Shark of Spades

All Part of the Job

The next morning, Jack left half an hour earlier than me, exiting through the back door and taking a different route. We'd been careless to walk back together yesterday, and that guy's appearance was a neon  reminder. We had to be even more cautious than usual, me doubly so. To Jack, this was all a game. He was only staying with me because he found me interesting, and I was only staying with him because I needed to keep  an eye on him. It didn't hurt that he was paying me rent.

I got to the game site a bit later, but as usual, I was the first to arrive (after Jack, of course). He nodded politely towards me but he didn't say  anything, just leaned back again the wall. Fifteen minutes of  unperturbed silence came to pass before he asked, "So, what are we playing today?"

"Rummy," I answered, turning to look out at the sun warming the city below us. Today's game was located in an abandoned  high-rise that was scheduled for demolition next week, and it offered a  beautiful view of the city, the city that I was going to...

"A bit old school, no?" he asked, grinning, but his grin wasn't as wide as it usually was.

I sighed, taking my time before responding. "Yeah. I thought I'd go back to basics before I left." I turned towards him, unnecessarily clarifying, "I'm jumping town tomorrow."

When he didn't reply at first, I analyzed his face more closely. He looked as close to upset as I  had ever seen him, which was very difficult to detect since he wasn't showing any particular emotions at all. "Why?" he finally asked.

I  turned away from him, admiring the city for one of my last times.  "Because I made the stupid mistake of not killing that asshole from yesterday, and if he survived, he'll track me down again. I need to get  out of here before he finds my trail. If he's not dead, that is."

"I could arrange for that. To get rid of him for certain, I mean," he said, and I almost made eye contact with him out of sheer surprise. Why would he help me? And why does he sound so serious?

To my own confusion, I heard myself say, "But I don't think I want him dead."

Jack thought for a moment. "Is this something because of your brother?"

I  put my words in my head, carefully, very carefully, before I spoke, my hand just barely touching my gun and ready to delete Jack if he knew too  much. "What do you know about my brother?"

I felt that he sensed how close I was to killing him, but I also sensed that he didn't really  care. "Just what the guy said yesterday. That he was your brother's friend." He paused, and said in what might have been considered a gentle voice (if this were not Jack I'm talking about), "Your brother...he's dead?"

"Yeah." I didn't know how else to respond without shooting  Jack in the face. Before he could say "I'm sorry" or something to that  degree, I said, "It's all part of the job."

Then I turned, walked past him, and entered the game room.