.”
And Frank did know because he was exactly the same way. People like he and Mike needed something to get them out of bed. Since the election, Mike seemed to be wandering through life, looking for something important to do. Unbeknownst to Frank, Patton had something planned that might bring Mike out of his emotional funk. He wasn’t ready to reveal it, though, because he wasn’t sure it would work. Patton hadn’t even told Jennifer about his idea. She would probably try to talk him out of it.
“We have to do something soon, Patton. He’s not right in the head.”
Patton nodded. He understood the concern, but he wasn’t ready to commit to any sort of intervention. “I’ll talk to him,” Patton said quietly. “He’s just working through some stuff.”
If either of them knew what Mike was planning, however, they would have rushed over to his house and talked sense into him right then.
The dark figure turned his collar to ward off the cold. He patted his pocket to feel the weight of the pistol for the hundredth time. Mike Wilson felt like a James Bond wannabe, but, he realized, spies must do it like this for a reason. Here he was, a cold April rain falling, waiting to meet someone in a dark alley.
Mike’s business partners thought he’d changed. In a sense he had, but not in the way they thought. On the outside, Mike had been calm and reserved—maybe a result of his losing the election. Inside, however, something dangerous was brewing. After losing the election, Mike returned to operate his business. He desperately wanted to deny the governorship to David Asher, but he was never sure that he wanted to hold public office or to have that much responsibility. In hindsight, it would have been much better for Blue Creek had he won. Asher and his puppet masters had made a mess of things. Patton thought the negative outcomes were purposeful. Mike told him that it didn’t matter. Whether the results of these economic policies were purposeful or not, the result was the same—people were suffering. Many had lost their homes and many couldn’t find jobs.
Mike paced nervously, stamping his feet to keep them warm. There was the occasional snowflake mixed in with the large drops of cold rain. He shivered and checked his watch. The kid was late. Ten minutes now. He thought about what he was about to do. No longer was he weighing it in his mind, whether it was moral or immoral, just or unjust. The killing of a man, in theory is wrong, but is it always wrong? What if good comes from it? Would the assassination of Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin have been wrong? Wouldn’t millions of human beings lived?
No, Mike thought, shaking his head, this was the right thing to do. One person was nothing, particularly when that person was causing so much pain to others. If caught, he was willing to sacrifice his own life and livelihood for the betterment of the town and people he’d grown to love. That was magnanimous, he realized, grandiose even.
Fifteen minutes late now.
“Damn, where is he?” Mike thought out loud. He looked at his watch again and shivered. He walked to where the alley ran into a cross street then back to get warm. Mike felt for the gun again, this time sliding his hand into the pocket and fingering the metal. It was a .38 special, much like the one his father used to keep in his nightstand. It was small and easy to handle. The kid assured Mike that he knew how to use it. Of course Mike was skeptical—the kid was only eighteen. Mike would do the job himself, but he knew there was no way he could get close enough to Asher. The pistol was only effective from about twenty-five feet and even that was pushing it. The kid needed to get close.
“You have to hit him with the first shot, Jimmy” Mike had told him emphatically. “If you don’t, you won’t have the chance to make the kill shot. His security guards will surround him and probably shoot you down before you can get away.”
“Okay Mike, I’ve got it,” Jimmy responded impatiently.
The kid’s tone rankled Mike and he wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. Instead, he put his hand on the kid’s shoulder and spoke to him seriously.
“Look kid, we’re not playing games here. This isn’t the range your daddy took you to alright?” Mike said emphatically.
That first meeting was almost a week ago. Between then and now, Mike mentally battled himself. The pros, the cons, the morality. Having finally convinced himself that it was indeed the right move, Mike called for another meeting.
Mike reached the sidewalk and turned. When he did, he saw a solitary, hooded figure standing in the rain. He reached the spot and motioned for the kid to follow him. He led him further down the alley then ducked between two buildings. Typical Hollywood stuff, Mike thought, but again, it must be the best way to do this type of thing. Mike stopped at a door and pulled a set of keys from his pocket. Mike took one last look around to see if anyone was watching them and then walked through the door after the kid.
They had just entered Maddie’s Diner, Jimmy realized. It was a typical diner with booths along the wall opposite the long counter.
“You’re late,” Mike said, brushing the rain from his hair.
The kid pulled his hood off and starting brushing the rain off of his jacket and pants. “Sorry Mike. I had to walk. My Mom wouldn’t let me take either of the cars.”
Jimmy looked sincere so Mike let it go. Still, he needed to make a point. He put his finger in the kid’s face and said, “That’s fine, but from now on, you make our meetings. I don’t pick times and places for no reason.”