The Second Life of Nick Mason (16 page)

It had taken a week for Nick Mason to be back between three concrete walls and a set of metal bars.

The walls of the holding cell at the Elmhurst Police Station had just been painted buff green. And the stainless-steel sink and toilet were immaculately clean. The bench he was sitting on had a pad thick enough to sleep on. It was probably the nicest cell Mason had ever seen.

But it was still a cell.

He looked at his hands, still red and swollen, especially the right hand, where the knuckles were scraped raw. He knew he had hit McManus at least three or four times with that hand. Maybe the car, maybe the ground.

His hands hurt, but there was something else, too. This feeling he had that maybe beating the shit out of McManus wasn’t a smart idea, but at least it was
his
idea. For the first time since getting out, he had committed an act of violence because he had wanted to, not because he’d been told to. It belonged to him and nobody else.

That was the moment. Sitting there in that cell, looking at his hands. That’s when Nick Mason started to wonder if he could stop being a fucking windup robot and start taking back control over his own life.

He heard footsteps in the hallway. But it wasn’t the Elmhurst officer coming to release him. It was Detective Sandoval.

Mason sat up straight on the bench but didn’t say a word.

“I heard they brought you in,” Sandoval said.

Sandoval dragged the one folding chair from the narrow hallway between the cells and the outer wall, sat down, and looked at Mason.

“There was an off-duty at the game,” Sandoval said. “He stopped you before you killed that guy.”

Mason didn’t respond.

“They’re gonna give you a warning about calling the police next time. Then you’ll be out of here. But I asked them to hold you a minute so we could talk.”

This is just what I fucking need, Mason thought.

“A dead sergeant in that motel room. And then Tyron Harris last night. You’ve been busy.”

Mason stayed silent.

“So now I got you,” Sandoval said. “I got Cole. I got your buddy Marcos Quintero. Ex–La Raza. How long’s
he
been working for Cole? You gotta have some protection to get out of
that
life. Or did Cole just buy them out?”

Mason leaned his back against the concrete wall.

“I got your housemate, Diana Rivelli, who runs Cole’s restaurant. I hope you’re watching yourself. Cole finds out you’re fucking her, he’s not gonna be happy.”

Mason shook his head at that one.

This guy wants Cole, Mason thought. More than me, more than
Quintero, more than everyone in the world who works for him. Or ever will. Cole is at the top of the pyramid and this detective will kill himself trying to get to him.

He might arrest ten other people on the way. They’ll promote him and give him a medal and take his picture with the mayor.

But he’ll never be satisfied until he gets to Cole.

“I put all that together on my own,” Sandoval said. “What do you think a whole elite task force of cops could find out?”

“Are we about done here?” Mason said.

“Did you hear what I just said? You ever hear of a group of cops called SIS? They got put together a few years ago to go after dealers. They can do anything they want, Mason. They make big numbers, so nobody gives a fuck. They’re walking around with a god card, courtesy of the mayor and the police superintendent. Drag some guy out of his car, beat the shit out of him, take his money, take his drugs. Bust down somebody’s door without a warrant? Nobody cares.”

“This is Chicago,” Mason said. “What else is new?”

“They’ve been together for seven years,” Sandoval said. “What do you think that means?”

Mason looked up at him.

“They made that bust at the harbor,” Sandoval said. “That was SIS.”

Mason’s grip tightened on the edge of the bench. He flashed back to the cars pulling out in front of the trucks. Not regular patrol cars. These cars were unmarked.

“Is that a big surprise? Soon as they got put together, you don’t think Cole was smart enough to buy these guys out? It was a business arrangement, Mason. Goes on for years, until it finally goes to shit. And that’s where you came in.”

Mason kept squeezing the bench pad tight, thinking about what this man was saying to him.

“You know what the most dangerous thing in the world is, Mason? A dirty cop. Nobody’s watching him. Nobody can touch him. He can do whatever the fuck he wants. You got a dirty cop in your life, you got a big problem. But you know what’s even worse than a dirty cop? A whole fucking
squad
of them.”

I saw Harris meeting with them, Mason thought. Those were the guys in the suits that second day I was following him.

“There’s a sergeant named Bloome,” Sandoval said. “Tall guy, pale, with gray eyes, looks like a fucking Russian border guard. If you see him coming, don’t even bother waiting for an introduction.”

Mason could see him in his mind, standing outside that coffee shop with his arm around Harris. “Why are you telling me this?”

“You killed his partner, Mason. And you’re his biggest problem in the world now. He had to know that Cole sent you. You think Cole can protect you? Twenty-four/seven? You think you can hide somewhere? These guys go anywhere they want. I’m surprised they’re not here already. Couple SIS detectives from the city show up, tell the sergeant at the desk out there they’re gonna take you back? You wouldn’t make it halfway there. You would disappear. No body. Just gone.”

Sandoval stood up and came up to the bars. “You’re public enemy number one, Mason. If I was a betting man, I’d be taking odds on how long you’re vertical. They’ll go after your family. They’ll go after anybody and everybody close to you. They’ll do whatever it takes.”

Mason closed his eyes for a moment. He made himself take a breath. Then another. His daughter was out there, riding her bike or watching television or who knows what. But Mason was here, locked
up in the cell. They could take her right now, he thought, and I couldn’t stop them.

“You got one way out of this, Mason. Me.”

Mason looked at him.

“The wolves are loose,” Sandoval said. “They’re coming after you. I’m throwing you a line here. It’s the only way you’re gonna live through it. I know you’re just a soldier, Mason. You take orders from above. Help me take the whole thing down and I’ll help you. Tell me everything you know, I’ll send you somewhere they can’t get to you. You, anybody else in your life. Whatever it takes. But the offer expires as soon as you leave this cell. You walk out of here and I can’t help you.”

“The offer was dead the minute you walked in here,” Mason said. “I’m not admitting to anything you say I did. But if even half of it is true, you know there’s no way I can talk to you.”

Sandoval stayed there at the bars for a long moment, waiting for Mason to say something else. Then he turned and left.

The wolves were loose and Nick Mason had brought them to the two people he had most tried to protect.

Parked on the dark street, Mason watched Gina’s house. He’d come here as soon as he was released from the Elmhurst Police Station after an officer had driven him down to his car. The whole way, Sandoval’s words echoed in his head.

He got out and took a long look down the street in both directions. Then he walked up the driveway. A spotlight over the garage made an arc of light across the front yard. More lights shone from inside the house.

The front door opened. Gina’s husband came out and closed it behind him.

“Get out of here,” he said. “Right now.”

Still in his soccer-coaching shirt, he stalked across the front lawn. Mason stepped up until he could see the man’s face.

“Brad,” he said. “That’s your name, right?”

The man had two inches and maybe twenty pounds on Mason,
but the muscle was built in the gym, not on the street. Still, Mason had no interest in fighting him. Not tonight.

“I need to talk to you.”

“About what? What you did at the field today?”

“Listen to me,” Mason said. Then he stopped. What the hell was he going to say? How could he possibly explain this?

“I’m calling the police, Nick. You can’t be here.”

Mason was surprised to hear his name. He’d never met the man before. He’d never said a word to him.

“You gotta leave,” Mason said. “All three of you. Now.”

Brad just looked at him.

“Go somewhere safe,” Mason said. “Don’t tell anybody where you’re going. Give me your cell phone number. I’ll call you when things change.”

Brad listened to every word. When Mason was done, he shook his head.

“What . . .” he said, drawing out each word, “. . . are . . . you . . . talking . . . about . . . ?”

“I can’t tell you,” Mason said. “You just have to believe me. Take them and go.”

Brad took a step away, rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head like he was waking himself from a bad dream. Turning back to Mason, he said, “Haven’t you caused us enough trouble?”

“Yes. But, right now, I’m just trying to keep Gina and Adriana safe. And I need your help to do that.”

“You know I’m trying to do the same thing, right? I’m trying to protect . . .” Brad hesitated and took a quick look back at the house. “I’m trying to protect your daughter. You want me to do that, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“So let me do that. Whatever this is you’re bringing here, you know it’s not good for her. This doesn’t belong in her life.
You
don’t belong in her life.”

Mason had spent so much of the past few days hating him, but he knew this man would protect Adriana with everything he had. He’d give his life for her. That was Mason’s best chance to get through to him.

“If I was in your place,” Mason said, “I’d be just as pissed off. But I’d listen if somebody like me said there was a real threat.”

“Then let’s go to the police.”

This man didn’t grow up where Mason did. He didn’t live through the past few days. Mason figured his last contact with a police officer in uniform was giving him his license, registration, and proof of insurance when he forgot to slow down at the speed trap.

“You can’t take this to the police,” Mason said. “You have to trust me.”

Before Brad could say another word, the front door opened. A new rectangle of light was cast across the lawn and, for an instant, Mason saw Adriana shadowed against it.

Then he saw Gina taking her away from the door and closing it. That one single moment, it hit Mason harder than any punch he’d ever taken. He had to close his eyes and swallow.

“I need to talk to her,” Mason said.

Brad shook his head.

“I need to talk to my daughter,” Mason said. “We can do it right here. Wherever you want. With you or with you and Gina. I just need to see her for one minute.”

“She’s been through a lot today, Nick.”

“I’m asking for one minute.”

Brad looked toward the house. “She was very upset about what
happened at the field. But she thought she recognized you. She was asking if that was you even though Gina told her she’d never see you again.”

Another gut punch. Mason took it and waited for whatever was going to come next.

“I’ll be right back,” Brad said.

He turned and went back into the house, leaving Mason to stand there in the darkness. When he came back out, he walked halfway down the lawn until Mason could see his face.

“One minute,” Brad said.

Mason closed his eyes and let out his breath. Then he followed Brad back to the front door.

When Brad opened it, Gina was standing there. With Adriana.

She was wearing pajamas—little elephants in a row, marching single file around her body, one elephant holding on to the tail of the next with its trunk. When he saw her at the field, her hair had been braided. Now it was wet and hanging down to her shoulders.

“Hi,” his daughter said to him.

All of the words Mason had thought he’d say to her when he finally got this chance deserted him. His mind was empty.

“Hello,” Mason said.

He looked up at Gina. She had her lips pursed tight, one arm folded across her chest, the other around Adriana’s shoulder.

“You’re a good soccer player,” Mason said. “You’re very fast.”

She nodded.

“Faster than all the boys,” he said.

“Except one,” she said. “Branden is faster.”

Mason smiled.

“I’m sorry about what happened today,” he said.

“I saw you chase that man,” Adriana said. “He was taking my picture.”

“I’m sorry if it scared you.”

“He was creepy,” Adriana said. “I’m glad you chased him away.”

There was a pause. Gina kept watching him closely. He wasn’t sure where to go next.

“Adriana,” he said, “do you remember me?”

“I thought I saw you at another game, too.”

“Do you remember when we all lived together? When you were four years old?”

“Until you went away to jail.”

Mason looked up at Gina. “Yes.”

“It was just me and Mom for a while,” she said. “Then we moved here.”

“I know it seems like a long time ago to you,” Mason said, “but to me it’s just like yesterday. I hope you know how much I hated leaving you and Mom.”

“What did you do?”

Mason looked at Gina again. “You know how you mess up sometimes?”

“Yes.”

“Well,” Mason said, “I really messed up bad. I did something I shouldn’t have done.”

She nodded and looked up at her mother.

“I just want you to know,” he said, “that all I ever wanted to do was to be with you every day. All I wanted to do was be your daddy.”

She thought about it for a while. “Did the jail have metal bars?”

Mason almost laughed. “Metal bars for the first four years,” he said. “Glass for the last year.”

“A glass jail cell? Weren’t they afraid it would get broken?”

He smiled again. “It was pretty thick glass.”

She looked up at her mother again. Then back to Mason. “I bet you’re glad you’re out of jail.”

He looked down at her. “I am.”

“We should go to bed,” Gina said.

Mason wiped his face. “Can I have a hug before I go?”

Gina hesitated but then let go of Adriana’s shoulder.

His daughter came to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Mason closed his eyes and rubbed her back.

Then Adriana let go.

He watched her turn around and walk up the stairs with her mother.

Mason watched her until she disappeared. The two men stood there in the entranceway. They didn’t say another word to each other. Brad nodded his head and that was all Mason needed. He went back out into the night.

He sat in the car for a while, still feeling his daughter’s arms around him. Then he wiped his face again and turned the key.

I’m ready, he said to himself. Whatever comes next, I’m ready.