TABOO: THE COMPLETE SERIES(44)

“You’re risking it now, aren’t you? When you want something from me!”

I realized I’d hurt him. “I’m sorry for what you had to go through,” I said. “But right now there are lives at stake. Others who’ve been going through the same that he put you through and they don’t have a way out if we don’t help them. Ryan, everything that man did to you, now is the time to give it back.”

“If you’re done giving your spiel I’d like for you to leave.”

There was a stiffness in him that chilled me to my bones. I realized I didn’t know him anymore. That he had become a different person. Not just because he was refusing to help me, but it was in the way he spoke and carried himself. He was a total stranger to me and maybe it was my fault. I started to leave. “Ryan, I’m sorry for what happened to you. I’m sorry I wasn’t around. I know I should have been there, you were my friend! I can’t change the past. I can’t pretend to know your suffering. All I can do is apologize,” I continued, “and one way or another, I’m going to get to Weldon and I’m going to bring him down. And when I do, I promise I will come for you. I just… need you to be patient.”

I waited for him to speak but then opened the door. “Goodbye, Ryan.”

“Wait!” he called out.

“Yeah?”

“Weldon isn’t evil,” he said. “He’s the Devil. He can’t be brought down.”

“We’ll see about tha—“

“No,” Ryan shook his head. “No, you don’t understand,” he stared at me. “He is the Devil. You don’t bring down The Devil. You rise up to him.”





PRESENT DAY





TREY


“Fuck you,” Weldon’s insult didn’t exactly come as a total surprise. But it did remind me of the phrase Ryan had used to describe him.

You don’t bring down The Devil. You rise up to him.

“Are you sure that’s how you want to play this?” I wanted to give him one last chance. But Jake didn’t look patient at all. “Tell me where you’re hiding Colton!”

I had to silently rebuke him. I turned to Weldon. “The poison is spreading in your father’s body,” I said. “Every second you delay getting him the antidote, is a second that will take him away from his grandchildren.”

Weldon raised his head and scoffed. “You didn’t think I was that dumb, did you?” he said. “The minute I noticed his symptoms, I sent the sugar packets in his room for testing. My people must be done preparing the antidote by now. My father’s going to be fine!”

The look of dejection on my face must have been obvious because Weldon seemed to revel in it. “That’s right Trey,” he said. “I used those sugar packets to kill Ryan. I knew you’d want some kind of poetic justice!!!! Oh, the fun I’m going to have ripping your head slowly out of that body… it’s going to be worth all of this bullshit!”

This time I gave Weldon my full attention. “Here’s the thing, Weldon. You see the look on my face? It’s sadness. It’s… it’s dejection, it’s not what you think.”

“I don’t understand…”

You don’t bring down The Devil. You rise up to him.

I swallowed. “Weldon, the poison wasn’t in any of the stuff Jackie bought.”

I gave him a second to come to terms with what I was about to unleash on him. “Pseudo-nitzschia,” I said. “The poison that’s usually found in some sea creatures. These organisms get mixed with seafood and the poison is so potent it can kill a healthy person in a day. Seafood, Weldon, the kind you might find at a Chinese Hut.”

I watched the color drain from Weldon’s face. The gravity of the situation was starting to put it’s weight on him and I could see him struggling. “You can’t possibly…”

“You’d be surprised what you can achieve when you pay cash to a minimum wage poor sap who has a sick child he needs to take care of,” I said. “Suggesting the place to Jackie was surprisingly easy considering she still has some seriously unrequited feelings for me.”

Weldon looked speechless. “I can’t believe you’d do something like that…”

“Someone wise once told me,” I said. “You don’t bring down The Devil. You rise up to him.”

When nothing seemed to make sense to him, he started groveling. “Trey you’re not a murderer… you can’t do this!!! Please!!! Jackie… think of her! Think of the kids!”

“Kids?” Jake laughed. “Now you’re worried about the kids? After decades of running a business that thrived on ruining lives!”

“The only way you can save your father,” I said. “And have a chance of getting out of here alive, is if you tell us. If Colton’s lost to us, there will be nothing stopping us from ending your family one by one!”

“You heard what he said,” Jake cut in. “Just tell me where you’re keeping him!”

Weldon turned to Jake this time. “Do you have a clue, who it is you’re working with?” he said to Jake and it was obvious he was talking about me. “You don’t know him. You don’t know anything about him! You think he’s some hero? He poisoned Ryan on my orders, and if you want to know what he’s really like when you’re not in the room, Jake all you have to do is grab the surveillance video that’s in a pen drive on my desk.”