Rising From The Flames

Chapter 23 - Blow It

Simmons sat at his desk. The cup of hot coffee rolling upwards and into the mid day air. For many people, the caffeine was supposed to wake them up. It was supposed to get them going, dial their attention in to the point where they could get done what they were trying to get done. 

That wasn't the case for Simmons, not anymore. 

Now, the bland drink served nothing more than a comfort item. The taste was dull, the temperature didn't phase him, and the smell had lost its touch that it had so many years ago. Nothing really seemed to spark his nerves anymore; but in his line of work, that wasn't the worst thing in the world. He was accustomed to the dull aching feeling. It was what got him up in the morning, it was his version of the average American's cup of morning coffee. 

Agony was what he thrived on. 

It was what brought in the money. 

To him, people were just a disappointment. The human race didn't understand that good things had to come from hard times. It was in nearly every piece of history you learned about in school. These bad times, however, they were what the world cowered from. He wasn't afraid of it, he wasn't afraid of getting his hands dirty in order to make a change. Simmons was the man that got things done, and anyone who was planning on standing his way was taken care of as well. 

That was how he made it here. Everything that he ever wanted was right here in front of him and it didn't come from good looks and a good education. Simmons just knew how to work the system, and he knew how to flip it so it could benefit both him and those that stood beside him. So many people fought for what they believed was good, and they fought against what they thought was evil. In the end, however, he was certain that everyone just wanted the same thing. They wanted to feel alive. 

Whether that be by money, by the fanciest house, by the biggest family, or whatever else someone may want. Happiness was materialistic. It didn't just come on its own. 

But for those who believed in living by the moral soundness of their conscious- they just tended to get in the way. 

Simmons didn't enjoy complications. 

So, he got rid of them, and more than once as well. 

The world kept spinning, and here he was, on top and ready for his next challenge. It had been so calm recently, for almost a year as it was. Some decisions and some memories resurfaced in his mind from time to time, but nothing like the memories of the Marine battalion 548276. The thought of them made his world go dark for a minute. It was the hardest decision of his life, to blow the safehouse upon their call for the extraction, but Simmons knew they weren't dumb. He grew up with them, he grew around them. Letting them walk away from a compound like his, he knew that they would figure things out eventually. The laundering of money, drugs, the inside man of his income trade. It originated from that very compound. So, with such high activity, of course it was bound to be ransacked by the U.S. military, especially with such notions of money laundering under the United States trading policy. Simmons knew how to work the system, but he didn't know how to cover his actions as well as he thought. 

He knew that it would be shut down sooner than later. However, he did not expect his long lost team to be the crew that was sent in. 

He knew how they worked, he hired them for multiple jobs. So, he also knew what they were capable of figuring out. If he wanted to keep his undercover drug ring a secret, he needed to bury them. So, he did, and it was the hardest call of his life. But if he had to do it again, he would. If he didn't where would he be now? 

Simmons wouldn't have this beautiful compound, this intense influx of income. His life would be completely upside down, his life would be like the Marine's. The man was well aware that she was out there; but he was also well aware that she wasn't stupid enough to go after him in such a public location. She was trained, conditioned, and educated on the arts of military tactics. It was all thanks to Walker, a friend that was also close to his heart so long ago.