Fixers

Chapter 6:

[Murphy POV]

[10:00 PM, July 24, 2015, 10th Precinct, NYPD special task force unit, Manhattan, New York City]

In the squad room, I decided to pull some extra hour to catch up some overdue paperwork. By the time, I finish there weren't a lot of people left. My phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, I surprise at the name that was displayed. Zeke Conner. "Zee," I say, answering the call. "Hey, Murphy. Been a long time," the familiar male voice said over the line. "Yeah, too long," I say a little awkwardly. "Look, if you're free right now I was hoping I could talk to you," he says nervously. "Well, I free right now. Is everything alright?" I say. "I rather not discuss this subject over the phone let's talk in person. Meet me at the coffee shop on 25th and 9th," Zee said, quickly disconnecting the call. Zeke Conner, a freelance investigative reporter who sells his story to anyone who's willing to buy them. He'd worked in almost every news publisher in the city, then went freelance seeing that it was far less restrictive. 'What would he want to talk to me about? Guess I'll find out soon enough.'

[10:30 PM, coffee shop, Manhattan, New York City]

When I got to the shop, Zeke was already waiting for me. "I got you coffee. Black with three sugars. The way you like it," he says. "That I do," I said, sitting down, "So what did you want to talk to me about that you didn't want to discuss over the phone?" I ask. "Straight to the point as always, Murphy," he says with a nervous smile, "I think I miss that the most about you." Zee pulls out a file from his bag and hands it over to me. "What's this?" I ask curiously, looking through the file. "My story that I've been working on for the last year," Zee tells me with a worried look in his eye. "Zeke, are you in some type trouble?" I ask. He shows off a sad smile as if he was defeated. "I'm going to tell you everything that I've discovered, and I'm almost sure you won't believe a single word of it, but everything I say is the truth..." The man says to me. Zeke is one of the very few people in my life I could honestly say I trust with every inch of my being, and the man had never lied to me, and he won't start now.

"In my whole career as a freelance reporter, I've always been told this one saying, 'Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see.' The story I've been working on lately been pushing me to think about that quote day after day. Every night I ran through the story over and over again, meticulously going through every line, every word, and every detail. Every night I play the story in my head, and each time I see something small, that's out of place, a single thread. Maybe it is one small thread, but that thread is the truth I never saw coming. During the process of my investigation, I have uncovered secrets I should've never come across, and I'm positive this story will lead me to my grave... Knowing what I know any other rational person would have buried this story, but I couldn't do it. The people need to know the truth. I only hope I could get the story out in the open before The Syndicate comes for me," Zee says. "Zeke, what are talking about?" I say. "The Syndicate. They are a very powerful and dangerous organization within the criminal underworld. Their influence extends to law enforcement, corporations, and governments. That you're holding, that everything I have on them," he says, taking back the file, "That the reason I called you tonight. In case something happens to me, I wanted someone else to know the truth. Look, Murphy, I could only tell you a small piece of the puzzle. The rest you have to figure out." "Why can't you tell me everything now?" I ask. "I've been having a hard time trusting people lately. Hell, I don't even feel safe in my own home. You're the only person I can truly trust and who's a straight-arrow cop," Zee says. "Really? Here I thought it was because we used to be lovers," I say, feeling a bit used. "This is a lot bigger than us. Plus you were the one who ended it," he shot back. He's right, I was the one who ended our relationship. A good relationship. One of my many regrets. Zee places a hand over mine. I never realize until now how much I miss his touch. Zee gets up from his seat. "I'm leaving the city for a few days. If everything goes well, I'll come back. Hopefully, we'll do this again," Zeke says, leaving the café. For a long moment, I sat in the café processing what Zeke told me, and hating myself for letting him leave.