After all, Scott had done several jobs for John. The organization Scott had become part of was a high-end fixer firm. They prided themselves on being able to fix any problem.

  What John didn't realize was Scott made Mr. Stone aware of their deal. So, in a revised contract they made to renew John's membership with the firm, the clause that John would not harm, contact, or contract someone to affect anyone from Scott’s past got added to the contract.

  Finally, Scott told Rose that she needed to go and talk with Carl Thrine. Not letting Rose ask too many questions, he told her that he will not say anything till he knows the Reverent approves.

  Rose had so many more questions but felt as if things made sense again. She didn't say a thing when Scott got up and went to leave.

  Before he did leave, he looked around the room. He saw all the pictures of her and her family. There was one picture that caught his eye. It was a picture of her husband with a young boy.

  "I am so glad you didn't name your son after me. I know Duke did that with his firstborn. I mean Adam, well you know what I mean.

  You have a good life.

  You are well known for what you do, and people expect you to be going places. I don't want you holding on to my memory. You have great ones being made here.

  Now I have to catch a flight and you need to get to Mr. Thrine to get him to talk. Either way, John will not be a concern for anyone by tomorrow morning." He didn’t leave time for any more discussions as he walked out of Rose’s life again.

  IT ONLY TOOK ROSE A few minutes to realize what Scott meant by his final comments. She ran up her stairs and got herself around. Then she ran to the police cruiser to find the guard asleep inside.

  With a few knocks on the window and opening the passenger door, Rose got in and the officer woke up with a scare. "I will tell you what. If you get me to the station on Cleveland Ave., I will not tell anyone you were asleep while guarding me."

  Knowing that he would be in a lot of trouble, he just nodded and asked how fast she needs to get there.

  When Rose told him that she needed to be there now, the lights and sirens came one.

  The other cars that pulled overlooked like a blur and in no time, they were in front of the police station.

  Rose didn't say anything while getting out. Not till the police officer thanked her for not telling anyone.

  She told him "Don't worry, I won’t tell. I have too many criminals to worry about rather than an overworked cop." Then she shut the door and began to run into the police station.

  She was stopped by the desk Sargent.

  After showing her identification, He let her pass. It took a few minutes for her to find the detective in charge of Carl's case. Of all the things he could be doing, she found him drinking a coffee and eating a doughnut.

  He knew of Rose and what she looked like. He had been pouring over the file of the guy trying to kill her. So, when he saw her, he walked over to her to see what was so urgent. Rose was not in the mood to be play acted by this guy. She had dealt with enough detectives that see a young woman and get illogical thoughts. She had shown them all to be wrong. Well, all but how beautiful she was.

  Before he said anything and while she was walking up to meet him, Rose began to loudly tell him that she needs to talk to Mr. Thrine.

  Of course, he didn't think she could do anything. So, he gave her a list of why it would not be safe for her to see him and how a woman like her should not be around people like Mr. Thrine.

  This didn't sit well with her. So, she took a step closer and made sure she was close enough that he would feel the heat from her breath. Then she said "Listen, I have put away more pieces of crap than you have ever met.

  I have looked almost every one of them in the eyes. I am about to put away a mob boss, but you think I am too sensitive to talk to Mr. Thrine. Is that what you are trying to say?"

  That is all it took, and he walked away mumbling. He had had an attitude, but he was also told off by a woman that he thought he could tell her to go away. What surprised him was how Rose got the district attorney down to the station in the same amount of time that it took him to get Carl Thrine into an interview room.

  Getting everything, she needed in hand, her body was pumping with adrenaline. Then she walked into the room where Carl was sitting at a metal table with his hands cuffed.

  She gently put the contract in front of Carl. As he looked at it, he wondered what she was doing there. Why would the woman he was trying to kill put the plea deal in front of him?

  He didn't wonder anything after what he heard her say. Rose got close to him and cupped her hand so no one could read her lips. Then she said "Sign the damn deal. My friend promised me you would. You might know him as the Reverent."

  Carl’s eyes got as big as they could, and he began to shake his head to acknowledge that he would.

  That was all Rose had come to do.

  She had what she needed. Now she would send the New York office to go after John.

  It took less than a day to get the raid set up. Rose had even flown into New York to see John in person walking out of his home in cuffs.

  Thanks to all the information provided by Mr. Thrine, there were a lot of people being arrested. Not only John’s empire would be crashing, but Rose would be overseeing about twelve other cases. Some of the people were just starting to become a threat and others had already made a name for themselves.

  This had made Rose's career. She had started to become a legend. None of that was on her mind. Rose was only focusing on the raid on John.

  Then it all began.

  The swat team went into the house and moved through it showing off their training skills by not leaving any rooms unchecked.

  Rose's heart dropped when she heard on the radio that John was found. The problem was that John was found on the floor dead. He was shot three times in the heart.

  The overweight man was laid out with three bullet holes in his heart. The reports and news articles made it seem like John of the Martinelli family was killed in a way to be disgraced.

  Many people that day felt deflated and angry that John would not be sent to prison. What seems to have been forgotten is John would do well in prison.

  His world revolves around being at the top of the criminal world. A mob boss in prison will have respect and privileges.

  Rose was one of the people that day upset that John would not see justice. She also knew what no one else did. John was killed by Scott Bearman for coming after her. She wanted to believe that John was given the justice that Scott knew would be more serving.

  Instead of going out as a King, John went out scared and no one around who cared about him. He knew in his final moments that everything he built was gone.

  Later, Rose was asked by a reporter what she thought about John and all the raids that took place that day. It was reported that Rose only said one line.

  "All the Kings Fall"

  Chapter Five

  Becoming a Hero

  Changing your life is a big thing at any age. Mark left his life in Fostoria, Ohio after his brother died. All that was left for him back there were a few people that remembered his name.

  His grandmother passed during the height of fire season and his mom overdosed on a mixture of drugs.

  He never did make it back for the funeral. In fact, Mark didn't know about it till after he got back from putting out a wildfire.

  Mark was a smoke jumper, or a wild land firefighter. He worked his way up the ladder with education and hard work to become one of these elite firefighters.

  To Mark, this was his way to make the world a better place.

  The harm he caused in his hometown weighed on him. He felt responsible for his brother’s death, too. His brother Jay was a bad kid and got himself into a lot of trouble. Then Jay became violent, causing him to pick a fight with the wrong person.

  Jay was killed by someone Mark considered his closest friend. Even after all that happened. Mark knew that his friend killed his brother because there was no one else who had a reason to do it.

  Even though Mark felt he knew who his brother was killed by, he didn't know all the details. Mark thought about his brother regularly. He thought of his family and few friends he lost.

  It is hard to be young and lose so many people so close to you.

  Then a year after he officially became a smoke jumper, someone Mark knew from back in Ohio had come to visit him. This was the first time anyone from Ohio had come to visit.

  Normally having a person from your past stop by when you thought no one knew where you were is a happy surprise. Now, having a friend from your past who was said to be dead, is more than a shock.

  When Mark got back from two days out in the woods, he had a message saying.

  "It’s been a while.

  How about you join an old ghost from your past. I have a bottle of Makers Mark like the old days."

  The only additional information was an address. The short message was enough for Mark to know who it was. He dropped everything he was holding and stood there with his mouth wide agape.

  First, he wondered if it was a joke. Maybe he said something to someone about his past. If it was his old friend, then it was indeed an old ghost. One that he thought was killed years ago.

  As much as Mark would have liked to ignore the note and think of it as a very bad joke, he went to the address listed on the note. He drove down the streets he had come to know so well. He pulled into a hotel that he had passed for what felt like hundreds of times.

  Once he stood in front of the room listed on the note, he froze. He wondered what he was doing, why was he falling for this joke. It will probably be a few guys from work.

  If he were to guess, it would be Jerry.

  Jerry was always doing things like this.

  Finally, Mark walked back to his truck without knocking on the door. He decided he needed to think about what he would say. If this was his old dead friend, he needed to be sure of what he would say.

  Hundreds of scenarios played out in his head. Just as many questions came up. When he started to get his mindset on how he would act and what questions he had to know, a knock on the truck window surprised him.

  Mark jumped and about hit his head on the top of his truck. Once the shock of being caught off guard passed, he had the real shock.

  He was looking into the eyes of his friend. The friend that had been killed several years back and got burnt to a crisp in his own truck.

  He did try to talk, but no words came out. It was not as if he would be heard since he was still in his truck. Mark got out of his truck after the man or specter jerked his head to say follow me.

  That was all it took, and Mark followed the man who he knew could not be there. Once he caught up with his friend, the first question he asked was what most people would ask a dead friend. "Scott, how are you here, aren’t you dead?"

  Scott Bearman, this was the guy who took a small-time drug dealing dual to having a name back in the farm towns of Northwest Ohio. The same guy who had gotten into a fight with Mark's younger brother and most likely killed him. The same guy that Mark missed most of all walked next to him.

  Scott just smiled in the odd way he does and said "I had a job to do about two hours out of this town. I normally have a week of free time between jobs, so I came here. Let’s go into my room before getting into any great details."

  It had to be hard for Mark not to let all his questions out.

  Scott acted like this was not a big deal, but for Mark, his world had just been changed.

  Walking into the room, Mark watched the door shut behind him and let everything go. With all the questions, comments, and random thought, nothing could be properly responded to.

  "Mark, I know you have a bunch of things going through your head, but let’s sit down. We can have some bourbon and catch up. I have one day left before I go back to my life."

  Not to wait for Mark to answer, Scott got up and got them both a glass to drink out of.

  While Scott poured, Mark put his thoughts in order. Then he asked some real questions. "What do you mean back to your life? I have friends on social media from back home. They told me that you were shot and burnt inside your truck. You are dead. Jenny told me everything. You know Jenny, she married Duke."

  Scott took two or three sips of his drink before answering. When he did, he talked about how Mr. Stone appeared. The tale of the group out of Michigan, and how Dan had tried to get him arrested.

  Then told him about everything that led up to the last day he was in Risingsun Ohio. How he had to do some bad things. How Dan was the one found in his truck. With all that was told to Mark, he went on with the telling of how he became what Mr. Stone called a Fixer.

  Scott tries to cover every detail that would put Mark at ease. Then said that he has a name people in some cities call him. They both laughed when he said, "I am the Reverent."

  Mark asked through laughter “so you are the ghost? I guess I was right when I thought I was looking at a ghost."

  They laughed and talked about the old days back in Ohio. All the memories came flooding back to them. The littlest detail sparked a reaction. From looking at them, you would swear they had not been this happy in years.

  It was great for them both.

  All the pains of the past were forgotten. That was till Mark asked about his brother. "Scott, I know you said you didn’t kill my brother. What you really said was Jay was not killed by your hands. I need to know if you had anything to do with his death."

  They sat there looking at each other without a word for about fifteen seconds. Then Scott told him the whole truth. "I did and I was there when he died. Now don't think I was happy about it, but your brother was trying to kill me. He sent a girl that had mistaken my guy for me and stabbed him."

  After that, Mark stopped Scott from giving any details. He didn't need the details; he knew enough of them. Mark had gotten what he wanted to know all those passing years. Learning that he was right about everything was all he needed.

  His brother went out to become something he didn't want to see him become. Mark and Scott talked of their past lives. It became clear to both of them that the other had a strong hand in who they had become. They played off each other’s choices and happily faced what came from it.

  "So, last time we talked, you were about to come out here. The big firefighter and it looks like you became what you set out to become. Something had to happen since you got out here. When I asked around about you, people talked like you are the local hero."

  While Scott was asking this, he got up to get a menu so they could order some dinner. When Mark noticed what Scott was doing, he picked up his cell phone and called a restaurant he knew well.

  Scott just watched and listened as Mark placed his order. Mr. Liu, can you send me two of my usual to the hotel on Wilson? I am meeting with an old friend from back home." Mark shook his head as if the man on the other end knew he was doing it. Then he finished the call with "Yes sir if he is in town long enough, I will bring him over. I know he will love your place."

  With the phone call done, Mark looked and noticed a puzzled look on Scott's face. "OK, let me tell you what is going on. I am a local hero. I didn't want to be, but it just happened. It is also how I met Mr. Liu's daughter. I don't know if you heard, but I am engaged."

  Mark started to smile at that statement. It was clear that he was in love and happy. Things for Mark were looking good. He was who he wanted to be. A man that is out saving people and risking his life to make a better place.

  After a moment of Mark thinking and smiling to himself, he started talking again. "You see I got out here and kept to myself. I didn't want to get wrapped up in anyone's life.

  I was focused on the classes I was taking and the work I was doing at the Station.

  Then a little past a year of being here, I was getting groceries when some thugs were harassing a woman walking down the street. She looked like she had just gotten off work and was trying to get home. And you know, there are rules we had. Being a man, I had to stand up for a woman in need.

  That is why I put my groceries in my car and went to help. I didn't know that this town had an issue with a gang, but I did after my next move.

  I shoved one of the kids and watched him fall. He took his buddy down with him. They looked like they had watched too much television and wanted to be like what they saw.

  After knowing you and seeing the things we did, I doubted these guys would last around us back then.

  They didn't even look like they could fight and they were skinny. They had no muscle tone or muscles to be seen.

  I didn't realize it, but that is how I started everything. I changed my life. I picked a fight with two guys to save a pretty girl.

  I actually just smacked them around a little and kept pushing them. A group of people watched it all happen. After that, I thought it was over."

  Pouring some more bourbon into both of their glasses, Scott asked a few questions while Mark sipped on his drink. Scott mostly wanted to know when Mark became a fighter.

  They joked about that fact for a bit and Mark went back to his story. "You see, I didn't realize that one of the people watching was part of this gang. This guy was not happy about someone making his guys look foolish.

  I wished the girl good luck and walked away. I didn't think anything about some of the people watching me walk to my car and drive away.

  I realized later that I should have paid attention.

  Since I found out everything, I came to think everyone could be watching me. The best part is to me, it doesn’t matter. I think that there is someone always watching us all. But that is me. The point is this guy got my plate number and saw what I drove.

  About two weeks later, I found myself faced with one of the guys I smacked around plus another two guys.

  These guys did look like they could fight. They weren’t skinny and had muscles.

  They started talking about what happens when someone makes a member of the gang look like a fool. It didn't take much thinking to know where this all was going to lead to.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11