Daylight

TWENTY ONE

Elizabeth...

A warm yellow ceiling. My eyes fluttered open to see a warm roof above me. Red wool scratched under my knees as I twisted on the couch.

There was an armchair. Behind that, a window showing the green grass and trees.

I closed my eyes to breath in and sigh, but my view changed when I opened them again. My arms and legs tickled, then itched. Grass. I was sitting on grass.

There was nobody there. Anywhere. The house could be seen just behind a couple trees. There wasn't a beach. The smell of fish didn't crawl up my nose. Just the smell of fresh grass.

Am i...

I awoke with a bang to my head. We went over a speed bump. Charles was driving silently as I slept, but he didn't look like he was going to end the silence anytime soon.

The car smelled fresh, minty like. It wasn't anything of what I saw in my dream. It looked liked it smelled like wet grass, right after a rain and a long night with... with...

I shook my head. I didn't need any distractions.

I looked down at my lap. My hands were clutching my phone and gun too tight. I'm sure Charles wasn't liking the vibe I was giving off. But I couldn't help it, I was nervous. I didn't know if his plan was even going to work.

Gang leaders aren't stupid.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to bring you inside?"

"I'm responsible for you now. Im not letting you go in there alone." He responded.

I smiled. That's a first. I didn't think he'd ever want to be close to Vic ever again, considering what had happened to him last time they met.

"You know I can't sneak a gun into the building. Why did you even bring it?" I scolded him. I made it very clear to him before that there was no way to get inside without being cleared.

"Because I brought this-" He took out a silencer from the compartment in the middle. "Aaron had it lying around. I thought if would be useful."

"For what?! You haven't even told me what were doing. All I know is that I'm going to meet up with Vic there. What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna be keeping watch. I'm making sure that it's clear outside the building when the DEA get there. I've already made an arrangement."

"You mean with that Dominic guy? I thought he hated your guts."

"Hate is a strong word..." He mumbled. I scoffed, how could he think this was so casual. "And he's not DEA, he's a whole other group. You said most of the people there are drug lords, right?"

"Among other things, like guns, sex trafficing and-- I forgot to mention this! How could it have slipped my mind?!"

"What, what?!" Charles exlaimed.

I sighed and started explaining. I left out one of the most important things that happen there.

Sure the event was suppost to be peaceful, but there aren't any restrictions on what we can chat about. Obviously we can't be talking about out next plan for murder or taking a territory from another gang there, but there's no rule that says we can't gossip.

For years, that lack of limitation has been a loophole for blackmail.

"The guests there are allowed to talk about anything other than plans about theirs or anyone else's organization. Which means, that there's definitely going to be a lot of gossip."