Something Like a Criminal: Part 6 (Conclusion)
Frankie's revenge plays out with life-disrupting consequences.
In the previous chapter, Frankie took revenge on her snitch.
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I spent about six hours in a holding cell. True to his word, Officer Dad Vibe let me go, unable to find charges worth keeping me for. He gave me a flyer for the suicide hotline and his business card and told me I could call him any time I needed “to just talk.”
I sat in a coffee shop, recharged my phone, reached out to my friends. My real friends.
I sure as hell wasn’t going back to Parker’s house.
This time, Shay responded to my texts first.
She picked me up and took me back to her place.
I borrowed Shay’s computer, logged into the virtual lab I’d been using, got the package ready for Mr. Allcaps, and uploaded it to the repository of his choice. Money appeared in my bitcoin wallet, so I checked that off as another need met.
He went silent.
Shay reached out to her attorney about the search warrant and getting my stuff back.
I had a shower and was drying my hair when Shay came in with a text on her phone from one of her buddies, a trauma nurse at Rochester General.
I didn’t believe the text. I got online and check the news and the community forums on Facebook and other sources. Shay’s friend offered more details that I couldn’t deny.
The short version was that the cops had gone to Megapony’s house late last night, while I sat in holding. I imagined the cops showing up in their unmarked cars and their black polo shirts. I imagined Tony doing something stupid and the cops lighting him up. I imagined more cops, afterward, finding his stash from the jewel store job.
At least I’d learned what had set Tony on edge.
Problem was, Trace had been home, too. Maybe she still wasn’t feeling well and had called in sick. Maybe she’d decided to keep her boyfriend company.
Shay’s hospital buddy said that Trace never made it to Emergency. A bullet fragment hit her, bam, left side of her head. Coded out in the ambulance on the way to General.
I spent a long time on the floor of Shay’s bathroom, crying myself into a migraine, wondering how I would get through the rest of my life without Trace.
Anyway.
It’s been a year, now.
The bullet fragment that ended Trace’s life, being a fragment, could’ve come from a cop’s gun or from Tony’s. Nobody can say for sure. Since Tony had also died, nobody seemed to look very hard for an answer to that question.
As far as I’m concerned, what happened to Trace is on Parker, not on me. Parker set it all in motion. She didn’t leave me with any choice.
Some people say you gotta keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I don’t play that game. I can track anyone I want through computers and networks and phones. You could be on the fucking Moon and I’ll still track you.
I’ve been keeping tabs on Parker. She thinks she’s out of my life. She thinks I don’t know what she did.
All I gotta do is be patient. She can’t hide behind her little girl forever. Parker’s kid is gonna get to an age where she can handle herself. And at that point… well…
Eventually, everyone becomes an adult, with or without parents around.
Look at me, for example. I’m an orphan. And I turned out just fine.
SOMETHING LIKE A CRIMINAL by Todd Brasel
Production
Story composed in Scrivener 3 for MacOS and Apple Notes.
Soundtrack
“Every Time the Sun Comes Up” by Sharon Van Etten (listen on YouTube)
Images
Artificial base image created with Midjourney and modified with Canva.
Without Whom
Special thanks to Gayla for support, beta reading, and feedback.
If you enjoy Frankie in this short story, check out the first novel in the Rossi/Lopez series, The Good Killers (ad), where she plays a pivotal role.
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