Wicked Repercussion

“State your name for the record.” Agent Pearce said turning on the recording device and placing it on the steel table. 

“Logan Bryer,” I answered. 

“All right Mr. Bryer. Start from the beginning. From your previous interrogations, you said you got the first note almost two weeks ago.” Agent Pearce paused to flip through the paperwork in his hands.

I took a deep breath and stared at my fidgeting hands with my watch on my left wrist for a moment. “I woke up as I did every morning, next to my wife sleeping peacefully. I got up to go get ready for work without waking her while the kids were still asleep just down the hall. It was a normal work day—”

“And what do you do for work?” Agent Pearce added.

“You know that,” I said annoyed. 

“Say it on record, Mr. Bryer.” Agent Pearce said snapping his eyes to meet mine. 

“I work at the Dallas Police Department as a crime scene investigator.” He tilted his head telling me to go on. “Anyway, after I worked my shift, I went to my car and that’s where I found the first note under my windshield wiper.” Agent Pearce held up his hand for me to stop talking while shifting through the papers. He pulled out the first note and set it down in front of me.

“Read the note, word for word.” He said to me. I rolled my eyes and took the note in my hand.

“You have something of mine and I want it back. You have three days, and if I don’t receive ALL the contents, I’m taking something from you. And it’s signed CGS.” 

“And at the time, did you know who this ‘CGS’ was?” Agent Pearce asked. The door to the interrogation opened and the other agent, Agent Reece, walked in and sat down with another file in hand. I looked back to Agent Pearce. 

“At the time, no. It didn’t register. Not until I got the second note.” Both agents gestured for me to continue. “So, after reading the note, I just brushed it off like it was nothing and put it in my glovebox before heading home to my family. Then the three days went by and I understood it wasn’t nonsense at all. I got the second note just before I got a call from my home security stating that my house had been broken into and vandalized, leaving our two German Shepherds lying in their blood from multiple bullet wounds each.”

Agent Reece pulled out the second note from his folder, putting it in front of me again. “Word for word.” He said. 

“You were warned. Next time, I won’t be so pleasant—” I paused not wanting to read the next part. But when the agents looked at me eyebrows cocked, it told me they already knew what I didn’t want to say out loud but I don’t have a choice here. “Your thieving ways have gone to a great extent working your job, Logan Bryer, but you made a cosmic mistake stealing from me. I’m not one to let things go without repercussion.” I took another deep breath, replaying the next things to happen in my head. My chest feels so heavy. “This time he signed it ‘C Grimstone’ and I knew then exactly who I was dealing with.” I lowered my head rubbing my hands over my face. The moment I read this note for the first time was the moment fear entered me. I knew right then just how badly I screwed up.

The agents stared at me for what felt like hours but were mere seconds before Agent Pearce spoke “Okay, so you found out that one of the biggest well-known, and untouchable crime lords, Cain Grimstone, had you in his crosshairs. What did you do next?”

“I called my wife and told her to grab the boys from school and go to her brother’s house on the other side of town. I told her I would explain everything when I got there and I would go by the house to pick up what they would need to stay there for a few days.” I paused. Images of the recent events flashed through my head. I felt a migraine coming on but continued to speak. “I left work right then to go home and assess the situation with the other law enforcement and investigators. I grabbed everything I needed for me and my family to put it in my car and went back inside to look around. They sure did a number on my home. Just about everything seemed to be destroyed but what stuck out to me were the pictures all over the house. Not the ones we had before that were now blacked out over the faces of my wife and boys, but the surveillance photos of them taped all over the walls. They were being watched by him and his men.” Fear and anger circulated in me. My voice got shaky and all I could do was sit here completely still for a moment. 

“Let’s back up some.” Agent Reece said flipping through his paperwork. He slammed the folder on the table. “There isn’t a single damn bit of information from you on what you stole from Cain Grimstone. Why haven’t you given this information? What the hell is so valuable to him that he goes as far as threatening the lives of your family along with yours?” He stared me down.

“I don’t know. I—”

“Do not give us a damn lie on record, Mr. Bryer. You’re already in a deep hole here. Using your position in the Dallas PD to steal countless things from countless people. Hell, you’re already looking at time in prison let alone throwing your career out the window.” He snapped loudly.

I could only stare at him. Because I do know what Cain wanted back. But I don’t want to put it on record. That answer could land me in prison for the rest of my life no matter what. 

“Mr. Bryer. Answer the question truthfully here.” Agent Pearce added. I already know I’m screwed so I might as well be honest with these guys. 

“It was a handful of things. They were in the middle of some business deals when we arrived to question them so not everything was put up in the open safe or their other secure places.” I explained. 

“Tell us everything you mistakingly took in your possession, Bryer.” Agent Reeces eyes narrowed. 

“Well, there was a briefcase of five hundred thousand dollars. It had some room in it still so I threw in three unregistered 9mm pistols, a single stack of important-looking paperwork from the top of the safe that was opened, and I grabbed a nice, well—” I shook my wrist with the watch to show that it was the last item. 

“The papers. What was on the paperwork?” Reece asked. 

“From what I could understand, it was information on all the damn high-up crime bosses in the entire freaken country. Names and their hierarchy, locations of businesses and housing, every single dime they owned and where it sat, messages, anything you would want to know about a single person times a hundred and for hundreds of different people.” I said. 

“Someone like him would only have that kind of information if he was planning on going to war with these people. That’s what he wants back. Not the money, the pistols or even that damn watch you stupidly wear. He can’t let that information out or it can come back worse on him.” Reece said more to Pearce than to me. “Wow,” Reece began again. “So you’re not only a lowlife thief of mostly innocent people, but you’re a damn idiot as well.” He snarked. 

I huffed and rolled my eyes. “He is anything but innocent. He—” I started.

“I said ‘mostly’ Bryer. And we don’t give a damn who they are or what they do. As long as you’re in law enforcement, Mr. Bryer, you do not use that power to become one of the very people we hunt. Not a single one of us is superior to the law we protect and uphold. Even the prime detectives in the Dallas PD don’t mess with someone like Cain Grimstone unless they have tight evidence on him. I just can’t wrap my head around the fact you could be so stupid as to wrong someone as powerful as him. For you to continue to keep that paperwork from him, and us, is by far ignorant on your part, Bryer.” He slammed his hand on the table.

Sitting here and listening to him yell those words to me made me sick. What have I done? Eleven years as a respected investigator and I used them to take from the people we swore to protect. I’ve been getting away with it for so many years, it didn’t seem to matter that much to me. This must be what guilt felt like. I honestly didn’t know I could feel such things. I’m not a horrible man. I love my wife and our boys. Seven years of being their dad has made me better. Or so I thought. But where did it all get me? Sitting here in an interrogation room of my very own precinct. I screwed up. Hell, the worst part is that I wouldn’t be feeling this way if I wasn’t caught by Cain and being outted for my way of living along with his threats. 

“I get it. I messed up. Big.” It was hard for me to even get those words out. 

“Yes, we’ve certainly established that. Now let’s jump forward some, after the break-in, deceased dogs, and surveillance photos. You were questioned then but still didn’t reveal the notes or any information on what was truly going on. You then proceeded to your wife’s brother’s house, gave them some bullshit lie about what happened, and still refused to acknowledge what was going on, is that right, Mr. Bryer?” Agent Pearce said looking up with slight confusion in what I did. 

“Yes,” I whispered shamefully. The skin around my fingernails had been picked off enough at this point I noticed blood surfacing. 

“That is until the third note, correct? The one you received at work again another three days later?” Pearce asked. 

“That’s right,” I said. Tears began to sit in my eyes but not falling yet. I can do nothing but think of my wife and our boys while Agent Reece went through the papers, pulling out the third note. 

“Read this out loud for the record, Bryer.” He said tossing me the note. 

“Times up. Cain.” I slammed the note on the table and pulled at my hair in full frustration. 

“And not long after receiving this note, you got the call that your house caught fire?” Reece asked. 

I can’t hold it in anymore. Tears came flowing from my eyes. “Yes. My— my family. They were home. They—” I sobbingly whispered. Suddenly, everything became so real. So horrific. My family, they’re gone, and it’s my fault. 

“Logan, I do have updated information on the fire, that’s why I came in late.” Agent Reece sounded sincere for the first time since he’s been in here. “We didn’t recover a single body from the ashes and debris. Your family wasn’t in that house when it burned down.”

“Wh— what? Do you mean they’re alive somewhere? Where are they? Why haven’t I heard from them?” A small amount of hope flickered inside of me. Could they still be okay? Surely they would’ve called by now though. So what’s happened? “I need to get out of this damn room. I need to go find them. I need—”

“Bryer.” Pearce stopped me. He cocked his eyes to Reece and mine followed.

“We found this in your mailbox.” Reece slid over a small envelope. When I opened it, there was another note and an image. 

My wife. My boys. Beaten and tied up on the floor like ragdolls. But they were alive. Tears still poured from my eyes. I looked at the note and started to read it before Reece spoke up.

“Out loud, Bryer.” He said. 

“Your wife and boys live if I get what’s mine. You have until tomorrow, Logan Bryer. Meet at what used to be your home at three o’clock. Come alone. This is your last damn chance.” I said before setting the note back down and looking at the image again. 

“Logan, do you still have what you stole?” Pearce asked.

“Yes,” I answered, still staring at the image. 

“Where the hell is it then?” Reece asked sounding slightly aggravated. 

I could only give out a stupid little laugh. “It’s buried right there in my backyard.” All I could think was I was given the final chance to save my family and how I was going to stop at nothing to do just that. 

“I got you free of custody for you to go and meet him and make the swap. After that, you’re done. Am I clear?” Agent Reece said putting together the paperwork he had. 

“Clear,” I said. I know I’m going to jail for a long time but the thought of saving my family covers that. They’re all I care about. 

“We’ll need you to tell us where you buried everything so we can get it tonight. We plan to use your stupidity to our advantage and copy the information on the paperwork he wants back so badly.” Agent Pearce said as he was also wrapping up his paperwork.

“No,” I stated. 

“No? What do you mean ‘no’?” Pearce snapped. 

“I mean I’m not telling you. I’m not giving you that information. It could risk the lives of my wife and boys more so than they already are.” I snapped back. They’re just as much as the idiots they continue to call me if they think I would do something like that against my family. 

“You don’t have a choice, Bryer.” Reece stepped in. 

“I do actually. You think I was telling the truth when I told you where it was?” I’m not as stupid as you two think. Dig up my whole backyard if you must, it’s not there.” I smirked. It feels kind of nice pissing off the two men who’ve been degrading me for the past couple of days like today. 

After tomorrow, you’ll be lucky to see the sun again Bryer.” Reece snapped they both stormed out without any more arguing. 

*******

I made my way to the lake down the road from my home where I really buried Cain Grimstone things. I was going to keep it here until everything died down, but the tables have turned for the worse so it seems. I know those agents are watching from somewhere but I don’t give a shit. I know they won’t intervene with the meeting time so close and for the lives of three innocents. I dug up the briefcase, opened it to double-check it was all there, added the watch, and began to head to my house no longer standing. 

There were barely any walls standing. Ash everywhere, some being blown all over the neighborhood by the wind. Nothing. There’s nothing left. Every single item that could burn or break did just so. But my family wasn’t among it all and that is a gift I couldn’t be happier to receive. So I sat and watched. I waited and at three o’clock on the dot, three black cars drove up. And there he was. Cain. 

“You’ve caused a lot of trouble, Mr. Bryer.” He said almost as if it was a joke but I know damn well it’s not. He held his hand out for the briefcase.

“Where’s my wife? Where are my boys?” I added stepping back and refusing his hand. 

“Don’t be stupid here Mr. Bryer.” He made a motion with his hand and two men with him lifted their guns to me. I’m glad I decided to pull out one of the pistols while I waited. I grabbed it from my waistband at my back and pointed it directly at Cain. That alone should be a death sentence, but all he did was laugh. 

“My family, Cain,” I stated not breaking eye contact with him. 

He whistled and a couple of guys got out of one of the other cars with my wife and boys. “There. Your family. Give me the damn briefcase.” He snapped, extending his hand once more. I gave him what he wanted. After he checked through everything, he gave it to one of his men and snapped again. The same guys who got my family out of the car put them right back in. 

“Wait! What are you doing? We had a deal?” I yelled as I heard the screams of them. 

“You’re right. The deal is they would remain alive.” He smirked. “The boys will be molded into strong and reliable hitmen at my disposal. The woman, well we have a place for her as well.” His eyes darkened.

“You son of a bitch. You—” I began yelling but stopped as a sharp pain hit my top shin. A bullet. I fell to the ground in agony. 

“I told you, I don’t let things go without payment and repercussion.” He leaned down to me. “And I took deliberately of sending one last note. It shows proof of how this was all on you. You’re never going to see the light of day again, Bryer. You should have thought twice about messing with me.” He added before walking towards the vehicles and all I could do was scream. Then I heard the multitude of police sirens as they sped up to me. 

“Don’t move Bryer, you’re done.” Agent Reece said with his gone trained on me. 

All I could do now was cry. What have I done?