The Love You Crave

34.

Present Day… Donovan Creed.

George Best is furious about meeting me at PhySpa this late at night, but the only other option I offered was his house, with his wife present.

“You’ll do well to hold your temper,” I say.

“Why? Are you going to rip my ear off if I don’t?”

I point to a large item on the table between us. “Ever seen one of these?”

He looks at the industrial staple gun and shrugs. He’s not impressed.

I pick it up, stand, lean my weight on it while pressing it to the table top. When I click the trigger, George jumps at the sound. When I move the gun he sees the top of a steel staple resting flush against the table top.

George plays it cool. He puts a little edge in his voice and says, “What’s so important it can’t wait till tomorrow morning?”

“The bomb that went off at Landmark and Trace?”

“What about it?”

“I was there.”

He gives me a look of disdain. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

“I was a witness, not a participant.”

“So?”

“The bomb was detonated by a guy in a white van.”

I’m feeding George a little piece at a time, waiting for him to either fill in the blanks or keep saying “So?”

He says, “So?”

George isn’t a tough guy, but he’s no pushover, either. Pushovers don’t contact arms dealers and mislead them about a weapon’s effectiveness.

He’s sitting there, angry, arms folded in front of his chest, working hard to keep the anger out of his voice.

“Let’s cut to the chase,” I say.

He shows me his pissed-off look. Then says, “Why are you smiling?”

I’m smiling because I realize George isn’t fighting to hold back his anger. He’s trying to hide his fear.

I say, “Tell me the truth. How much trouble are you in?”

Instead of responding, he does something that takes me completely by surprise.

He bursts into tears.