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By Root 1075 0

is that it was a hit. That’s obvious. What you know is that Stover, ‘Mr. Fuckin’ Entrepreneur of the Year,’ was a coke and meth addict. What you know is that Stover and the Texas mob were in bed together. Stover let them launder drug money through his businesses in exchange for all the free meth and coke he could sniff up his nose. Over time, he got to hear all their important secrets. You also know that the Texas mob offers under the table protection for all the ‘Gooks’ and ‘Chinks’ in Denver. Every single one of those is an undeniable fact. So, then Stover gets his ass caught by the cops and he has to make a big decision. Do I lose everything I’ve worked for, my reputation, my family and get plastered across the front of every newspaper or do I tell the cops everything I know about the mob and their connections? Do I name the players and take away their mystery? Maybe Stover wasn’t the only one with a lot to lose. Maybe there were other people just like him with reputations to uphold that didn’t want the spotlight. Other people with businesses that are really just fronts. People who live two lives.” Dale leaned closer to Jane. “Who did Stover know and who knew him? Ask yourself that question! Follow the protection money and you’ll find your killer. Of course, that means you have to cut through all the bullshit and have the guts to see what’s smack in front of you. I’m not sure you know how to do that. You’ll always miss what you don’t want to see. Then you’ll be just like those assholes up on that TV.”

Jane may have had her eyes on the TV the whole time, but she didn’t miss a word of her father’s speech. “I gotta get going,” she said.

“Hold your fuckin’ horses. I told you I wanted to discuss some things with you. I understand from the boys at DH that you and Mike are going through the house and cleaning it out. I got some things that I want to sell to some of the guys. They’ve been hounding me for years about my tool chest and guns. Your lover boy Chris wants that old hand drill for his boat. Go over to the house tonight and get the stuff and take it to DH. They’ll settle up among themselves and Chris can bring me the money.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s in the workshop. Take care of it tonight.” Dale sunk his head into his pillow and watched the television. Jane sat motionless in her chair. “I thought you had to go,” Dale said. Jane gradually got up. “Tell your brother he’s a fuckin’ coward.” Jane moved toward the door. “Oh, and Jane?” Jane turned around. Dale moved his right hand up to his face, stuck out his thumb and first finger to look like a gun and pointed it at Jane’s head. He peered at her and then quickly flicked his thumb to mimic a trigger. A grin crept across his face and he quietly said,

“Bang!”

Their eyes locked and Dale shot into her head.

Jane dropped Mike off at Duffy’s to pick up his car. She didn’t say a word to him about getting the tool chest and guns from the workshop. Mike was so far gone into his own world, Jane wasn’t about to broach the subject with him.

She stopped at the corner liquor store and picked up a six-pack of Corona. By the time she hit the turnoff on I-70 to her father’s house, she had knocked back two bottles and was on her third. No matter how loud she cranked the volume on her radio, Dale’s voice continued to play loudly in her head. “Follow the protection money” and “You actually believed you were going to be the hero, didn’t you?” blended into “Didn’t I teach you that lesson a long time ago.” The last sentence stung. This was where the madness always began. And to compound matters, she was less than five minutes away from the present melting into the past.

Jane pulled into Dale’s gravel driveway and turned off the engine. She drained what was left of the third Corona, popped open another and lit a cigarette. Jane stared ahead at the workshop, standing starkly against an aqua sky. The alcohol gave her a slight buzz—a welcome effect that she had hoped would dull the process and make it easier. But instead, it was as if her senses were heightened. She tried shaking it off as