Free Jamie Garrett - Riley Reid 03 - Ends and Beginnings by Jamie Garrett Page A

know. It don’t matter, I guess. What did matter was that he knew where we kept the real money. And he walked out with it.” Harlan put out his cigarette then lit up another one.
    “Once he walked out that door, your daddy was a dead man. I had everyone out looking for him. For a little while, the sneaky little fuck managed to stay hidden. But no one hides from me forever. I got cops, judges, bondsmen and even toll booth workers on the payroll. The moment he showed his face, I found out about it.
    “He and your mommy were at some trash dump off the highway. I sent some guys over there.” Harlan was looking me in the eyes. He wanted a reaction from what he was going to say next. But he got nothing from me.
    “My boys told your folks to come on out and give themselves up. They didn’t want to. So there was a fire fight. You should be proud. Your mommy and daddy managed to clip a couple of my boys. But they weren’t no fighters. Eventually they got themselves overrun. And your momma, she got a bullet to the neck.”
    I kept telling myself not to get angry. Was what he was saying true? Was my mother dead? And was that how she went? All of those questions and feelings were buried deep. If what he was saying was true, then I’d deal with it later.
    Harlan continued. “From what I hear, she bled out right there on the carpet. Your chicken shit daddy ran away. He left her to die. That’s the kind of man your daddy was… a coward.”
    Another grin from the drug lord was meant to upset me. Again, I kept my cool. “I hoped your daddy would show up to your momma’s funeral. Sure enough, he did. It was a dumb move on his part, but I guess it was a little admirable. There at the graveyard, me and my boys picked him up.”
    I gulped hard. It was a struggle to keep myself from trying to strangle the man across from me. He was so happy with himself, so proud.
    “What graveyard?”
    “You mean where’s your momma buried? She’s over in Charleston at a place called Ravenswood.” Harlan was halfway through his second cigarette. There was a tiny pillar of ash on it.
    “And my dad? What did you do to him?” My legs shook as I asked the most important question. I was genuinely scared of what his answer would be.
    “I guess there’s no harm in telling you what we done. After all, I’m already in here for life. What more can they do to me? We tortured him for about a week. We pulled out his fingernails, burned him, broke bones, beat him. Basically, we did whatever we could think of. It wasn’t for fun or revenge. We wanted to know where the hell my money was. But he didn’t break.”
    My bottom jaw shook a little bit. As I pictured my dad bloody and broken in my head, tears started to form in my eyes. I didn’t let them fall. Harlan couldn’t see me break down. He couldn’t be allowed to win.
    “Where…” Despite my best efforts, my voice broke a bit. “Where is his body?”
    Harlan laughed. His cackle was like nails on a chalkboard. God forgive me, I wanted him dead so badly. If the guard hadn’t been in the room, I swear I would’ve gouged his eyes out.
    The second guard returned. “Two minutes!” he barked at me.
    “Where is he buried?” I asked again.
    “Tell you what, you give me my money, or tell me where it is. Then, I’ll tell you where your dad is. Deal?”
    I got up out of my chair. “No, no deal.”
    “How about you tell me where my money is and I don’t have my man kill you? Or maybe I get someone closer to you to get the job done?”
    Someone closer to me? What did he mean by that? At the moment I didn’t care. I was simply sick of talking to the vile piece of trash. It was time to end our conversation.
    “I don’t know where your money is, and I don’t care! You’re never going to get it. For me, it’ll be enough to know that you’re rotting in here for the rest of your life. A true scumbag like yourself deserves nothing less.”
    Before leaving the room, I added in one more jab. “When