Silence can never be bought

The Contractor

Your dad scoffs. "You want a paper trail now? When the whole point was to keep your charges off paper?""Not the charges, damnit."

"Then what do you want in writing? You made some bad guys go away in exchange for evidence going away, now we're square?"

"It was supposed to be a six month contract. Here we are, how many renewals later? And I'm still consulting." You can picture the air quotes with the way he says it.

"Still better than 20 years for RICO," your dad says.

"Never woulda gotten the max. . . You know what? At least the wiseguys have a code."

Your dad sharpens his tone. "Ever wonder what happened to that evidence?"

"FUCK" A glass shatters. "I'm never gettin' out. Just say it."

"This is the last-"

"Don't string me along with this one last job bullshit, then the job's a whole fuckin' cartel. Call it what it is. I'm an asset. Not a contractor if I don't got a fuckin' choice."

"You're gonna be out."

"You won't even give me your word."

"Joel, you have my word."

"Alright," Joel calms down a little. "And what about you? You ever think about your daughter in all this? You want her on tiktok seein' your head roll off one day 'cause you couldn't take the loss and retire?"

"Don't talk about my daughter."

There's a moment of silence, then your dad continues.

"We're on the same team, buddy. I want this over as bad as you do. C'mon, let's look at the intel."

You're sick to your stomach. Whatever this is sounds like it's about your dad's ego. What's new. You shrink back to the tunnel and jog through it so it's over fast.

-

You're laying on the couch in the pool house, and you don't even want to think about what you just heard. So you're replaying the earlier conversation in your head. The one about your stepmother and . . . gross. Something doesn't sit right about it. You're trying to figure out why Joel would have felt guilty for you blackmailing him into sex. And it hits you that the only reason he'd feel guilty is if it were his doing. . . If he realized you thought you had leverage and saw an opportunity. Deprive you, make you want it that bad, see if you'd try to twist his arm into it. And once you got there, game over? Was he just getting off on having the power all along? Then you ask yourself the real question. If that's the case . . . do you wish none of it ever happened? It's an easy no.

So you put that to rest and can't help but think about what you overheard between Joel and your dad. You want to know how this all happened, but from the way Joel was talking about heads rolling off, you're most worried about what he and your dad are up to right now. You want to hear it from Joel. You want to know what his real job is. The truth might be the only thing you want more than to fuck him. And if he won't tell you the truth, maybe he doesn't deserve the latter.

You're exhausted from being in the sun all day. There's a big, heavy blanket – silky, not exactly cozy. It's like a rich guy blanket, probably put there by an interior decorator. You curl up on the oversized couch and pull it over you. There's a bedroom, but you don't expect this to take as long as it does, so you don't get in bed. You stay on the couch. It feels like Joel is taking forever, but you're too tired to even look at the time. You take off your shorts and bra, swaddle yourself in the blanket, and drift off.

-

You don't hear Joel come in or take off his pants or put his stuff on the table. You feel cold for a moment when he lifts the blanket, but then he gets under it with you and takes you into his arms, and he's warm.