The Burning Key

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3The plan was simple in theory. Once they found out where the gang could be located, they would burst in, guns blazing, and kill every last one of them. Anjea intended to be the lead on that while Cameron would play no part in it, since he had the fighting prowess of a young child. Instead, he was tasked with talking to the factions—all of whom he’d met by now—to see if they knew anything and get them involved. He would go as an official emissary of Ezra Dreyer, dress nicely, and try to convince them to work together.

For his portion, Cameron had an idea about how to grease the wheels. It involved the small amount of weed he’d managed to save from the warehouse.

He arrived at the first faction unannounced, since they didn’t exactly have a phone number. The leader, a man who went by Jax, was less than thrilled at having to entertain a guest. But when Cameron handed him a joint and sat down, he relaxed. Lighting it and taking a few drags, “So, what does EZ want?”

“What we all want. To find the bastards who blew up our home and your storefronts. At minimum, they’re bad for business. But we’re out for blood. We lost a lot of our people. We lost our whole operation.” He produced his own pipe and smoked a little, but not so much as to lose his edge. “I’m here to ask you if you know who’s responsible—and get you to help us.”

Jax tilted his head to one side. “We don’t know a damn thing. Nobody alive has seen the sons of bitches doing it. They’re ghosts. We had cameras inside some of the stores, but they were all destroyed along with the tapes.”

“Do you have any guesses?”

“We thought it might be a rival faction at first, pretending to be a new group. But then they were targeted, too. And then they got you, who nobody was angry at. Everybody likes EZ. He’s a good dude.”

“Why do you think they targeted us?”

“The drugs, obviously.”

“You think they want to control who deals? Eliminate the competition?”

“Or they want to kill the drug supply entirely. One of our guys thinks it’s some kind of militia, trying to stop everyone from dealing. A group hoping to ‘clean up the streets.’ He’s got a point. It would have to be someone with serious money and supplies to build that many bombs and set them off so efficiently.”

Cameron hadn’t even considered that. To him, the pot growing and dealing was just a fact of life. A necessity for survival. He couldn’t imagine someone would hate it so much that they would kill innocent people. People that were just trying to make a living. People like him and Ezra and Nicky.

All at once, it occurred to him that Nicky might be in as much danger as he was. Cameron decided to wrap up the meeting. “So, what do you say? Do you want to join forces on this thing? Share info and manpower?”

“It’s a shame EZ couldn’t show up himself.”

Unfazed, “I’m his partner. I speak for him. He’s busy trying to find us a new home, but he sent a person he trusts.” Cameron was the only person Ezra currently loved. And he trusted Cameron to handle the specifics of the plan.

There was a pause as Jax wrapped his brain around the idea that Cameron was Ezra’s romantic interest. It seemed to surprise him at first, but then he smiled nervously. “Uh, yeah, okay. That makes sense.” Straightening in his chair, he took another hit off the joint. “I think we can be convinced. What’s in it for us?”

“You get to continue working without having to look over your shoulder. And while we’re recovering, you can have a chunk of our selling area.”

“We could just take it. You’re not in a position to stop us.”

“You’d be fighting the other factions for it. Are you ready for a war, considering all that you’ve lost?” Cameron put his pipe away and stood up. “I’ll be offering the same thing to the others. Everybody gets an equal piece. It’s easier and more amicable this way.” They would save a small amount of space for themselves and their current dealers to sell what they had left.

“But we have to give it back once you’re up and running again?”

“Sure, but that won’t be for at least half a year for pot, and probably a lot longer for cocaine.” If they decided to continue selling coke at all. Ezra said they couldn’t get back into it quickly with their present numbers, and the supplier might go elsewhere in the meantime. Secretly, Cameron didn’t love the fact that they distributed the addictive chemical. Cannabis had medicinal properties. It calmed people down. It was relatively harmless, at least in his mind. Cocaine hurt the user. The city’s population had a regular need for it, but that didn’t make it okay.

Jax finished off his joint and put it out on the floor. With a visible sigh, “Tell EZ we have a deal. But he’d better take his time getting back in the game.”

Cameron nodded and headed for the door. “I’ll let him know.”

Rather than meet up with Ezra or Anjea to share the good news, he made his way to Nicky’s place. He wasn’t home, so Cameron waited outside the door for him to return.

When he finally did, nearly an hour later, Cameron kissed him. Nicky smiled up at him and touched his hair. “Sorry, I was working.”

“About that,” Cameron began. He waited until they were inside his apartment to continue. “I think you should stop selling for a while. At least until we track down the people who exploded our HQ.”

But Nicky shook his head. “I have to make rent.”

“You could be targeted. I don’t wanna see you get hurt over some herb and powder.”

Nicky persisted. “It’s a dangerous job. I knew that when I signed up.”

“It’s more dangerous now. Someone is intentionally targeting people who sell. You’re at risk.”

“What would you have me do, Cam? I don’t have EZ’s money. If I can’t pay rent, I lose my place, and I’m out on the street.” He sat down on an old sofa.

Cameron stood over him. He took hold of Nicky’s hand. “When we move into our new housing, you should come with us. There’ll be plenty of room for you to have your own space. And you’ll be safer with us.”

He scoffed. “If I lived in the warehouse, I’d probably be dead.”

Changing his tactics, “You’d get to live with me.”

“And EZ.”

“Is that so bad? He’s not your biggest fan, but I’d make sure he leaves you alone. And we could be together more, see each other more. And maybe you could help me with planting and growing. Please tell me you’ll think about it.”

“I will. But I really don’t like the idea of living under the same roof as your—whatever he is to you.”

If his own speech could be trusted, Ezra was his partner. But then what did that make Nicky, who he arguably liked more? He cared for them both, but in different ways. He was enamored with Nicky, while he felt comfortable with Ezra. He didn’t think he could live without either of them. Which is exactly why it was important that Nicky be safe.

“There’s always a chance you and him could become friends.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Just consider it.” Cameron let him go and took a seat beside him. He put his hand on Nicky’s inner thigh before burying his face in his neck. “For me.”

“If you insist.”

* * * *

The floor of the office building that Ezra chose was big enough for twice as many people as they had. He would do some recruiting, he said, and invite their outlying employees to come live with them if they wished. That meant Nicky could easily join them, should he decide to do so. As of yet, he hadn’t made up his mind.

Some renovations were required to bring the space up to par. It needed more showers, cubicle-like boxes for living, and a larger kitchen. Furniture would be moved in as quickly as possible while the changes were made, but the whole thing could take months. Meanwhile, most of them would stay in the hotel. Everyone but Ezra and Cameron, who planned to move in immediately. At first, there was only a bed and a private bathroom in the corner office where Ezra set up shop. But it was enough for them in the interim.

Cameron had to get used to seeing construction workers and hearing their tools. They woke him up early in the mornings that he spent with Ezra. The couple avoided flashing them by hanging a sheet over the door.

While they settled in, Cameron continued his talks with the factions. By the end of two weeks, he had them all on board. Apart from speculation, however, they weren’t very useful. No one had even seen the perpetrators, and all the camera footage was either destroyed or taken by police. Cameron found that last fact interesting.

Ezra and Cameron shared a nice dinner in their suite, to celebrate successful dealings with the factions. He couldn’t help but bring it up. “I think the cops might have leads on who’s doing the bombings.”

“I’m sure they do,” Ezra admitted. But he was busy eyeing Cameron seductively.

Cameron cleared his throat. “I wanna talk to them. They might be willing to give us some of their info, especially if they think we’ll take care of the problem.”

That perked him up. “No. No way. That’s a terrible idea. If they find out who you are, they’ll arrest you. They’ll take you away from me.”

“They don’t have to know who I am.”

“It’s too risky. The cops in this city are corrupt and lazy. Even if they’re sitting on vital information, they probably don’t know it or care. The bombers are taking out factions. They’re probably happy about it.”

“Then they can tell me that themselves,” Cameron insisted. “No one else has any information. It would be stupid of us to ignore them, just because they’re police.”

“I can’t let you go to them. I just can’t.”

Cameron sighed. He knew Ezra was wrong, but he didn’t have a good enough argument. “Maybe you’re right,” he lied. Turning back to his food, he dropped the subject.

* * * *

Over the next few days, the subject of meeting with the police played heavy on his mind. He knew Ezra didn’t want him to do it, but what if he did it anyway? Ezra would surely forgive him once he came back safe and sound, and they might even get some information that they desperately needed. When he brought the idea up with Anjea, she liked it.

“If you have the balls to go in there, more power to ya.”

So, it was settled.

He spent the night with Nicky. The following day, Cameron dressed in his nicest clothing, combed his long hair for a good while, and walked to the nearest police station. He strode up to the receptionist’s desk and put on a big smile. “Excuse me, miss. I need to speak to an officer. It’s about the bombings.”

The woman behind the desk widened her eyes. She picked up a clipboard and slid it toward him. “Sign in, and we’ll have someone with you shortly.”

He wrote his first name. Impulsively, he decided to put his real last name. Becker. The information wouldn’t really help police track him down, and anyway, there was nothing tying him to his chosen profession. No one in the factions heard his full name and the former warehouse dwellers knew him only as “Cam.” With confidence in his anonymity, he scribbled the time of his arrival.

Cameron took a seat in view of the receptionist. Hiding his impatience, he waited to be seen by a cop.

Eventually, he saw a white man in full uniform approach the receptionist. She referred to Cameron as “the Asian kid” and pointed at him. The man sighed and walked slowly in his direction.

When he reached a door, he motioned toward it. “C’mon.”

Cameron got up and hurriedly followed the officer, who brought him over to a desk. Both sat down.

“You said you had a tip about the bombings?”

Shaking his head, Cameron clasped his hands together. “No, but I’m here to talk about them. I want to find out who’s responsible.”

He laughed. “If we knew that, they’d be arrested by now.”

“Surely you have tapes from some of the incidents.”