Carter's Mark - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Omega

            “So, you brought me here?”  James had never spoken to Seth Marks, but knew him all too well.

            “Yes, along with my friend Wyatt; you remember him from the house,” Seth replied.  The mood in the hospital room was calm, considering the situation. 

            “Well then, thank you both.  Why did you help me?”  Carter’s memories were a bit shaken, and he had holes in his recollection of anything after the gunshot. 

            “Because you stood up for us. You stood up to Tom.  I noticed something in you; a change since our last encounter.  You are a different man now. A better man.”  Seth switched his attention to Gwen.  “I’m guessing she’s the reason?”

            Carter moved his head to see Gwen, and a smile came to his face.  “She’s amazing.”  As he spoke, a new question came to his head.  “What happened to Tom?”  Wyatt stared at Seth, who seemed to be fighting with himself, trying to find the right words.  Wyatt took the opportunity to interject.

            “Seth took him out.  He was going to kill all of us.  Do you remember?”  Seth turned, and gave a scolding look to Wyatt, who mouthed the words “sorry” silently back.

            “You dropped your gun when you were shot, and I picked it up.  The damn thing is heavy.  I have it in my car for when you get out of here.”

            Carter nodded in acknowledgement, and then raised his eyes back to Seth.  “You keep it. I have no use for it anymore.  Gwen and I are leaving this place, and I suggest you two do the same.  Tom protected us from the cops, but now that he’s dead, I’m not so sure what’ll happen.”

            Silence entered the room for a couple of moments, as everyone seemed to be trying to predict the future.  It was Gwen that broke the quiet of the room.  “So… after everything that’s happened… you guys are… friends?”  She was amazed.

            Seth looked at Carter, waiting for him to respond.  “I think we’ve all learned a lot from all of this.  I don’t think any of us will be committing anymore crimes in the near future.  Friends, I’m not so sure.  Let’s just say I respect these men, and all I ask for is the same from them.”

            Wyatt gleamed, as if there were no better compliment in the world than a hitman saying he respected him.  Seth nodded, and looked at his watch.  “Wyatt, we better be going.  Don’t stay in this dump too long, you hear me?  I lived here for years, and the food is shit.”  Gwen took her place back at Carter’s bedside as the two men exited.  As they were leaving, a nurse entered the room with a cup of pills and some bandages. 

            “I’m sorry miss, but I need to dress his wounds now.  You’ll have to wait in the waiting room, okay?”  Gwen nodded, and kissed Carter’s forehead, before walking back outside.

            “I wonder if everyday is this eventful for him,” Wyatt exclaimed as they were leaving the hospital.  “What a crazy life.  There’s no way I could do that for a living, way too tense.”

            “Yeah, that guy’s something else.  Looks like he’s on the right track now though, and with no one in his ear manipulating him, I think he’ll be okay.” The two were walking towards the stairs of the parking garage when the topic changed.  “So… what now?  I don’t really feel like being a broker anymore after all of this, you know?”  Wyatt chuckled, and shook his head.

            “I don’t know.  How much money you got left?”

            “Some.  What are you thinking about?”

            “I say the two of us get the hell out of this town, and start somewhere fresh.  There’s nothing left for us here, right?”  Seth hesitated as Wyatt asked this question, remembering his wife. 

            “Let’s take a couple of days, and see if I can locate Meredith.  I don’t want to give up on my family just yet, not until I know for sure.”  Wyatt nodded in acknowledgement, and then put his arm up in front of Seth, stopping him in place.  There were two men in black overcoats standing at Wyatt’s car.  They approached with caution, and the men turned to face them. 

            “Seth Marks?”  The shorter of the two men asked.

           

            “Who are you?”  Seth inquired, reluctant to expose himself.

            “I’m Detective Ryan, this is Detective Michaels.  A word?”  Detective Michaels loomed off to the side as they formed a circle around each other.

            “Can we see your identification please?”  Seth asked.  After displaying their credentials, the smaller detective started up again.

            “I’m assuming you two know the status of one of our own, a Tom Vulcan?”  Seth and Wyatt shot stares at each other, then back at the two detectives.  “We know what happened at his place, and we wanted to hear what you had to say for yourselves.”

            Seth didn’t know how to respond.  Tom was a cop?  How could that be?  “There’s no way that sick human being was a cop.  He was a demented man,” Wyatt blurted out.  Seth wanted to punch Wyatt out when he spoke up, but stood still. 

            The two detectives looked at each other, then Michaels started writing in his pad.  Detective Ryan glanced at Wyatt, then focused back to Seth.  “So you two are who we think you are then.  Good.  We just wanted to let you know that you are being investigated for his murder, and we’re close to slapping the cuffs on both of you.  I wouldn’t go anywhere if I were you.”

            Seth felt as if he had gotten punched in the stomach.  Wyatt jerked, as if struggling to stay still.  Seth remained calm, and responded.  “Go ahead, we’re innocent.  If I were you, I’d be talking to the guy that runs Mack’s Gun Shop. He’s the one responsible.”

            Again the taller detective wrote in his pad.  Detective Ryan grinned slightly, and then added, “We’ll be in touch guys.  Take care of yourselves now, okay?”  The two detectives walked between Seth and Wyatt, attempting to add to the dread the two men were experiencing.  Wyatt unlocked the car, and the two got in.  They sat in the car motionless for what seemed like an hour, caught up in their own thoughts. 

. . .

            “What are they waiting for?”  Michaels asked.

            “They’re scared.  I would be too, if I were them.  Let’s get out of here before it gets ugly,” Ryan replied.

            “You think they bought us being cops?”

            “They’re just two dumb businessmen, of course they did.”  Ryan started the black Marauder, and they screamed out of the parking garage.

            “We’re so screwed,” Wyatt finally said after a long silence.

            “We have to leave, Wyatt.  Tonight.  We can’t sit around and wait for them to come lock us up.  They probably have enough on us to put us away for a long time.  I kind of expected this would happen.”  Seth opened the glove compartment, and pulled Carter’s gun out, and put it in the front of his pants.  Wyatt turned his attention forward, and put the key in the ignition.  As he started the car, the bomb that had been set underneath them detonated, and the parking garage shook as the explosion collapsed the structure, and obliterated Wyatt’s vehicle.

            Just inside, the nurse informed Gwen that James Carter would be discharged and able to return home after one final night under the care of the hospital.  Gwen smiled from ear to ear, and kissed Carter on the forehead.  “Get some sleep, James.  Our new life begins tomorrow.”  Carter’s medication took shortly after, and he fell into a deep sleep, with Gwen asleep in the chair in the corner of the room.