I haven’t hit Tremblay—much—by the time Reed and Quinn arrive. She stops in the doorway before entering the house and turns back to say something to Reed. He pushes her to the side and storms in, trying to look everywhere at once.
“What the hell have you done, Mack?”
He’s upset, and I get that. I even try to see the situation from his point of view, but really, I just want to tell him to fuck off.
Yes, I have his friend tied to a chair, and roughed up his face, but he’s conscious, so he’s fine.
“Reed,” David says. “You gotta help me, man, this guy is fuck-nuts crazy.”
“What are you doing Mack?” Reed turns to me, his face filled with fury and frustration, with a touch of resignation.
I grab Reed by the arm and pull him aside. “He’s guilty. I have a recorded confession.”
“Under duress?”
“No, in the car on the way here.”
“In the car? Did you kidnap him? Why are you all dressed up? What’s going on?”
“I worked security for the party tonight. I handled getting him to a safe place after we discovered the gunman.”
“The gunman? You mean Quinn?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“So, she was going to shoot him?”
“No, the gun has blanks in it.”
“How would you know?”
“I gave it to her.”
“Fuckin-eh, Mack. Start at the beginning and leave nothing out. I want the truth.”
You can’t handle the truth! Rings through my mind. No way am I telling Reed everything. As planned, I will tell him what he needs to know. Nothing more.
“Quinn was the distraction so I could get Tremblay out of the party to talk to him with no one realizing it. In case anyone else involved in the HT ring was there. Daria did me a solid acting as my getaway driver.”
I look across the room to where Daria and Quinn are speaking in hushed tones, heads bent together.
“Why didn’t Quinn just tell me that?”
“I asked her not to.”
“Why?”
“So, you wouldn’t be involved.”
“Involved in kidnapping my best friend.”
“Borrowing, for a bit.”
“What did he confess to?”
“All of it.”
“Fuck.” Reed hangs his head.
“Sorry, man.” I clap him on the shoulder, in a gesture meant to be sympathetic, but I think it comes across as more of just a slap.
“Did something lead you to believe he was guilty?”
“Call it a well-educated hunch.”
“Is the confession legit? Can we even use it?”
I hold my hand up and waver it slightly. “Maybe.”
“So . . . no.”
“Probably not. But at least we have something to go on.”
“It doesn’t matter if we can’t use it.”
“Look, Reed, you needed to know if he was guilty, now you do.”
“Based on a coerced confession.”
“It wasn’t coerced.”
“The entire thing was a setup. How did you get on the security detail, anyway?”
“I have a friend who owed me a favor.”
“Jesus Christ, Mack. None of this is on the level, not a single fucking thing.”
I shrug.
“Unbelievable.” He turns to look at Tremblay, who is watching us intently, before continuing, “Let me hear the confession.”
I pull my phone out and cue the recording. I watch as his facial expressions go from incredulous to furious to dismay. I can only imagine which emotion goes with which part of the playback. He hands my phone back to me. “So, what else have you gotten from him since you’ve been here?”
“Not much. He claims to not know the other players or the locations. I think he’s lying.”
“Let me try talking to him.”
“Suit yourself.” I don’t really want Reed talking to Tremblay, but it’s not like I could tell him not to at this point. I need to play this carefully if I’m to protect Daria. And Quinn.
I head over to confer with the girls as Reed approaches Tremblay.
“What does he know?” Daria asks, her voice low.
“Not much. QT was a distraction, the gun had blanks—”
“I was a distraction?” Quinn sounds upset. “The gun had blanks?”
I lower my head, then look back up at her with my best “please forgive me” eyes. “Sorry, QT. I couldn’t risk you hurting anyone.”
“So, I wasn’t really an assassin tonight?” She looks to Daria for confirmation, who shakes her head in response.
Quinn’s head jerks back, her eyes widen. “Wow. Okay.” She turns away and Daria grabs her by the upper arm.
“Quinn, don’t be mad, please. There wasn’t enough time to train you in everything you would need to know to pull this off. That would have taken months, if not years. And what you did was so important. If it weren’t for you, Mack never would have been able to get David alone.”
“You lied to me, Daria.” Quinn’s voice shakes slightly. She’s dwarfed by Reed’s jacket, which hangs loosely off her shoulders reaching past her mid-thigh.
“And I’m sorry for that. Truly.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”
“Because we needed your reactions to be genuine, especially with Reed.”
“You knew Reed would be there?”
“Of course.”
“And you didn’t tell me that either.” Quinn’s chin trembles. Daria lowers her head, as though ashamed of her actions.
“It was my plan, QT. Don’t be upset with Dar for this. I pushed it on her because I wanted Tremblay alone,” I say.
Both women look at me: Daria with gratitude and Quinn with understanding.
“I still can’t believe David is the bad guy,” Quinn says. “I mean, he really sells women into sexual slavery?” She looks to me for an answer.
I nod. “Pretty much.”
“What will happen now?” Quinn asks.
“Well, now we try to nail Tremblay to the wall.” I mention nothing that’s happened until now. Daria already knows it all, and Quinn doesn’t need to know.
“How can I help?”
“You don’t,” Daria answers Quinn before I have a chance to. “It’s not safe.” Daria and I decided not to tell Quinn that she was an original target, no good can come from having her know that. It’s over now and Daria will be vigilant about protecting Quinn from here on out.
“Were you ever going to tell me it wasn’t real?” Quinn asks Daria.
“It was real, QT.” I reach out and touch her on the shoulder to get her attention. “You set the stage that made it possible for me to get the guy. Don’t doubt that. I truly could not have done it without you.” I lay it on a little thick, but I don’t want Quinn upset with Daria, and I don’t want Daria to feel bad about how this went down.
I could have apprehended Tremblay on my own, in a way that would not have attracted attention, but this made it easier, and for that I’m grateful. Plus, no one was hurt and I’m spending more time with Daria. It’s a win-win all the way around. As I’m breathing a sigh of relief, I hear the sound of flesh and bone hitting the like.
I turn toward the other end of the room to see Reed punching the shit out of Tremblay.
Fuck.