Chapter 8 - The Judas Bargain
The county jail smelled of bleach, stale sweat, and despair.
I sat behind the thick plexiglass partition in the visitation room, holding the heavy black telephone receiver to my ear.
The heavy metal door opposite me clanged open, and Michael was escorted in by a guard. My breath caught in my throat. He looked horrific. His left eye was swollen completely shut, his lip was split open, and purple bruising mottled his jawline. He was shuffling, clearly in pain. He had been in lockup for less than forty-eight hours.
He sat down heavily and picked up the phone. His good eye looked at me, filled with terror and shame.
"Danny," he croaked, his voice raw. "You gotta get me out of here. Please. They're gonna kill me."
"Who?" I asked, my voice devoid of any warmth. "Evelyn's people? Or the mob you owe two hundred grand to?"
Michael swallowed hard. "Both. Evelyn put a hit out on me. She knows I can sink her. An inmate jumped me in the showers this morning. Said the next time, he'll use a shank if I don't plead guilty and take the sole fall for the EpiPen."
"She's a thorough woman," I noted coldly. "She hung you out to dry, Mike. She went on TV and told the world you were a mentally unstable addict who acted alone."
"I know!" he sobbed, tears streaming down his bruised face. "I was stupid! I was so desperate, Danny. The loan sharks said they were gonna break my legs. Evelyn offered to clear my debt if I just... if I just helped her move some numbers around. Then it escalated. The guardianship, the trust... I never wanted to hurt Lily. I swear to God!"
"You watched Evelyn steal my daughter's medication, and you tried to plant a fake one to send me to prison," I said, leaning closer to the glass. "Don't you ever, ever pretend you care about my child."
Michael flinched as if I had struck him.
"I have a proposition for you," I said, dropping my voice so the guards wouldn't overhear. "I have Anna's flash drive."
Michael's eyes widened in sheer panic. "She... she hid it? Evelyn tore the house apart looking for it after the crash!"
"She missed. I have the routing numbers. I have the Caymans accounts. But to make this completely airtight for the DA, I need the final piece. I need the password to the shell corporation's encrypted server. The one you set up for her."
"Danny, if I give you that, I have zero leverage left. I'll rot in here!"
"You're going to rot anyway, Mike," I said brutally. "But if you give me the password, I will take the three hundred thousand dollars from Anna's life insurance payout, and I will pay off your debt to the casino. The mob will leave you alone. You'll survive prison. If you don't? I walk out that door, and I let Evelyn's pet inmate finish the job tomorrow."
I stared at him, letting the weight of his reality crush whatever defiance he had left. He was looking at his older brother, begging for salvation. But the brother who loved him had died the moment I heard that audio recording in the hospital.
"Okay," Michael wept, pressing his forehead against the glass. "Okay. The password is LilyGrace2018."
My stomach churned violently. He had used my daughter's name and birth year to lock the accounts that held the blood money from my wife's murder.
I stood up and hung the receiver on the hook.
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"Danny, wait!" Michael shouted through the glass. "You promised! You'll pay them off?"
I didn't answer. I just turned my back and walked out of the prison, leaving him to the darkness he had created.
