Red Rock

Chapter 25: Was it Even There? (Part 1)

Chapter 25 Was it Even There?

Daire had gone over the plan with Sathu many times before they were ready to execute. "Wait until I mark him like this," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "If I do that, it means Zack isn't on board with the plan. If I don't, then stay concealed and let us walk away. And remember, if it happens, make it look like an accident."

Sathu rolled her eyes after hearing the run through again. She knew Daire was nervous. "Yes, Daire. I know."

Daire nodded, mustering what little courage he had to start his master plan. His stomach was churning and his breathing was fast and short. He was terrified. He had only done one plan at par with the scale of the one he was about to execute and it had turned into a miserable failure. Daire combed his hand by the missing part of his right ear. A reminder of what the real world was like outside the hypotheticals of the mind. But he had learned his lesson. 'No mistakes' he thought, his face wincing. "I'm ready. Are you?"

Sathu smiled and grabbed Daire's forehead, kissing him softly above the eyes. "Relax," she said soothingly, turning away to the forest.

Daire suddenly felt infinitely better. It seemed like Sathu had all of the confidence in the world in him, and the fact that she was just as involved or more so with the execution of his plan made his conscience lighter.

Daire found Zack precisely where he thought he would. Zack was taking inventory inside the multiple shacks of food storage to see if the numbers were accurate. He didn't believe the reports that his workers were giving him, but thus far the numbers were adding up. "Zack," Daire started, making him wish he would have opened with something lighter.

Zack jumped at the startling voice and immediately felt uncomfortable that it was Daire calling him. "Hey, Daire. How can I help you?" he asked, rubbing his healing shoulder from the sudden movement.

"I just want to talk to you," Daire said, looking around at the organized shelves. "Taking inventory?"

"Confirming it. Wasn't sure if the numbers were right, but so far they're checking out."

"Has Luke talked to you since earlier today?"

Zack shook his head, knowing the inevitability of this conversation. "No," he said bluntly.

'Excellent,'. "Would you mind taking a stroll with me. You know as well as I do we have a lot to talk about."

"I'm really busy right now, Daire. I can't go for a walk, but if you need to talk to me we can do it here."

"It will be really quick I swear."

"I have another three storage units after this one, I can't."

"I'll get someone else to do this, Zack. Come with me."

"I'm not going anywhere," Zack said firmly. "I don't feel safe to go anywhere with you. Especially after today."

Daire let anger and frustration occupy his mind. His plan was not going well already. "You had your reasons for what you did and I don't blame you for that. I just want to go for a walk so we can straighten things out."

"We can straighten them out here."

Daire knew he had no other option. "OK. Let's settle things here."