I got the call from Mills on the way home from saying goodbye to Shane.

“Somebody popped Lazlo Gomez……….”

“Fuck me.”

“Yeah some witness’s got a unmarked Ford in the area…my guess someone had Pieszecki and Perkins cap him…..any idea’s why…?”

“I don’t know…..what’d you tell Porter about me and Shane?”

“What are you talking about?’

“A.D. Porter knew about us……..”

“Look Carm I’m no snitch, that’s on you……you shouldn’t have been with her anyway and you know it. If Porter knows than you’re not as clever as you think. It’s not like you did a good job of hiding it anyway….I mean it’s all over the office. Everybody knew you left with her that night at Mears’s party….last time I checked you where supposed to make contact and then leave…….not do what you did in the bathroom and leave…..I mean did you forget you were wired?”

I didn’t answer that question. Again the old timer had me. How fucking dumb was I?

“It’s over…I won’t see her anymore…………maybe Lazlo knew about us…..maybe Mark had him killed…?”

“Good now your thinking using that big brain of yours……….look I am not heartless. I am sorry about Shane…”

That was it he hung up.

Fuck was all I could think. Case was wrong from the beginning. It was started for all the wrong reasons. What the fuck was I going to do? I pulled off to the side of the highway. And rested my head against my steering wheel. I could only see Shane from afar, no more contact….no more. I had a job to do right?

After that I became harder as a person. I was robotic in every aspect of work. Havoc on the other hand was in and out Mexico. The D.E.A. broke a couple of deals, with our surveillance. I kept an on eye on Shane on my own time. She did her best to not self destruct but it wasn’t working. There was nothing I could do for her. Her trips to the more dangerous jobs became less frequent on account of her mounting drinking problem.