Thin Ice 6 - Hangman & Socrates (20 page)

“
What’s going on little brother,” Ryan teased.

Ian told him everything was fine and to stop calling him that.

“
You ready for the party tonight,” he questioned as Ian told him he was.

“
I have plenty of business cards, and I’ll be giving away lots of free drinks, VIP seating, etc.,” Ian replied as Ryan told him it sounded like a plan.

“
Don’t forget to meet and feel out some of the law enforcement around there,” Ryan advised.

Ian mumbled slightly telling him he hadn’t forgotten and he would take care of it.

“
I’m proud of you Ice, you’re makin’ it happen,” Ryan told him.

Ian smiled fully thanking his brother. Ryan’s approval meant the world to him and there was no one closer to him in his life than his older brother. Chatting a few moments more, Ian disconnected and grabbed his keys heading to his own apartment to shower and change before heading over to the Arena and staking his claim on the city.

18

“
Good afternoon Carlo,” Rait greeted his patient.

They’d finally established a rapport, albeit it somewhat strained, a rapport nonetheless in their three months of interaction. Rait found the man cooperative to a degree but Carlo was shrewd and he only answered or talked if he felt like it, and even then he only allowed Rait so much leeway. So far they hadn’t been able to talk about Auriel or Lauren at all. Today he wanted that to be different. Rait wanted to know what drove the man to kill his wife and bed his daughter.

“
Hello Dr. Powell,” he replied calmly, watching the man without emotion.

He wasn’t feeling well today and his patience span was very short. The visit with the prison doctor hadn’t yielded much past the fact that his immune system wasn’t fighting off sickness as it should. Carlo thought the prison doctor was a complete idiot but didn’t voice it since the man was his main heroin supplier.

“
Carlo,” Rait began carefully. “I’d like to talk about Auriel today.”

The frown was almost instant as Carlo looked at him even harder.

“
Why are you so damned interested in my wife Dr. Powell,” he asked irritably.

Rait sighed lightly knowing he needed to tread lightly. He’d been observing the sudden mood changes and had a diagnosis brewing in his head; he just needed a few more confirmations to prove it.

“
Why are you so adamant not to talk about her,” Rait returned calmly.

“
She’s dead, so what’s the point,” Carlo again returned without adding anything more.

“
The point is,” Rait began. “I want to know what drove you, a man who says he loved his family, to kill his own wife, in front of his 12 year old daughter,” he replied evenly as Carlo’s eyes began to blaze, the anger coming off him in waves.

“
You want to find my daughter don’t you,” he threw out abruptly changing gears.

Rait frowned slightly a bit taken aback by the question.

“
I’m asking about your wife,” he replied, once again taking control of the session.

Carlo sighed deeply and regarded the man once more.

“
She lied to me,” he replied his voice taking on a cold even monotone. “Auriel wanted to leave me, to destroy me, and to take my Lauren away from me,” he told Rait, those eyes looking through him once more.

Rait nodded slightly.

“
So she was cheating on you, having an affair,” he asked.

Carlo smiled at that point and it scared the hell out of him.

“
She thought I didn’t see, but I did,” he replied, his voice the same. “Auriel wouldn’t listen,” Carlo added and grew quiet.

Rait frowned slightly not sure how to take the man’s silence.

“
Who was Auriel having an affair with Carlo,” Rait asked. “One of your associates, Cartier,” he threw out as Carlo’s eyes narrowed.

“
Socrates is true,” he replied evenly.

“
Auriel was trying to help them take away my Lauren, telling her lies, turning her against me,” Carlo stated once more, giving the doctor a look that said he should have known that.

“
So you killed her because of the affair,” Rait asked, waiting for an answer and receiving none.

Sighing deeply Rait tried a different tactic.

“
So you raped Lauren because of Auriel’s lies and sins,” he spoke.

Carlo was across the small metal table in the therapy room before he could react, hands around the doctors throat.

“
Don’t you ever tell that lie again,” he hissed as his hands squeezed and Rait struggled to breathe.

Where the fuck is the guard,
he was thinking as he grew lightheaded and almost blacked out.

“
I would never hurt my daughter like that, not ever,” he continued to rant.

Kill him Carlo, he’s on our nerves always asking about Auriel,
the demon told him as Carlo squeezed harder, never hearing the room door open or feeling the guard’s arms as they pulled him from the now unconscious man and his limp body dropped to the cold linoleum floor.

*****

Cartier and Horse were in the rec room, enjoying the boxing match and talking to each other.

“
I may be able to help you with that issue, Socrates,” Horse told him nonchalantly, his voice quiet to avoid anyone overhearing them.

Cartier turned to the man sitting beside him and raised an eyebrow, giving him the green light to continue.

“
My little brother, Spank, is getting out,” he told Cartier.

They’d talked about Horse’s family from time to time with Cartier learning that all three brothers were incarcerated. Horse was the middle son, both he and his older brother doing life bids. His younger brother has drawn fifteen years, already having served nine.

“
Really,” Cartier returned.

“
Yeah, he’s straight Socrates, you can trust him to get that package you need and set everything up,” Horse replied.

He knew all about Cartier and Carlo’s plans to pay their way out of Leavenworth and live the rest of their lives in peace. Cartier nodded as his mind continued to race. He didn’t want to get excited again just to be disappointed. Everyone they thought they could trust had let them down and they were still sitting in this prison almost six years after they should have been gone.

“
What is his price,” Cartier replied.

Horse told him his brother only needed enough money to make a fresh start and live his life.

“
Hmm, fine,” Cartier replied. “If he handles the deal, gets everything to everyone and we get out of here, we will give him half a million,” he told Horse as the man assured him Spank could and would handle every detail.

“
He gets out day after tomorrow,” Horse told him as Cartier again nodded but said nothing. “I’m going to get a message to him tonight, so he knows what’s up and he can hit the ground running.”

Cartier nodded and told him that was fine as Horse rose and left him alone with his thoughts. Cartier sighed lightly praying this time everything actually went according to plan. He was more than sick and tired of being inside the steel cage he’d called home for far too long now. Carlo wasn’t well and he knew it. Cartier had his own suspicions about this friend’s illness but dare not voice them. He thought about the psychiatrist that was trying to probe Carlo’s mind on a daily basis.
He must be a glutton for punishment,
Cartier thought and chuckled aloud. He’d learned long ago that Carlo’s mind was a deep dark abyss of things best left alone and unsaid.

Once again returning his thoughts to Horse and his brother Spank, he had a new glimmer of hope he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Need to include him as well,
he thought of Horse when he and Carlo left this place. There was no reason they couldn’t take the man with them. He’d proven himself more than loyal and Cartier could definitely use someone like him outside.
Maybe we can finally find Lauren,
he thought of himself and Carlo with Horse’s help. Cartier hadn’t forgotten his godchild. She was always heavy on his mind. He’d confronted Carlo about allowing her to get caught up in the system and his friend had been genuinely remorseful, but adamant that he didn’t want his sister anywhere near his child.
“She will turn Lauren’s heart from me with lies and propaganda from the trial,” Carlo told Cartier as they talked. “But she’s out there alone,” Cartier countered. Carlo smiled then and told him Lauren was more than capable of taking care of herself. “She has money,” he replied going on to tell Cartier about the report he received of Lauren returning to the house and emptying his private safe. “She has over half a million dollars, trust me she has started a new life,” he added proudly, though Cartier could hear and see the hurt and loss as he spoke.
Sighing deeply Cartier pushed the thoughts aside, vowing to find the young woman when he left this place.

*****

Rait awoke with a start, the strong ammonia fumes burning his nose. His hands flew to his neck on impulse, pleased the Carlo Cisneros’s hands were not around it.

“
Where is he,” Rait managed to croak.

His throat hurt like hell. Even breathing was painful at the moment.

“
He’s been taken back to his cell,” the guard replied, giving the doctor a look.

Rait knew enough not to raise a stink about the incident. He’d found out quickly that the warden turned a blind eye and deaf ear to anything that involved Carlo or Cartier.

“
Was he sedated,” he asked again, half hoping they said yes.

“
No,” the guard again replied plainly, his expression never wavering.

Rait sighed deeply but didn’t push the issue. Instead he rose and began walking toward Carlo’s cell.

“
I’ll be back tomorrow,” he told the man who was watching him calmly, eyes glazed over.

“
I am finished,” Carlo said simply and Rait knew what that meant.

He couldn’t let the man shut down on him now; he was too close to achieving his goal and unlocking the root of Carlo’s irrational and dysfunctional behaviors.

“
I apologize for offending you Carlo,” Rait tried amicably. “I promise we will not talk about anything you find upsetting,” he added as Carlo continued to enjoy his high, eyes now closed.

“
Doctor, what exactly is it that you want from me,” Carlo questioned, his posture never changing.

Rait carefully chose his words. If he didn’t give the right answer he would fail. To fail would mean he could kiss his cushy position inside the DEA goodbye, not to mention his not being published in the Psychiatrist Journal.

“
I only want to know about the real Hangman Cisneros and share that information with those willing to listen,” Rait replied and held his breath.

Carlo snorted at the response, chuckling slightly.

“
You want to dissect me,” he threw out and dared the doctor to refute it.

“
That’s not my goal Carlo, I promise you,” Rait lied smoothly.

“
Come back tomorrow,” Carlo replied simply as Rait smiled and bid him goodnight.

He thought about the man during the entire ride back to his apartment. This assignment was beginning to consume him. Rait wanted to expose Carlo Cisneros to the world as the coward hiding behind violence that he was.
He could have killed you tonight, is it worth it,
his mind asked as Rait answered a resounding hell yes and parked his car, getting out and going inside. He needed a drink and a good night’s sleep.

******

Cartier began reading the letter that Ryan sent, enjoying the photographs that were enclosed. From all the things he was reading, both he and Ian were doing very well. He wasn’t sure how he’d felt about Ian branching out on his own and moving to Atlanta, but the young man was already twenty-two years old. He had to find his own way sooner or later. Ryan told him about the club in Alabama and how they were moving money and drugs. Of course the letters were coded, not that they needed to be, since all the guards knew the drill. None of Cartier’s or Carlo’s mail was ever opened or inspected. Ryan told Cartier of Ian’s involvement with Shelby and what her occupation was. He sighed deeply again, slightly disappointed that Ian had chosen an obviously uninformed woman to be his companion. Cartier hoped inside that he’d gotten the opportunity to introduce his youngest son to Lauren.
There was a perfect match,
he thought of the two. That was only wishful thinking now and Cartier didn’t dwell on it. He instead finished reading the letter with Ryan telling him when he would be making his monthly visit.

“
Socrates,” Horse greeted, standing at the entrance of the cell.

Cartier told him to come inside as the man complied and they began to talk again.

“
I got the message to him and a reply,” he told him as Cartier nodded.

Spank was more than willing to handle the exchange for them and was excitedly grateful for the half million dollars promised.

“
You’re leaving too,” Cartier told Horse simply.

“
You don’t have to do that Socrates,” Horse returned, genuinely moved.