CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 14: VACATION

I stuffed my uncle's gun under the passenger seat and wiped the tears from my eyes as I started my car. My first stop was going to be Arizona to see Bingo and Jassi and then maybe I would drive across the country to see Neil and Adi.

It wasn't a very far drive to Bingo and Jassi's college campus. I texted them to let them know I was coming and we set up a time and place to meet. We met at a restaurant that wasn't too busy and I told them everything, even the parts about the mafia and how I had killed two of them, one of them being an accident because I was told the gun wasn't loaded.

I didn't plan on telling Jassi but I figured Bingo would tell her anyway so I didn't really mind telling her myself. They were both as shocked as I had thought they'd be, but they promised not to tell anyone else my secret.

After spending the night in Arizona, I decided to head to New York where Neil and Adi were going to college so I could tell them everything face to face. It felt good to get everything off my chest.

As I headed onto the highway, I decided to listen to some music so I turned the radio on. For some reason, it was set on a Christian station. The singer was singing about how good God was. I immediately changed the station.

It wasn't true. God wasn't good to me. I finally got to a place in my life where I was happy, but that was ripped from me. I couldn't be a police officer now. All I wanted was to do something good for the world, but it just blew up in my face. I wondered what my life would've been like if my parents hadn't died. I knew one thing was certain, I wouldn't be living in my car. I decided not to dwell so much on the negatives and just pretend that I was on vacation.

Neil, Adi, and I spent the weekend in New York City just hanging out and having fun. I decided not to tell them about all the horrible things I had done until the last day. I told them at an outdoor cafe. I figured it was safe since I was so far from Las Vegas. After saying our goodbyes, we went our separate ways. I had parked far away from the cafe because there were no parking spots nearby. I noticed the same guy at the cafe had left at the same time as me and seemed to be following me. I hoped I was just being paranoid.

When I got close to my car, I pressed a button on my keys to unlock the doors and the guy who had been following me got into the back seat of my car.

"Hey, excuse me, sir," I said. "This is my car. Not a taxi."

"Couldn't help but overhear you at the cafe," the stranger said. "You're in the Family?"

"Sorry, sir. Do we know each other?"

"You tell me."

"Please get out of my car. I won't ask you again."

The stranger looked around and then stood up, pressing a gun against my chest. "Don't play dumb. I heard you talking about the mafia with your friends."

"Look, dude. I don't want any trouble."

"You should've thought about that before you broke the rules."

I used my police training to take the gun from him and pin him against my car.

"I said I don't want any trouble. Will you leave me alone now?" I asked.

"Sure thing, pal, but I can't promise they'll leave your friends alone."

I shoved the guy away. "Get out of here!"

The guy smiled and walked away as a couple of people walked by. I hid his gun in my car's back seat pocket and got in the driver's seat.

I reached into my bag for my phone so I could text Neil, but my phone was missing.

I cursed. That smug guy had stolen my phone.

I got out of my car and grabbed the guy's gun from the back. I knew I had to hide it somehow so I put on my raincoat, even though the sky was clear. I looked for the stranger who had threatened me, but he had vanished.