Lean On Me

Chapter 53

Friday November 23, 2007

"Three."

Cooper stepped into the alley behind the police station, where Jerry had ordered him to meet him. "Don't come around my job."

"I'll come wherever I want, Three. You belong to me, remember?"

"Not hardly!"

"Oh, yes, you do. You and your pretty ex-lover. You both are up to your ears in high crimes and misdemeanors and if I go down....not only do you go down...but so does that lovely young lady you used to be so fond of. Or are you still? I swear I can not keep up with the constantly changing partners in this town. I never could. Speaking of, who is Sonny with now that his precious Katie is six feet under? You know a loss like that would mess with a man's mind. Make him make mistakes. Not notice things like he used to."

"Does all this have a point, Jacks, or not? I have to get back to work before I'm missed."

"Fine. Fine. I was just trying to catch up with you. We don't see each other like we used to."

"If I never saw you again it would still be too soon. You want to mess with my life, bring it on. But you leave the people I care about out of this."

"You refer to the Commissioner's eldest, I presume? She's quite fetching today...working in that little boutique in my brother's hotel...in her pretty blue dress that matches her eyes. Have you seen her in that dress, Three?"

"Don't even look at her!"

"Hostility won't solve your problems, Three. Only a time machine will do that. And since you seem fresh out, you are- and will remain- my pawn to do with as I like. Tonight I'm landing a shipment on Sonny's piers. That's the area you've been assigned to patrol-"

"How the hell do you know my assignment?"

"Who do you think got you it? You aren't my only pawn, Three. Not by a long shot. Now listen to me. I've grown tiresome of this chat already. You will insure that my shipment lands without any interference from the police, do you understand?"

"No."

"Pawns can't say no, Three."

"Well I just did." Cooper started to walk away.

Jerry said, in a low sinister voice, "That is a very fool hardy choice, Three. Foolhardy indeed."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You look handsome," Tracy told Dillon as she walked into the living room to find him wearing a blue shirt and blue tie.

"I'm taking Sarah to The Metro Court to dance."

"That's mature. I thought the kids your age go to The Catacombs or some other dirty place like that?"

He chuckled. "Its scares me that you even know what The Catacombs is."

"Lulu went on and on about Logan taking her there once. Edward never liked that boy from the start. It looks like Daddy was right."

"Have you been keeping in touch with Lulu?"

"As much as she allows." Tracy poured herself a drink.

"I just...worry. Do you think she's doing all right? Is it possible she never got over..."

"She'll be getting over the abortion a little every day for the rest of her life. That doesn't mean it was a mistake."

"Maybe. I still wish it never happened." He drug his hands over his face. "I don't know what to do for her...I can't tell her I'll hold her till its better because that would be a lie....but I wish she would have found the right guy to hold her. The one she would let in that deep."

"Lulu is a lot like her father. She closes herself down rather than risk too much. Its rare for either to stand still long enough to really sink deep into anything or anyone. And they are both so stubborn. Luke could have died rather than admit he's old enough to need heart surgery to save his life. He'd rather die a young hero than an old man."

"I know its been hard since he got sick. I should have came home right after the Ball but Sarah was working with her band in the studio and she couldn't get away."

"Its fine. I'm glad you're here now." Tracy looked at Dillon for a long moment. "There's something you need to know about Sarah. Something she will never tell you."

Dillon stood up. "Don't do this." His face crumbled. "Don't try and ruin this for me."

"You might hate me for saying this but you have to hear it."

"Mom please."

"I offered Sarah 20 million to leave you."

Shock and then fury raged in Dillon's eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Logan."

"Hey, Coop," Logan said into his house telephone, since his cell was in pieces in the trash after taking a hard smack to the wall. "Its been a hell of a day."

"I'm on break from work so I got to make this quick, all right? Don't talk. Just listen."

"What's going on?"

"First off, you got to kill this beef with Zacchara-"

"Fucking hell I will! That punk ass bitch thinks he's dating my sister. You believe that shit?"

"LISTEN!" Coop's voice sounded more desperate then Logan had heard in a long, long time. Not since Iraq.

"Coop what's-"

"Zacchara's a powerful guy. He's a bad enemy to have. I'd prefer Serena not go around the guy because any woman who does is a target but you can't lock her up in her room. She's a grown woman. Be on her side. Back up her play. She'll come running to you if he hurts her and then I want you to think....think about the rest of your life and think about the girl you love and think about your mom and sisters....then decide if you want to go after Johnny. Always think first."

"Coop-"

"Just listen to me. There's something else. About Maxie.....I'll forgive you if you'll do something for me. If she's ever sick ....if she's stuck in the hospital....don't let her stay the night alone. Stay with her. She'll tell you she hates you but she only thinks she has to say that for my sake. Just never let her be alone and scared. Another thing-"

"WHAT'S WRONG?"

"A cop was shot earlier. You know how it is. Like during the war. You start thinking about your own life and death. I could be killed tonight too. And I promised your sister I would make it right between you and Johnny. Don't make me a liar."

"A cop got shot....and you were spooked? That's it? Don't hold out on me, man."

"That's it. I got to get back to work. Take care of yourself, Logan."

Click.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cooper was sick of being Three. He couldn't live like this one more second.

When had Maxie it had been different story. He would be under Sonny's thumb, be Jerry's pawn, be a disgraced cop who dishonored the badge....be a fugitive...be a liar to everyone but her, and that was okay, as long as he had her by his side. But now she wasn't his woman anymore.

She would never be his wife. They wouldn't have their little blue eyed babies. No temper tantrum throwing little boy who took after his mama. No pretty little girl to take to ballet recitals.

All his dreams were dead.

Cooper had no reason to keep fighting so hard to live. Keep scrambling. Keep walking this line. Being the man with a target on his back.

It wasn't that he wanted to die. He didn't. But when push came to shove, when Jerry asked him to once again look the other way, Cooper had suddenly had enough. He was done.

Tonight he would go to arrest Jerry for running illegal drugs in and out of the Harbor. He would go alone. He wouldn't risk other cop's lives for his mistakes of the past.

Either he would kill Jerry or Jerry would kill him. Because Jerry would never let himself be taken in alive. And Cooper would never let Jerry rat him out.

He had his honor. He did not want to live to see the day when the paper had his picture and the word Three written underneath it. He had been ready to die every minute since the war-and only unwilling to die when he had Maxie in his arms- so now he was just as prepared as ever. It was second nature.

Make a choice. Live with it.

Today was a good day to die....or take back a part of his life again. Either way by tomorrow no one would call him Three ever again. The life he had right this moment wasn't much of a life anyway....he had lost the only woman he had ever loved, he was filled with anger at his mother for keeping his father from him, he had secrets from Logan - who never even knew about the Metro Court robbery or Sonny and Jerry blackmailing Cooper- and as much as he wanted to wake up tomorrow, as much as he wanted to turn this all around, he wanted free from the pain much, much more.

He couldn't do anything to change things with Maxie but he damn well could stop being Three for Jerry. And tonight he would.