Part 3 Ch.10

There's no one else around, apart from a couple of cars that belong to the liquor store workers. Carson's form is semi-visible from across the street, he glances at his watch again. I have no choice but to hear what he has to say. I open a portal in front of him and step through, he jumps a little when I appear, and instinctively reaches at his side. But he's in his civilian clothes now, the gun is not there. It's a chilly night for summer and he wears a brown leather jacket. I don't waste time with pleasantries. "It's not safe here." I tell him, as I open another portal leading to a hotel rooftop some miles away. After a moment, Carson steps through. "Hello to you too." He says, looking around. "Nice place. You always did have an eye for the dramatics." I study him; I have to be careful with what I say, he could have a wire. "Is my family safe?" I know the answer to this, I visited the house again yesterday. My mother was still there. "Well, I can't act without all the information. Don't look at me like that, I can't just take a family away; I need proof that they're in danger. If you were to come in and explain the situation..." I let out a sharp laugh. "The OCIU would think I'm just making it up. I know how you people think. Besides, I could do a lot more out here." "I know. Which is the only reason why you aren't in jail right now." He walks to the ledge and leans against it. Beyond him, the city lights up with a thousand lights, I can barely even see the stars. "Let me help you. Not just with your family but with the Ravagers." I study him. He meets my eyes coolly. "Why are you doing this? What's in it for you." "Don't you get it? These people are bad, even to the Yellow Thorns. I'll just be fulfilling my job as a police officer. Besides, we've been working alongside the OCIU unit in Hernswood, and they still haven't even come close to the Ravagers." He smiles. "They have some real competitive assholes in their department, I'm just saying it would be nice to do their job for them." His smile fades and he looks at me seriously. "But there can be no deaths. You understand? Whoever this is, we will do our best to bring them to custody." "I never said I agree." He waits patiently as I think. "But if we were to theoretically work together...No one can know about it. Leave the news out of this, I have a reputations to maintain. I can't associate with you people." "Ouch. That stings." He holds out a hand and stands to his full height. I'm irrationally angry at him for growing even taller throughout these years while I only grew an inch. As if he wasn't tall enough already. "We have a deal then." I look at his hand. It would be so easy to portal away but I'm done running from my problems. "Deal." I shake his hand. The warmth of it startles me; I realize that that was the first time I've touched him in years. I clear my throat. "Good." He takes a step back. "Now for this to work, you have to do exactly as I say-" I scoff. "No, you're in my territory now. You follow my orders." He looks like he's about to argue but shrugs. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now what I want to know is what exactly are you planning to do with Romero Costa once we get him." "You know him?" He nods. " We've known his family has been in the mafia for some time now. But they're too careful, we don't have any proof." I wonder what else he knows that he hasn't told me. "It's not just Romero." I tell him after a moment. "There his second-in-command we have to worry about too." He nods. "Fine. But we're taking them into custody." "You don't understand. They're too dangerous to be running free-" "And some would say the same about you." He finishes firmly. "I'm serious, Elenora. This isn't some petty revenge mission we're doing. And that means no unavoidable deaths." "Fine." He studies me. "Are you lying?" "I'm not lying." Carson extends his pinky, with a half-smile on his face. "Pinky promise?" "Stop being childish." I push his hand away. "Now you tell me, when are you securing my family? And I mean Mateo's wife too." "You know about that?" For a second he's confused but he covers it quickly. "Of course you do. And yes, she'll be covered too. But you're not telling me the whole story. There's a reason why they're threatening you-" "You don't need the whole story." I say roughly. "All you need to do is get my family away from here." "People don't just suddenly snap. They have to be provoked first." I scoff. I can't keep the bitterness from my voice. "Clearly you've never met Romero. He and Marcus are cut from the same cloth." He looks up. "How certain are you that he won't go directly after you?" "I have loyal people. Don't worry about me." "I wasn't worried." "Good." "Good." I move to the ledge a few feet besides him and stare out at the city. "It's just the two of us, right? I don't want any surprises." He scoffs. "No offense, but the OCIU hates you. They would shoot you dead before working with you. I, however, happen to be a little more open-minded, it's one of my better qualities." "That's reassuring." From the corner of my eye I see him glance at me. He leans against the ledge with his back to it. I could almost hear him thinking just how cool he thinks he is with his stupid leather jacket. "Why are you asking?" He says. "Because your partner has it out for me, and to be completely honest, the feeling is mutual." "You did kill his partner. The one before me." His good-natural humor is gone now. "You've killed a lot of people, Elenora." I flash to the woman I shot all those years ago when the robbery went wrong. I've forgotten about her. But I haven't forgotten about him. "He killed my friend." I snap. "Was I supposed to sit back and let him kill me too?" He stays silent and I look away at the black expanse beyond the city where the docks lie. Paxton and Valentina are there somewhere right now; the Yellow Thorns work while the whole city sleeps. I feel a flash of pride warm me. This is my city, and no one can take it from me. "I'm sorry." He says. "For everything you've been through." His voice has gone soft and I hate it. I straighten up. "We'll meet again tomorrow night. My family better not be anywhere near this city by then. You better keep your promise, Carson. I don't want to make threats-" "Please, that would be embarrassing for both of us." The moment is gone and he smirks. "Just do your thing and leave me here. I've got to admit, it's a nice view. I could get used to this." He glances back. By the time, he turns again, I'm gone.