The Inner Circle (41 page)

“Then how did you two cross paths?”
 

“One day she was arrested—drugs. Her mother contacted me. I told her there was nothing I could do. She threatened to expose me. I could not let that happen, so I agreed to help. I eventually got Ho Sook released. I told them she was my ... how do you say it in America—a criminal informant. It was the first time we ever saw each other. I immediately recognized her. She had my eyes. She knew who I was, and she did not care.”
 

“Kids,” I said. “They always take their parents for granted.”
 

Bae ignored this. “Ho Sook had fallen in with some very bad people. I told her it would be best for her to stay away from these people. She told me to go to hell. I did not see her again, but I kept track of her. I knew the people she associated with—drugs dealers and the sort. So when Chin and Seung wanted to take me to the hospital, I told them to take me to Ho Sook instead.”
 

Chin and Seung took Bae to Ho Sook. It was in a bad part of town. They were in a police car. As you can imagine, the tension was thick. The gangbangers were about ready to start something with the cops. But Ho Sook intervened. She saw what had happened to her father and came to his side. He explained that he could not go to a hospital. She understood, and took him to one of the doctors that took care of the gangbangers when they were injured.
 

“By then it was the next day,” Bae said, “and those men who had killed my family went and killed Chin and Seung’s families as well.”
 

It was clear to them then that they could never return to their former lives. They could not even call any of their cop friends, for fear that they might be secretly associated with whoever had done this to their families. When Bae was strong enough, he explained everything to Ho Sook and a few of the other gangbangers who refused to leave Ho Sook’s side. One of these gangbangers offered up a name. It belonged to a man who specialized in the child sex trade. He was, among other things, a businessman. Chin and Seung paid this man a visit along with two of the gangbangers and brought him back. There they forced the information they needed out of him.
 

“I am not proud of what we did,” Bae said quietly. “But it was something that needed to be done.”
 

I was again staring off at the trees on the New Jersey side of the Hudson. I was thinking about taking the knife and cutting off Edward Stark’s toe. I knew all too well about doing things that needed to be done, though that didn’t make those things right.
 

“This man, he told us about the games. He himself was even a viewer. We managed to watch some of the games. Apparently viewers are not supposed to record what happens, but this man did. The man was low level and could not tell us much more than that, but he knew someone higher up. Someone, he said, in the Inner Circle.”
 

They went to this man next. It wasn’t as easy as it had been before. This man was much more powerful and well protected. But they managed to abduct him. They forced the information they needed out of this man. They learned more about the games, about the Inner Circle, about Caesar. Then they killed him.
 

“This was four months ago,” Bae said. “The man mentioned something about there being a gathering of the Inner Circle. He didn’t know when or where, but that it was going to happen soon. We realized that Caesar operates out of America, so we decided to come here. Ho Sook made the decision to come with us. I believe ... I believe she feels she owes it to me, for once helping her.”
 

“Maybe she did it simply because you’re her father.”
 

His smile was thin. “A nice thought, but I do not think so.”
 

“Fine,” I said. “But what exactly does all of this have to do with me?”
 

“We saved your life and the life of your friend in Miami.”
 

“Yes you did, and I appreciate that very much.”
 

“We plan to kill Caesar.”
 

“So do we.”
 

“No, you plan to save your friend. Killing Caesar is secondary.”
 

“Well whichever one comes first we’ll do. We’re not too picky.”
 

“We watched the games when we came here. That is how we managed to track you in Miami. That is how we obtained one of Caesar’s men in Arizona.”
 

“Yeah, I meant to ask you about that. How did your daughter catch up with my guy? He’d already been an hour outside of Miami.”
 

“My other men were following the SUV once it left the Beachside Hotel.”
 

“And Caesar’s man from Arizona—you killed him, didn’t you?”
 

“Yes.”
 

“But first you tortured him.”
 

Bae said nothing.
 

“What all did he give you?”
 

“That the Coliseum was to be in New York City. At the building called the Fillmore. Tonight.”
 

“That sounds about right.”
 

“How did you learn of this?”
 

I shook my head. “Sorry, but this isn’t my story time. Let’s just say I know about it, and I plan to be there tonight.”
 

“We also plan to be there.”
 

“So I’ve gathered. Where did you get your invitations?”
 

Bae smiled. “We are, how do you say, crashing the party.”
 

“Then maybe our paths will cross again.”
 

“I am sure they will.”
 

“So can you clue me in again on why I’m sitting here?”
 

“I felt it would be polite to give you warning. We understand what you plan to do, and I felt it was best to let you know what we plan to do.”
 

“Again, the point?”
 

“We will hold off killing Caesar as long as we can. So that you can try to save your friend. We know Carver Ellison is a great man. He deserves to live. Or, at the very least, he does not deserve to die in front of those people.”
 

“Speaking of which, it’s probably time I got back to my team.”
 

“Of course. Chin and Seung will take you back.”
 

I stood from the bench and started to turn away when Bae said my name.
 

“One more thing,” he said. “Have you heard them yet?”
 

“Heard what?”
 

“Those five hundred million bells you wrote about in your story.”
 

“They’re from a children’s book—a fairy tale. It doesn’t mean anything.”
 

“I would not be so sure. What, again, is the purpose of fairy tales? To tell children that monsters not only exist, but they can still be beaten.”
 

I shook my head. “Caesar may be a monster, but this isn’t a fairy tale.”
 

“No,” Bae said somberly, “unfortunately it is not. This is life, and as most things which happen in life, it makes this a horror story. Let us just hope tonight at least one of us makes it out alive.”

58

Chin and Seung didn’t speak at all on the drive back. They let me out a block away from the place they’d picked me up from. As I stepped out, I said, “Thanks, fellas. I’d offer you a tip, but I don’t seem to have any cash on me right now.”
 

I started to shut the door when one of them—Seung, I think—spoke.
 

“Good luck tonight.”
 

I nodded. “You too.”
 

I shut the Escalade’s door and started down the block.

•
   
•
   
•

R
ONNY
WAS
WAITING
for me outside on the sidewalk.
 

“Fancy seeing you here,” I said.
 

He pulled my disposable cell phone from his pocket and tossed it to me. “Stark called while you were gone.”
 

“And?”
 

“He wouldn’t tell me anything. Said he would only talk to you.”
 

“How long ago was this?”
 

He glanced at his watch. “Twenty-seven minutes.”
 

“Where did you tell him I was?”
 

“What was I supposed to tell him? I said you were currently indisposed and would call him back.”
 

“You haven’t asked yet how my meeting went.”
 

“I’m assuming it went well.”
 

“Meaning?”
 

“Meaning those guys didn’t kill you.”

•
   
•
   
•

W
E
WENT
INSIDE
and started up the stairs. The building had been a shitty warehouse once. Years ago it had been remodeled and was somehow even shittier now. We were currently renting half of the fifth floor. The other half was deserted.
 

I called Stark and said, “Sorry I missed your call.”
 

“Where have you been?”
 

“Didn’t Ronny tell you? I was indisposed.”
 

“For half an hour?”
 

“I had a bad bean burrito.”
 

He was silent for a moment, and I thought the connection had dropped out. Then he said, “You weren’t very nice to the congresswoman.”
 

“Granted, I wasn’t on my best behavior, but on the bright side, I wasn’t as rude as I could have been.”
 

“She wasn’t quite convinced after our meeting.”
 

I was climbing the stairs, Ronny in front of me. “What are you saying?”
 

“She wasn’t quite convinced, but I did everything I could to convince her. She understands the risks. She knows what might happen to her if this all goes south. But she also knows she just can’t sit back and let it happen.”
 

“Again, what are you saying?”
 

“She’s agreed to help.” Stark released a heavy breath. “She’s scared, Ben. So am I.”
 

“Join the club.”
 

“Where are you now? I’ll meet you to discuss the details.”
 

“How about we just discuss them over the phone instead?”
 

Another pause. “You still don’t trust me, do you?”
 

“What are the details?”
 

Stark sighed again, and then started to talk.

•
   
•
   
•

R
ONNY
HAD
GONE
ahead of me and was waiting at the top of the landing when I caught up to him, closing the phone.
 

“We all set?”
 

I nodded and said, “I have to be downtown by ten.” I started toward the door but Ronny stepped in my way. “What?”
 

“What you were about to tell me before—about Jen and Casey being dead.”
 

“What about it?”
 

“You need to talk about it.”
 

“I haven’t talked about it for two years. I don’t have to start now.”
 

I went to step around Ronny but he moved again to block me.
 

“You do,” he said.
 

“Ronny, don’t piss me off.”
 

“Everyone’s inside.”
 

I looked at him sharply. “Why?”
 

“After what happened, we weren’t even sure you would be back.”
 

Since we’d come to the city we had kept the team split in case something happened. It wasn’t wise to put everyone in the same place at the same time. But now it seemed that was what had happened.
 

Ronny placed his hand on my shoulder. “You need to let it out, Ben. For your own sake. And if not for your own sake, then at least for Maya’s sake. You owe her that much.”
 

I glared back at him, and carefully took his hand off my shoulder. “You know something, Ronny? Sometimes you can be an annoying prick.”
 

He smiled. “If I am, I learned it from watching you.”

•
   
•
   
•

J
UST
AS
RONNY
said, everyone was inside—the Kid, Drew, Beverly, Maya, and Mason Coulter, who had surprised us all and stepped up in a big way this past week. The man certainly had anger issues, but he was able to control the anger for the most part, and was using it to help us get back at the people that had taken his family away. Now he was dressed like a homeless person, in nothing but rags, filthy and smelling like trash. This was because for the past three nights he had literally been sleeping in a dumpster.
 

The only person who wasn’t present was Graham. As much as he wanted to help, there wasn’t really anything for him to do, or anything he could do, not in his condition. It was hard for him to accept, especially as he had helped raise Carver and thought of him as a son, but he acknowledged the reality for what it was and stayed back at the farmhouse.
 

So it was just the seven of us—six of them and one of me—and when Ronny and I entered, they all turned to look at us.
 

The Kid said almost immediately, “Did you talk to Stark?”
 

I nodded. “We’re a go.”
 

The tension in the room seemed to momentarily lift. While we had hoped the congresswoman would come through, there had never been any guarantee, and we had already prepared a Plan B.