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Chapter 26: Confrontation

Bobby stared at the door for a long moment before Jeremiah gave him a hard nudge. "You gonna do this or not?" His younger brother hissed.

Bobby grinned and reached for his gun. He wasn't sure what was going to be waiting for him behind the door, so it was best to be ready. He checked the safety, taking the second needed to slide it off. He didn't bother to put the gun back into hiding before reaching up with his free hand and banging on the door hard. He side stepped to his left and Jeremiah stepped back to the right so that neither of them would be directly in front of the door.

That was where they both stood in silence. The hall was deserted, thankfully. Bobby reached out after what felt like a full minute and banged again. He wanted to call out some kind of threat to the ass hole on the other side of the door, but he didn't want to take a chance on Winston recognizing him before they managed to get in the door.

Bobby was about to hit on the door a third time when he was sure he heard movement on the other side. He gave Jeremiah a quick nod to let him know it was about to start and Jeremiah returned the action in kind to let him know he understood and agreed. Bobby was sure he could see a spark of excitement behind his brother's eyes. No matter what Jerry said, hell, the man loved the rush of this kind of business. How could he not like it? It got your heart racing, made you feel alive and like you mattered.

Bobby could remember the first time he roughed up some drug dealers for their money. It made him feel important, like he was someone to look up to. That's what he'd worried about more than anything else when he was a younger, being someone that other people, especially his brothers, could look up to. That was one thing he loved about hockey. People looked up to him and chanted his name whenever he managed to draw blood on the ice. That was a rush too, but in a different way. That didn't have any risk to it, not like standing in a hallway waiting for someone to open a door so that you could try to bluff your way out of whatever trouble they were trying to rain down on you.

The polished wood of the door seemed to tremble slightly under the pressure of being pulled open. Bobby fought off the urge to grin as he slid his gun up and pressed it into the nose of the person greeting them. "Hello Winston." He recognized the nose before the rest of the face was visible past the door jam. "You look pretty fucking healthy for a dead man."

Jessup Winston froze in his place, silent as he flicked his eyes around towards Bobby, "Mercer." His voice wasn't weak, but quiet. "You look good yourself, considering you've just signed your own death warrant." His eyes narrowed on Bobby, the threat obviously heartfelt.

"Oh, I doubt that Winston. Step back inside there and let's take this conversation someplace a little more private." Bobby pulled the gun back enough to wave it towards the suite behind Jessup Winston.

Winston held both hands up slightly at each side and stepped backwards. Bobby slide inside, not allowing Winston the distance that it might take for him to make any kind of threatening move; he felt Jeremiah match his move just inches behind him. He kept his grin in place until he heard Jeremiah close the door securely behind them. He was sure Jerry was eyeballing Winston, and took the moment to glance around the fancy setting.

Bobby let out a low whistle and shook his head. "Damn, dead men sure live the good life, don't they Jerr'?" He looked at black leather sofa and chairs arranged in the center of what the room, sparkling glass and silver tables and shelves blended into the black and silver tile, all polished and fine. "Hell, I thought your last place was nice, look at this." Bobby pointed to one of the stands holding an ivory carving of a naked woman and let out a hearty laugh at the sight.

Winston stepped backwards to the sofa and eased himself down into it. "Bobby Mercer." He sounded irritated, but was obviously trying to hide it. "To what do I owe this visit?"

"What?" Bobby pulled his eyes away from the statue and looked at Winston. He had to laugh again at the sight in front of him. If he didn't know better he would have sworn the man was wearing the same black, silk robe that he'd been wearing the night the Mercers had been chasing down Macks, who had managed to get his hands on Craig. It was the night Bobby had busted Winston in the mouth instead of putting a bullet in his brain. "You ain't glad to see me? Oh, hell, I won't kick you in the teeth again. I'm sure it cost you a pretty penny to get them fixed." He eyed the man's front teeth, remembering how they had spilled from his mouth before. Winston had a good dentist, the fake teeth looked good. He wondered if Harris had the same dentist.

Winston sighed and shook his head. "If you wanted to talk, you could have called." He remarked.

"Called? How the hell were we supposed to call a dead man, Winston?" Jerry spoke before Bobby had the chance.

"Obviously I'm not dead." Winston's tone was even, but Bobby was sure he could sense caution behind the words. Winston kept his gaze fixed on something on the other side of the room. He wasn't looking at Bobby or Jeremiah. The man hadn't expected this kind of confrontation, Bobby was sure it had thrown him off balance mentally, but he thought avoiding eye contact would hide the apprehension rising inside of him. It wasn't working, Bobby could see the muscles in Winston's throat flexing nervously.

"No, you ain't dead. You're alive enough to fuck around with my family. What the hell, did you really think you could sick Harris on us, rip apart my family again, and that I'd just stand back and let you?" Bobby stood over the man, his gun still aimed at his head. The words felt tight as they sliced against his throat with each syllable. He tried not to yell them, he even tried to keep them clean of the anger and hate that was quickly raising bile in his gut, but it was a losing battle. "You didn't think I'd figure it out? It was pretty easy really."

"No one is trying to rip apart your family." Winston sounded sincere. Bobby searched his eyes for a sign that the man was trying to spread more shit, but couldn't see it, not at that moment. It didn't matter though; he wasn't going to believe the son of a bitch, no matter what he said.

"Oh really, so having Jack thrown in jail and having two men claiming to be from Children's Services drag Craig off, that was all Harris' idea, huh?" Jerry's voice matched Winston's, calm and cool.

"You really thought playing that kind of game with us was gonna get you what you wanted?" Bobby didn't give Winston a chance to respond. "You know, if you wanted your little package, you could have just called us." He mimicked Winston's earlier remark. "Now, all you've managed to do is piss me off. You really think I'd hand anything over to you now?" He shook his head.

Winston's head snapped around to face Bobby after just enough time for the remark to sink in. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. You really think that I'd hand it over to you now, after you've pissed me off? You played games with my little brothers you son of a bitch. Didn't we have enough of an understanding that you could have come to me and told me what you were after?" Bobby swallowed back at the bile working up his throat.

Winston turned and looked at Jeremiah, as if he knew reasoning with Bobby was a lost cause. "About men from Children's Services, what did they do?" He looked confused.

"What did they do? They did exactly what you told them to do, you ass hole!" Bobby felt his gun hand twitch enough that it clipped the side of Winston's head. "They took Craig off to where no one else would know where to find him and they scared the shit out of him. He's a fourteen year old kid, you son of a bitch and you just had to play fucking games with his head, didn't you?"

Winston fell back against the leather supporting him and reached up to feel for any signs of blood from the slight tap Bobby had given him. "What the hell, man, watch how you wave that thing around." He winced and finally looked back up to Bobby. "I never told my men to do any such thing." He shook his head. "Put the gun down Bobby, let's talk."

Bobby grinned, but there was anger behind it. He wondered if it looked more like the snarl he was so proud to display, "You're a lyin' son of a bitch."

"What about Jack being arrested? You didn't have anything to do with that either, right?" Jeremiah crossed his arms at his chest.

Winston glanced up at Bobby's gun before turning back to Jeremiah. "Look, I knew Harris was going to get Jack thrown behind bars, but it's not going to stick. If I'd thought there was any chance that anyone would take the charges seriously, then I never would have let him push it. It was just a chance to get your attention on other things for a while. I needed the time."

"You needed the time for what, to break into our house to look for your little package?" Bobby chose his words carefully. "Because it ain't at the house, I'm not that stupid. You really think I'm that stupid?" He was sure he could see a hint of anger flash across Winston's face. The man was lying to him through his teeth, he could see it. He had every intention of Jack doing time for Macks' death, and he knew every move his men had made since they'd hit town. This had been his plan, not Harris', and he was pissed that it had been found out. He wasn't the coward he played at being before, and he wasn't the ignorant fool he was trying to play now. He was very cunning. He was what Adam Macks could have been if the man hadn't been a total mental case.

Bobby felt a shiver run down his back as he realized he had just declared war on a very cunning, manipulative bastard. He was afraid for just a second that Winston wasn't going to fall for his bullshit story.

"You have the key, but you don't know where to use it, do you Mercer? " Winston kept his eyes fixed on Jeremiah as he spoke; his voice was void of any emotion. "You have no idea what that key opens, do you?"

Bobby held his grin, doing his best not to look relieved. "Maybe I do. I don't understand how you managed to hide it like you did. Why don't you explain that one to me?"

Winston sighed and shook his head. "You telling me it was still in that damn rabbit?" He looked amused.

Bobby's mind struggled to keep up with Winston's words. What the hell was he talking about now, a rabbit? Concealing his confusion was a challenge, but Bobby dealt with that particular task the only way he knew how. His free hand swung around and smacked Winston hard in the back of the head. "Where the hell else did you think it would be? You were coming after it; you had to know where it was." He used the best street voice he could muster up. "So what the hell, you want to deal or not?"

"Was the paper with the key?" Winston questioned quietly, obviously stewing over the smack he'd just received.

Bobby tried to read the man's face. Was this a test? What this Winston's way of finding out if they were bluffing? He smiled wide and shook his head. "What paper?" He kept his voice gruff and quiet, twisting the tone of it around, sounding sarcastic in an attempt to mask his complete ignorance as to what the man was talking about. He hoped it would get more information, that Jessup Winston would slip up and give more details.

Winston laughed and looked up at Bobby once more. "I take it you can't make heads or tails out of it then." He nodded his head. "So what you have isn't worth shit if you can't use it. You hand it over to me and I'll disappear for good Bobby, that's a promise."

"I don't buy it. You ain't gonna just go away Winston; roaches just don't disappear that easy. I want some sort of insurance that you won't mess with me or mine again." Bobby sucked in a deep breath. "But I don't want you fucking shit sitting in my lap either. The last thing I need is for my family to be connected to your dirty dealings in any way. We can't afford it. You have to understand one thing about me, the most important thing is my family and you have become a danger to that."

"If you kill me, you are going to have a shit-load of trouble coming your way." Winston's voice took on a threatening undertone, despite the overly pleasant smile he'd plastered across his face. "You don't want that Mercer."

Jeremiah had wondered off on his own during the short discussion, and was standing at a table next to the door leading to a bedroom. He picked up a framed picture and turned towards Winston. "So what does your Mama think about your choice in careers? I'll bet she's real proud that her boy grew up to be such a bad ass thug. Hell, you're real good at pickin' on little kids. Were you a bully when you were younger?" He grinned and held the picture of Winston and an older woman. "This is your Mama, right?"

Winston looked over at Jeremiah and the picture. Bobby was impressed how Jerry seemed to have found Winston's weakness. He could see a change in the man's eyes when they focused on the photo in Jerry's hand, and he could hear an edge to his voice when he spoke. "My mother has nothing to do with any of this." The words were quiet, but held the intensity Bobby would have expected from a truly devoted son. The same intensity he'd used over the years when he was determined to keep his own mother out of the wrong side of his own business dealings.

"We want this to end Winston, what about you? Are you willing to call off your FBI bitch and get on with life?" Bobby asked quickly, picking this moment of apparent weakness.

"I want that key Bobby." Winston kept his eyes fixed to the photo until Jeremiah returned it to the spot where he'd found it. He finally looked back up at Bobby. "You bring me the key, and the code, and we'll deal then." He kept all emotion out of his voice.

Bobby reached down with his free hand to swipe at the expensive knick-knacks, effectively clearing off enough space for him to place his ass on the glass top. He positioned himself directly in front of Jessup Winston and grinned. "I make the rules from now on, or you ain't getting shit."

Winston didn't look scared, he looked pissed. He sucked in a deep breath and shifted his gaze from Bobby to the gun still aimed at his head. "Okay, what do you want, exactly?"

"Harris needs to back off. He needs to leave Jack alone, and he needs to back off from the rest of my family." Bobby waggled the gun slightly. "Your goons need to leave town too. Send them back to where ever they came from."

Winston nodded his head. "That's a given, since they've screwed up. They'll be out of town by morning."

Bobby tried to see a sign in Winston's body language, or the tone of his voice that he was layin' out bullshit for him right now. He couldn't tell at the moment. "And Harris backs off of Jack? I want Jack to walk away from court a free man with no chance of being charged with Macks' death again."

"I want that key. You hand over the key and I'll guarantee your brother will walk away from this a free man." Winston's voice sounded strained.

"No, Jack walks first, and then we give you what you want." Jeremiah stepped up to stand behind Bobby. "We'll make contact with you after Jack's hearing, when he walks, we'll set up a meeting then." He spoke before Bobby had a chance to think of a response.

Bobby still needed to do some digging to try to figure out where the hell this fucking key was that was so important to Winston, and Jeremiah was closing the negotiations down too soon. "I need insurance that once we walk out of here you ain't gonna come gunning for us." Bobby spoke quickly.

"Why would I be stupid enough to come after you when you have what I want?" Winston was obviously at the end of his patience. "I'm no fool Mercer." He met Bobby's glare straight on.

"You already tried it Winston. Hell, you've done let Harris steal two of my brothers. He tried to make it all look legal and all, but it wasn't. We both know that. How am I supposed to know that you won't do it again?" Bobby leaned in closer to the man, his voice tense as he argued the facts. "Fair warning Winston, you done fucked with my family more times than I ever should have let you, it ain't gonna happen again." He nodded his head slowly. "Here's a news flash for you. The cops are holding Harris right now. I'm sure that as soon as he's able to he'll give you a phone call. I'm gonna call my friends at the station and tell them Harris needs to sit tight until our little deal is done. You need to tell Harris to stay right where he is until he hears from you and to not cause any problems. He's my insurance. Got that? He leaves that police station and our deal is off. I'll know the second he walks out the fucking door. Our deal isn't on until I know Harris is holding tight with the cops."

"There's no way am I going for that." Winston cried out.

"What happened to me having what the hell you want? Huh? You want your shit; you gotta dance my dance, ass hole." Bobby nearly growled the words. "Either that or we can forget this little deal and take your key and piece of paper to the cops instead of handing them over to you. They can figure out that paper, can't they Winston?"

Winston's eyes mirrored the defeat he was trying to mask. "I'm not going to screw you over Mercer."

Bobby shook his head slowly. "I should have put a bullet in your head the first time I laid eyes on you Winston. I should have ended it all right then. We wouldn't have had all this shit coming down on us if I had, would we? You're the fucker who started it this time. I don't get it, I really don't. Wasn't my fucking boot in your mouth enough the first time?" He stood and pushed the barrel of the gun into the center of Winston's forehead with one swift motion. "I'm sick of my family scratching and clawing and only getting kicked back down Winston. Why is it so much to ask that fuckers like you leave us the hell alone? Why did you have to pick my brothers to fuck with? Huh?" His brain was still trying to figure out where Winston's cursed key was hidden.

Winston's muscles stiffened at the touch of the gun against his skin. "Things just turned out that way." He kept his voice quiet. "You can't tell me you would have just handed it over if I'd called you and asked for it." His eyes were focused on the gun.

"If it was a choice between my family and your fucking key, you really think I would have risked my family? Didn't you learn anything about me the first time we met? You should've been straight with me Winston; it would have been much easier for both of us in the long run. Now, there ain't no trust between us, so I need my insurance policy. Harris. Make your decision now, because without my insurance, I got only one other option." Bobby purposely cocked the action of the gun and narrowed his gaze on Winston's eyes. "I won't risk my family again you son of a bitch." He gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Winston sucked in hard. He seemed to be considering his options, and Bobby hadn't left him with too many to think on, so the process was quick. "Okay. Harris stays with the cops." He breathed the words quietly.

"Now that wasn't so fucking hard was it?" Jeremiah laughed.

"But I need to be able to contact you." Winston kept his eyes focused on the gun still pressed against his forehead.

"No, I'll contact you." Bobby grinned and eased the gun away from Winston's forehead. "As soon as I've heard from my friends down at the precinct you'll hear from me." He backed away from Winston slowly. He wanted to know more. He needed more information, but if he pushed too hard Winston would figure out he was being fucked over. Hell, he didn't have what the man wanted, and he was still at a loss to where to find it. He looked at Jeremiah, almost hoping he'd see an answer written across his brother's face.

Jeremiah met Bobby's gaze and nodded his head. He wore half a smile and looked pleased with the answers they'd gotten out of Jessup Winston.

Bobby looked back to Winston. "I'll be calling you as soon as I hear from Green." He motioned for Jeremiah move towards the door. "No tricks Winston or neither of us will get what we want." He waited until Jeremiah had the door opened before backing towards it, keeping his gun visible until he was in the hall and the door was closed.

Bobby looked at Jeremiah and quickly eased off the hammer of the gun before hitting the safety and sliding it into his belt. "Well?"

"I think it went pretty damn good. What do you think?" Jeremiah matched Bobby's stride as they walked down the hall, towards the room where they'd left Jack and Craig.

"Well, we know he's after a key and some kind of paper with a code." Bobby muttered. "Whatever the fuck that is."

"What the hell did he mean by a rabbit?" Jeremiah asked the question that was nagging at Bobby's brain

"I don't know; I was hoping you knew." Bobby shook his head as they turned a corner in the hall, nearly colliding with Angel.

"You get what you went after?" Bobby asked as all three men came to a stop.

Angel held up a plastic bag. "Not exactly, but we can work around it." He looked nervous.

"What?" Bobby motioned for them to keep walking. They could see their door halfway down the corridor. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong." Angel was lying, Bobby could hear it in his voice, but he didn't have the chance to push it when Angel asked his own question. "What did you get from Winston, anything?"

"Oh, we got something." Jeremiah quickly answered Angel's question, detailing what Winston had told them and the direction their plans had taken.

Bobby reached the door ahead of his brothers. "We need to figure out where this fucking key is. That means we need to go to the house." He muttered as his words gave away his thoughts.

"You think it's at the house?" Angel asked.

"It can't be any place else." Jeremiah agreed. "We just gotta think, man, it's gotta be something simple, a fucking key and a piece of paper."

Bobby knew Jeremiah was right. "So one of us goes back to the house and looks around for a damn rabbit." He muttered. He couldn't believe Winston hadn't given them any more than that to work with. He did know for certain that they had to find Winston's key real fucking quick or their entire plan was useless. "We gotta figure this all out by morning." He spoke quietly, "Or we're all screwed."

Jeremiah and Angel both looked at him, and though neither spoke, it was obvious they knew he was right.