If Only..(Part 1 And Part 2 Included)(Under Edit)

Chapter 31- Good Men

Jacob: Can I ask you something? 

Jackson(taking a sip): Shoot.

Jacob: Why are you doing this?  Why are you proving yourself to be the bad guy in front of the world?

Jackson(taking another sip): Some doings don't have explanations. 

Jackson finishes his glass and pours himself another. He gulps down in a go and fills another glass. 

Jacob: Woah! Easy there. 

Jackson: I'm good, brother. 

Jacob sensed his impending giddiness and raises a question: Are you savoring the treat or are you taming... a hidden pain?

Jackson(laughs): You are raw. 

Jacob(smirks): Blame my work. How did you have my address, by the way?

Jackson laughs. 

Jacob pulls himself a chair and sits beside Jackson: Jeff.

Jackson takes another sip and corrects him in a stern voice: Jereff.

Jacob:... Jereff. He seems to be a good guy. 

Jackson(laugh): You find the founder of a criminal cartel as a good guy?

Jacob: I genuinely mean it. 

Jackson did not reply and took another sip, from the glass. 

Jacob: I did not expect to see him, there. He took the call at the crucial moment.

Jackson: He just has a concern towards lives of innocent people. He wasn't like this. Situation played a pivotal game.

Jacob: What do you mean? 

Jackson(taking another gulp): His wife was killed. 

Jacob: WHAT??

Jackson: An innocent person, paid the debt of our sins. She was abducted, we failed to reach there on time. (Taking another gulp from his glass) Maybe, hawks could have taken a different turn, as he was changing. But, Emma's death turned him back into a stone. She died leaving him with a three months old baby, to take care of. A criminal(laughs) was left with a responsibility to raise a child into a woman. A woman, respected in society. That made him leave his position. 

Jacob: Why????

Jackson: He wanted to save his daughter. He wanted to keep her out of the vicinity of the world.  

Jacob: I...I'm sorry. 

Jackson: Don't be. We step into this world, making ourselves ready for losses. We lose, we break, we stand up, we have steeper ups and downs, but life goes on, irrespective of uprises and downfalls. Emma...(turning the glass upside down gulping down, the last sip, in his glass) She was the light in our family. She was warm, caring, loving and strong. Now that she is gone, she took with herself, all the good things, that surrounded us. We did not just lose her, I lost my brother, as well. All the decisions he took after that, I had to bow down to that. 

Jacob: I can imagine, how much you love your brother. 

Jackson(chuckles): More than myself. He is the only one, I have to call a family. I am nothing without this person. I can never be as organized as he is. 

Jacob: What about Madeline?

The smile from Jackson's face vanished at a second, as he poured himself another glass of raw whiskey and gulped it down, as Jacob kept looking at him with questioning eyes. Jackson rose up from his seat, wobbly and walked towards the sofa. He stood near the sofa and turned towards Jacob, who stood up from his place. 

Jackson shouted: I don't want to hear that name. She cheated on me. I hate her.

Before he could complete the sentence, he stumbled and fell on the couch and lost his senses. Jacob waited for him to become unconscious. He held the empty glass bottle of whiskey, with his palm, keeping the bottoms at the top. He walked towards Jackson, who was unconscious on the couch and towered him, holding the glass bottle by its neck, playing the words from the talk he had with Mr. Alvarez, some time ago.

"How are you sure, it is not him?"

"I just know. He was there with me the whole time."

"Jake. He got your address. He has every freaking detail about your family. Just one act of kindness..."

"IT WAS NOT ABOUT THE ACT OF KINDNESS, SIR! It was about his dedication towards restoring safety." 

"You are going wrong, Jake. You are going wrong. Listen, to my words. Do as I say."

"I can't do this. I am not a killer."

" HE IS A CRIMINAL!GODAMMIT!"

"We will still need him, to reach the real culprit. And, you know, he is the only way."

"We have got every information, we needed, didn't we? Now, it's time, we move him out of the game. The boy started to grow faith in us. It will be a cakewalk. Else, well we don't know, what kind of turn he takes after this. Before, that day comes, pull him out with his roots.

" He is at the hospital, waiting for Madeline to wake up."

"Fine! Just, take him home. Make him feel that you can be trusted. Do whatever you want, make sure, he is not in a position to defend himself. The rest, you know. No one will be able to sense, what happened. I can bet on that. This chapter of Jackson Claros ends tonight."

"He's not gonna buy it."

"That part rests on you."