The following morning Jake woke up to Wade's voice drifting up the stairs. He shuffled out of bed and into his bathroom to get cleaned up. As he was making his way down the stairs, he noticed his living room floor scattered with papers, files, and post-it notes. Wade was pacing back and forth as he spoke to someone on the phone. Turning around, Wade noticed Jake and held up a finger.
"Hey, Mike, he's awake. Let me call you back." he said and ended the call, sliding his phone into his back pocket.
"What's all of this?" Jake asked, motioning towards the floor.
"I couldn't sleep last night. I need to work. Keep my mind off of things. And then it hit me, Anthony had at least one guy working for him. The one that broke into May's apartment and planted the bugs and surveillance cameras. So, I started digging into Anthony's employees. Everyone checks out but one." he stepped over a few papers and plucked a post-it off of the coffee table.
"Derek Green. Spent four years in Iraq serving in the Marines. Was dishonorably discharged due to negligence, fighting, and spying on unknowing civilians." he read off of the tiny yellow paper.
Jake stood there waiting for him to continue. When he didn't respond with anything Wade continued.
"He has no other work history after coming back to the States. It's as if he dropped off of the map."
"Ok. So, you think this is the guy that Anthony had following May around?" Jake asked.
"I'd bet my life on it." Wade answered.
"What other information do you have on him?"
Wade's phone rang and he motioned for Jake to wait, pulling the phone from his back pocket, it was Mike.
"Hey, Mike. Find anything?" he asked.
He grabbed a pen off of the coffee table and jotted something down on the post-it he already had in his hand.
"That's all I need. Thanks, man." Once his call ended, he looked at Jake with eagerness in his eyes and said,
"I have Derek's address."
Jake rushed to the front door, grabbed his keys off of the hook, and looked back to Wade.
"Let's go. What are you waiting on?" he asked.
"Jake, we need to go in with a plan. What are we going to do? Knock on his door and introduce ourselves with, 'Hi, we're Jake and Wade, you helped murder our friends.'"
"No. I plan on kicking his door in and then kicking his face in. No need for conversation."
"Or how about we create a plan in case he's expecting us." Wade countered.
"There is a plan. Kill him."
"We are not killing someone in cold blood, Jake."
"What? He helped a psychopath find our friends, Wade. I'm betting that if he hadn't been there that night setting up the surveillance, May would still be with us and Daisy wouldn't be dead!" Jake argued getting angry.
Wade shifted weight from side to side, jittery. He sighed, slouched his shoulders in defeat, and said,
"Fine. Let me grab my handgun. But, Jake, you're not killing the man. Make him wish he was dead, fine. But I cannot stand by and let you murder someone. I work in law." he said heading towards the stairs.
"Yeah. Ok. I'll grab mine and my extra clip." Ignoring what Wade said and following him up the stairs.
"Jake, this isn't Anthony. You won't need to empty a clip." Wade said turning back towards him.
Jake pushed his way through him, walked into his room as he said,
"Anthony found her because of this man. He's dying. Today." he walked out while slipping a clip into the handle of the gun.
He tucked it in the back of his jeans and slid on a light jacket to hide it. Wade looked at him hesitantly but walked down the steps without debate.
"Let's take your car. It's less conspicuous." Wade stated, reluctantly handing Jake the address.
****
As the guys pulled into the driveway of the house listed at the address, Jake noted the security cameras.
"We're being watched." he said pointing to the camera over the garage. The guys got out and walked up the stone path to the front porch. Before they were able to step up to the porch, the front door opened. The guy Jake seen at May's apartment stood in the doorway with a shotgun.
"What are you doing here?" Derek demanded.
"We're here to hopefully get some answers." Wade started but Jake had other plans.
He bumrushed Derek, throwing his shoulder into his abdomen taking him to the ground. Derek thrust the end of the shotgun into Jake's chest but Jake wasn't budging. Jake punched him causing his head to bounce off of the wooden porch. Wade tried to grab Jake but Jake pushed him back.
"Jake this isn't why we're here." he said.
"I told you, you're not stopping me, Wade!"
Jake grunted as Derek rammed his back into the side of the house. Jake threw another punch but Derek blocked with his forearm and punched Jake knocking him backward. He aimed the shotgun at Jake and slowly stood.
"Get off of my property." Derek demanded.
"Not until you're dead." Jake said pulling his handgun from his back.
Wade tried interjecting but the two men were at a stand-off and neither was going to back down. Wade pulled his gun and aimed it at Derek.
"Inside." he said motioning towards the doorway.
Derek dropped the shotgun and slowly walked back through his front door, escorted by the two men holding guns to his head.
"You're the reason Daisy is dead." Jake growled through clenched teeth.
"Who?" Derek asked, genuinely confused.
"My girlfriend. Anthony murdered her. Hung her in an abandoned meat factory." he said walking the man back into his couch, forcing him to sit down.
"I don't know any Daisy."
"She was a way to get to May." Jake said.
As soon as May's name was mentioned Derek flinched.
"Listen, I was only doing what I was told."
"You were helping a maniac track and stalk my best friend. You broke into her home. You planted bugs and cameras. I was there. I watched you." Jake said.
"Who else was working for Anthony?" Wade asked.
Derek turned his attention towards Wade,
"No one. Just me. He found me a while after I came home from Iraq. Threatened my family if I didn't help him track a girl. He somehow knew what I know how to do. Surveillance. He told me he wasn't going to hurt her."
"He murdered my girlfriend and basically put May in a coma." Jake yelled, throwing a punch at his face.
"So, tell us, what exactly did you think he was going to do with a woman he had you stalking for him?" Wade asked, gun still aimed at him.
"He said she was important to him. That she was part of a group that ran from their contracts." Derek explained.
"She was part of a group of women that he was murdering. He was a sick bastard." Wade stated.
"What do you mean was?" Derek asked.
"Oh, haven't you heard? Anthony's dead." Jake sneered. "By my bullets." he growled walking forward and pushing the gun against his head.
Derek stared up at Jake raising his arms to show he wasn't fighting back. Jake tightened his grip on the gun. Wade had gone quiet making Jake glance over in his direction. He was just staring at Derek with a blank look in his eyes. He noticed that a silencer has been attached to his gun.
Without a word, Wade pulled the trigger shooting Derek in the head.
Jake jumped back out of reaction and looked over at Wade in shock.
"I thought we weren't killing him?" Jake asked.
"You weren't leaving here with him still breathing and I wasn't letting you live with this." Wade said quietly.
"What happened with you working for the law?"
The two of them stood there saying nothing for a minute until Wade's phone rang making them both jump. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. He slid his thumb over the screen rejecting the call.
"Who was that?" Jake asked.
"Mike. Come on, we need to find the security system and wipe the footage." he said scanning the living room.
Jake walked into the adjoined dining area and didn't notice anything. Walking towards the connected kitchen he stopped when Wade called for him.
"I've got it. It's done. Let's get out of here."
The car ride back was quiet. Jake still felt furious. Rage. Anger. But a sense of achievement fell over him. Wade knew there was no undoing what he had just done. The only thing that bothered him was, he didn't regret it. What mattered now was getting May to wake up.