The Formidable

45

The phone didn't ring again for the night. Benny was making them sweat. Pushing them to desperation. Mickey had done it enough times himself, he knew the game.

"You know as much as I do that Benny won't take anything but me, don't you?" he asked Jase in a low voice. Jase looked at him through his lashes. He was exhausted, going over 24 hours without a decent amount of sleep at this point. Mickey looked even more shattered having not slept at all.

Jase nodded in response to Mickey's question. Mickey pressed his lips together. The others had gone into the living room rather than sitting around the table driving themselves mad, but Jase and Mickey couldn't bring themselves to do anything else but sit and ponder. Jase had tried to take Madison food but she told him to leave her alone. She wanted space to think of another way they could get Mia back but so far, her mind had ran dry. She was too overcome with emotion to think logically.

"Come on," Mickey said, growing tired of watching paint dry, "let's go for a drive." With nothing better to do, Jase jumped at the opportunity, anything to get out of the house that had brought them nothing but trouble for years. He picked up his phone, it was likely Benny still had his number, and grabbed his jacket as they left without saying goodbye to the others.

"Cigarette?" Mickey offered him once they'd driven for a while and pulled into a Tescos car park. Jase accepted and waited for the lighter, rolling the window down. They took a few drags each before Mickey finally spoke. "At some point Benny is going to call back and ask you if you've made a decision. You're going to agree to the exchange. I'm the main target here. He knows if he harms Mia or Madison, you won't stop going after him. Handing me over will be the equivalent to a truce."

Jase considered the plan. It was never going to be that easy.

"And that will be the end of it?" he asked, turning to look at Mickey who chuckled a little.

"That's down to you and Madison," he replied, taking another long drag of his cigarette, "but it could be. He'll most likely have you get Mia from a separate location. That's generally how this kind of thing goes down."

"How do I know they won't take you and keep her?" Jase questioned.

"Believe me, they don't want to keep her."

"You know Madison won't just let this slide? She won't allow Benny to get away with it."

Mickey blew smoke from the corner of his lips, pausing before leaning across to open the glovebox.

"I know, and should she happen to decide she's not going to roll over, give her this." He took a silver key and handed it to Jase. "It's to a security deposit box. She's the only other one that's allowed access to it. In that box is everything she'll need."

Jase stared down at the cold metal key in his palm, rubbing the teeth with his thumb. "You're awfully calm about all this," he mumbled, slipping the key in his jacket pocket and looking around casually at the more or less empty car park.

"I'm dying anyway," Mickey replied. To this, Jase's head snapped round to look at him. "Cancer, I got diagnosed in prison and it's spread pretty rapidly." Jase narrowed his eyes, wondering if he should trust Mickey or if this was just a ploy to make Jase find it easier to make the exchange.

"You know they have treatment and stuff for that nowadays, right?" Jase asked, feeling almost sad that Mickey's involvement in Madison's life might be so short lived. She may not be his biggest fan at the moment but Jase could tell from how she'd spoken about him at the house that she loved him, even appreciated everything he taught her for helping her escape. He even felt disappointed for himself, having grown to like Mickey to a degree in such a short amount of time. But Mickey shook his head.

"It's not for me. I've always cared about how I lived and the quality of the life I lived over the amount of time I got to live it, and I wasted most of mine. I don't want to carry on as this sickness kills me slowly and I become a shell of a man I once was. I'm old fashioned, Jase. If I can't live the life I've always lived then I don't want to live at all." Jase was still unsure if he was telling the truth. Mickey huffed, reading the distrust on Jase's face. "I'm sure Madison has told you things I got up to when she was younger and I've no doubt you've heard plenty of stories. My lack of..." he tried to find a suitable word to replace his usually violent approach to the kind of problem they currently faced but struggled. He'd noticed his mental state deteriorating since the Cancer had spread. Everything just required so much effort. "Physical involvement in dealing with this whole thing isn't because I've turned a new leaf and as much as Madison will have you believe it's because I'm old, it's not. It's because I'm tired, Jase. If I wasn't sick, the old boy would have a lot of fight left in him yet but the fact of the matter is, I am ill and it's terminal. I've lived my life as a bang, i'm not going out as a whimper so we're giving Benny what he wants. It's the least I can do."

"Does Madison know?" Jase asked.

"No, and I don't want you to tell her until afterwards. Lord knows she'll only try and stop me," Mickey replied, waving him off before abrupting into a coughing fit that solidified his diagnosis.

A strange peace shrouded Jase knowing Mickey was practically on his deathbed before Benny gave them the ultimatum. It didn't make anything easier, given Madison's feelings towards it all, but it alleviated a portion of guilt.

Once Mickey recovered, he continued. "After it's all done though, I do want her out of this life. I've seen first hand the families it destroys and the strain it puts on relationships. It's no place to raise a child either. You take your girls, and you forget about this life. Trust me, if the streets don't kill you first, seeing your daughter grow up while you're inside will. I hated not being there to take Madison to prom or celebrate exam results and I left her with a woman that grew to despise her because of things I'd done. You're smarter and better than all of this."

"I don't intend on sticking around once we're in the clear, don't worry. I won't put either of them at anymore risk."

Mickey looked at the man he hoped would marry his daughter and his heart warmed with pride and security that she would be safe. He was sure Madison and Mia would be well looked after in Jase's care and it took a hefty weight off his shoulders, knowing that when he had departed, they wouldn't be lost and unguarded. A bittersweet ending to his long days of criminal activity and ghastly acts of violence. An ending he felt as though he didn't deserve and the big guy in the sky was showing him unearned mercy.

"It's been a pleasure knowing you, Jase. I only wish we'd had more time, but I'm confident I'm leaving my daughter and grandchild in safe hands. You take care of those girls, won't you?" Even now, Mickey kept his composure, never having been one to cry. The only thing he really regretted was having to leave Madison and Mia in such a cruel world.

"I'd die for them both," Jase replied sincerely. Mickey smiled solemnly and patted Jase's shoulder.

"I am," he said quietly, letting out a dark humoured chuckle as he turned the engine back on and reversed out of the space.