The Disharmony Effect |Book II|

2|. NOAH: Tick, Tick, Tick, Boom ||pt.2||

To my right, from ceiling to floor numerous devices likely to be explosives lay as perfect and elegantly as his family's jewelry.

Moving up to a glass case in front of a wall filled with bigger bombs, I jab a finger towards the line of writing pens and golf balls. "Gasses?"

"All kinds."

I sigh with a shake of my head. "You're built like a fucking army."

"It's the root of the family business." He snickers. "You couldn't have honestly thought we stayed afloat selling engagement rings, hm? So, what do you need?" He sets out. "I got just about everything with more in the back."

"All of it." I look to him without a flinch in my word. "All-access. 24/7."

"That's impossible. The charge alone would break your bank and if Sarge finds out-"

"Sarge won't know anything because I'm not paying you."

His eyebrows flex as my sentence settles in the air. "You want to run that by me again?"

"You owe me for what I did to Manelli. Consider this my payment."

"That debt was settled cause you're the motherfuckin' Grim Reaper now."

"No, I made that name for myself before I poured the gasoline and lit that match. It was earned in a fair fight before I got tricked into shitting all over it, and it's still stuck to me after spending years trying to scrub it off." I state. "So, for tarnishing my name in the first place, I get full clearance. No questions asked."

Ace stares on; looking me up and down as his jaw crunches to the left. "You know I've heard of the kind of man your Father was to you. I heard he beat you like an unwanted, flea-bitten dog on his best days."

With hands still clamped together, I frown as the hand tucked under the other curls into a fist.

"Before the shit you did for my family, I used to see you with this homeless kid. I only saw you guys together a few times, but I remember how close you two looked." Sticking his hands into his pockets, Ace begins to walk to my left.

"And it was no secret your Father hated seein' you two together. He thought it made you look soft, right?"

I stay silent as he goes on.

"Funny. After the work you did for my family with Manelli, I didn't see him around anymore. And the rest of the Manelli crew had no reason to go after anyone because they'd found the one who was responsible and they buried 'em. Alive." He leans in to whisper. "I watched."

Letting his statement suffocate the already strained air between us, his eyes don't drop from mine. "What was the name of that kid again?"

"Careful. You're like a cheap recorder remembering small bits about my past like that. And fragile material like your brain can easily be cracked open."

"Don't worry, it's been so long no one would even believe me." He smiles some. "You know, Grim, I can be an ally to you, if you let me."

"You don't have anything of value in that hollow container."

"You sure about that? I know people in high and low places." He battles. "As a neutral family, we sell to all types and I've made a lot of friends from all over."

"Are you proposing to be my pigeon?"

"Informant, but yes." He delivers matter-of-factly. "I become your eyes and ears, and you can have the access you want."

"And what do you get out of it?"

"Just protection from your crew today and until you're done with my services."