The Formidable

66

"How much is he paying you? I'll double it," Benny pleaded, trying to adjust his cuffs behind his back. The two officers in front said nothing, continuing the drive down the dark country lane. Tommy was silent. Part of him was grateful he was going to prison. He knew enough people in prison and at least there, Jase and Madison couldn't get to him.

He looked at Benny who had his face pressed against the grate separating them from the front seats. "I'll triple it." He tried desperately to get a response but they remained silent, their attention on the road ahead of them. "Okay, name a price." Nothing. Benny smacked his head against the metal in a temper then turned to Tommy. "I'll get my lawyer on the phone as soon as we reach the station, I have plenty of information to sell on Jase. At the very least we'll get a shorter sentence," he said. Tommy just grunted. He didn't care anymore. He should have known they would never get the better of Jase and Madison. All the signs were there and they'd been too dumb and conceited to notice them. Of course Kieran wouldn't double cross Jase, that should have been a big enough red flag to set their suspicions off. They'd unknowingly been eating from the palm of Jase's hand.

"Just shut up," he told Benny. He hoped they didn't end up in the same prison. That was the last thing he needed, an eternity with this batshit arsehole. One of the police officers made a noise that could have been amusement or agreement as they came to a stop at the long gate blocking off a private drive. The driver turned the key and the car shuddered as the engine stopped, their surroundings plunging into darkness when the beam of the headlights disappeared.

"Don't worry, you won't need a lawyer where you're going," one of the officers mumbled. It dawned on Benny and Tommy that they hadn't been driving in the direction of the police station and it was odd that they had been put in a car together. Tommy had never been arrested but now he thought about it, he was sure it wasn't standard procedure.

"What's going on?" he asked, unable to conceal the distress in his voice. Headlights from a car pulling up behind them illuminated the interior of the undercover car. Tommy could see the fear on Benny's face as they reached the same conclusion simultaneously.

He'd know the car behind them anywhere. The darkness returned, two car doors opened and closed. Tommy was sure he could hear his own pulse, breathing rapidly, he struggled to fill his lungs.

"Hello boys," Madison said, opening Tommy's door and greeting him with the muzzle of her Glock. Jase opened the door on Benny's side. They both had black bandana's covering the lower half of their faces but Tommy had stared into their eyes enough times to never mistake them. They shared a darkness he'd never seen in anyone else. Prison had sounded too good to be true.

"Out you get," Jase said, opening the door wider. Benny spat at his feet.

"Fuck you," he seethed. Jase sighed, wasting no time in grabbing Benny by the collar and dragging him onto the muddy side road as if he weighed nothing. Tommy was a little more cooperative, shuffling out of the back seat and stepping around Madison as she circled him with her gun until he was at the gate with his back to her. Benny was shoved to his side. The police car drove off, the red glow of their brake lights fading to nothing in the distance.

Once they got through the gate, Madison and Jase pushed Benny and Tommy in the right direction. The path was barely lit by the light of the moon, just enough to see a few paces ahead.

"Jase, come on, after all I've done for you, this is how you're going to repay me? I treated you like a son," Benny said in a pathetic attempt to save himself.

"You took my daughter," Jase said with no emotion. He felt nothing but resentment for Benny.

"And killed my dad," Madison added.

"He killed my uncle," Benny growled.

"Because you tried to fucking sell his daughter you stupid bastard," she snapped back.

"Well I didn't succeed, did I? Because old soppy bollocks here-"

"Shut up," Jase ordered. "Nothing you say or do is going to change anything now. Keep walking." Benny was quick to admit defeat this time round. Jase was right. He was fucked for the final time.

After ten minutes of stumbling through the darkness, tripping on sticks and tree roots, they reached a small opening in the wood. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust and notice the two muddy pits, gaping wounds in the earth, an abyss of blackness. Jase and Madison forced the men to their knees at the head of the crude graves. Tommy had started sobbing at some point, the snot and tears were cold on his face as the wind picked up, lashing at his skin.

"You should have left it, Benny," Jase said, taking a step behind him and pulling the slider of his gun back. Madison stood behind Tommy.

"Please don't do this, I'm sorry," Tommy whimpered, his voice cracking as the remainder of his tough exterior withered.

"I'm not," Madison replied quietly.

The gunshots were quiet on account of the silencers. There was no need to disturb the local wildlife. The wind dropped, now a low howl creeping through the trees around them. Jase handed Madison a shovel and they stood for a moment, peering at the two bodies folded unnaturally in the holes.

*

Jase pulled a fresh black t-shirt on. Madison squeezed lighter fluid over the clothes covered in dirt and blood. He tossed his old t-shirt on top of the pile and lit a match, first holding it to the end of a cigarette before dropping it onto the material. Flames jumped into the night sky, thirsty for oxygen and warming them immediately.

Madison stared through glassy vision as the evidence was destroyed. The flames reached out to her. Jase stood by her side, taking his bandana from his back pocket. The last piece of the old him ceased to exist within seconds as the fire devoured the thin cotton. Madison turned into him and he wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes, absorbing the warmth and smell of the fire.