The Guardian

[DeGenerate10]

The Guardian is about a cop turned vigilante. I'm almost done with the first chapter so I'll post it when I'm done. Criticism would be much appreciated good or bad.

 

[Kevin]

can't wait.

 

[DeGenerate10]

Here's chapter one. Keep in mind that this is just a first draft and I have yet to edit out the bugs.





The courageous police officer ran as fast as he could down the cracked side walk of Sunrise Boulevard. He chased the criminal that was about the same size as he was. Both of the men were roughly six feet tall and around two hundred pounds of pure muscle. Both of them could be confused with professional wrestlers by just looking at them.

The cop was much faster than the criminal was but the criminal knew the back streets of Darington City better than the cop did. The cop was beginning to gain ground on the criminal. As the criminal turned the corner to an abandoned alley the cop lunged and took the criminal down like a linebacker would in the National Football League. The cop quickly reached for the handcuffs that were attached to his belt. He took them off and slapped them onto the criminal’s wrists.

The nametag of the cop read D. Walker. The D stood for David. David Walker was becoming a popular name for around the Darington City Police Department. Walker was just a rookie cop who had been working for a couple of weeks. He had been making more arrests than most veteran cops had been making.

He pulled the criminal off the dirty ground and looked him dead in the eye. What he saw in that criminal’s eye was the evil that surrounded Darington City. The look he saw in that man’s eyes was very common in this city.
"You have the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney if you can’t afford an attorney one will be issued to you. You know the whole deal right?" Walker said as his face began to grow redder.

"Yeah, I understand my rights. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this crap before," the criminal replied.

David reached to his right shoulder and grabbed his radio. He held in the button began talking, "Freddie, get over here right now."

As soon as said that a police car pulled up right beside the alley. The man that stepped out of the police car was shorter than David and not near as muscular.

The officer opened the back door of the police car and he waved David over to him. David pushed the man to get him to start walking towards the car but the man went no where. David tried to push him again but he still didn’t budge.

"You better get movin’ bud," David threatened.

There was no response from the man. David balled up his fist, reached back, and put all his power into his punch to the back of the man’s head. The criminal stumbled a few steps then fell down. He didn’t stay down for long though as he stood up quickly. The officer grabbed the man by his red shirt and tried to drag him a few steps so he would get into the car but he wouldn’t move an inch.

David pulled his nightstick off of his belt and reared back and he struck the man as hard as he could on his right shoulder. The man fell to his knees then began to scream in pain. He walked on his knees to get into the police car. As soon as he was on the black leather seat the officer shut the door.

"Thanks for bringing the car, Freddie," David said to the man.

Freddie just smiled and nodded his head while he got back into the police car. Though he was quiet Freddie Wilson was an extremely smart man. His dark brown eyes and blonde hair gave him a quality that made him look like a harmless schoolboy. Freddie had been a cop for several years now and he had been the only officer not to receive a citizen complaint.

 

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David watched Freddie drive away with the large criminal that was probably strong enough to break the handcuffs if he tried hard enough. He only hoped that the criminal was in too much pain to do anything. At least until they get him into a jail cell anyway.

David walked out of the alley and onto the main sidewalk of Sunrise Boulevard. He looked across the street and noticed that his favorite bar was there, Davis’s Bar and Grill. David had been good friends with the bartender ever since he was at legal age to drink. The bartender was like an older brother to David.

He jogged across the street as soon as the cars stopped. He grabbed a hold of the door handle to the glass door and pulled it open. He took a step in and instantly smelled old beer and peanuts. The neon sign outside said grill but no one ever ordered anything due to the lackluster taste. All the customers were there to drink and watch the baseball or football games.

"David Walker! Your favorite seat is open!" the bartender yelled.

Whenever the bartender would say that a smile would always come to David’s face. David walked across the floor that was covered in peanut shells and he walked to his favorite seat at the bar. David walked to the seat and brushed the seat off so he would not get crumbs all over his uniform.

"How have things been?" the bartender asked David.

"Not bad Joe. How’s business?" David replied

Joe reached under the bar and pulled out a bowl of peanuts. He then walked over to the large refrigerator, opened it, and pulled out a glass bottle of Pepsi.

"Business is as good as always and it’s better today because it’s a great day for baseball. David, I would get you a beer but you’re on duty."
David looked up to the clock to see when his shift did end. The clock said it was almost six o’clock and David’s shift ended at six thirty.

The clock was right beside the television. Everyone’s attention was fixated on the television because of the most important game of the playoffs. The New York Yankees were playing at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Soxs. This game determined which team would play against the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.

"What’s your prediction for the game Joe?" David asked.

"The way Mark McCoy has been pitching for the Yankees this series I think the Soxs will take it early also since Patterson tore a muscle that leaves a huge gap in left field for the Yankees. But I expect great things from this Frank McGraw today. He’s been great all year, " Joe informed David.

David’s favorite team had been the Cincinnati Reds ever since he was little so he had just began watching the games again. He always hated the Yankees so he wanted the Red Soxs to finish them off this series.

Today wasn’t such a bad day after all, David thought. The smell of beer, the sounds of a great baseball game, and the company of friends were all you needed.

David grabbed a hold of the Pepsi bottle and downed it quickly. He hadn’t had anything to drink in a while. As soon as Joe saw that his Pepsi was gone he pulled another one out of the refrigerator and sat it down right in front of David.

 

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David stood up from his seat and walked across the floor. He turned left and went down a long narrow hallway. He saw the men’s bathroom on his right so he pushed the wooden door open and walked in. He saw four urinals, one stall, and a set of scales. He instantly walked over to the scales as soon as he saw them. There was a sign that said "50 cents" on it. David reached into his pocket and felt around for a few seconds until he pulled out two quarters. Instantly he put the quarters in the slot and stepped on. One hundred ninety seven, the scale said. His past experiences on his high school wrestling team always caused him to step on a scale like wrestlers do during the season and every once in a while during the off-season.

David walked back out of the bathroom so he wouldn’t miss the first pitch of the game. Baseball had always interested David ever since he was little.
When he walked back to his he looked at the score and saw that the Red Soxs were already winning via a solo home run by the best player on the roster, John Washington. He sighed, as he didn’t get to see the real thing and not just some instant replay.

"The Soxs got three outs and then scored a run while I was in the bathroom for a few seconds?" David asked.

"Yeah, the Yankees all popped up on the first pitch," Joe answered.
David reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of dollars to cover his bill. He slammed the money down onto the bar and walked to the door. He was just about to walk out as Joe called out to him.

"You are going to be back later tonight right, Dave?" Joe yelled over all the talking.

"I don’t know I might," was the only thing David had to say.

David walked on to the streets when he saw that nothing had been going on except for everyone walking down the sidewalks window-shopping. It seemed to David that this street was the one that always had the crime occurring on it. This was a popular street to the criminally insane.

David hoped that nothing would happen just for a little while so he could collect his thoughts on various issues. He began to think about his past experiences on the police force, though the experiences were just a hand full. He thought about the evidence he found against the drug lord of the city, Jason Vercutti. Vercutti was a ruthless old man he had been selling cocaine throughout the city since his youth. Now that Vercutti was the richest man in the city he had bought most of the high-ranking police officers, such as the commissioner. For his own good David threw the evidence, he found, away.

There was no such thing as a fair trial in Darington because of Vercutti and his rival Jose Jordan. Jordan was about ten years younger than Vercutti was but his popularity with the druggies was just as popular. Jordan had also been paid up with the high-ranking cops. Some citizens of Darington speculated about the rival gangs influence on the judges. Near all of the citizens agree with this but none of them talk about it in public. They all fear being killed by the drug lords and their armies.

When David quit thinking about Vercutti and Jordan he realized he had walked all the way to the police department. He didn’t notice that he had walked so far in so little time but it didn’t matter to him. He figured it was about time to clock out any way.

The Darington Police Department was a large cream colored building that had windows all around it. Darington Police Department was painted in blue paint on all four sides of the building. There were two sets of glass doors that lead to the lobby and from there the elevators and stairs took you to what floor you needed to go.

 

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David walked into the already opened door and he looked at all the criminals that had been arrested today. It was a shame that most of them would be getting out of here probably tomorrow evening because of either Vercutti or Jordan. David scanned through the crowd and saw the large muscular man he had arrested earlier. He had never encountered someone that matched his strength before and he never wanted to do it again.
"Walker!" someone called out to him.

David looked around through the crowd to see who called his name but he couldn’t see because of all the ordinary citizens that were making complaints to the secretaries. The same person called his name out again but yet he couldn’t see who it was.

The commissioner emerged through the crowd of people and he shook a file of papers. He was shaking his head in despair as he looked at the file. David knew exactly what had happened and this would probably be his last day on the police force.

"You tested positive for anabolic steroids, David. I’m afraid your time with us was ephemeral. You were a good cop, Walker. I’ll miss you," the commissioner said in his gruff uneasy voice.

David didn’t know that his illicit use of steroids could be seen in his urine tests. When he bought them he was under the impression that they wouldn’t have any affect on the urine. He had been cheated by the damned internet like everyone else in the world had been.

His head was hung low as he was ashamed that he had been caught. He had a feeling that everyone suspected him of steroids because it was impossible to be that big without them.

Since he was a good friend with the commissioner he didn’t think they would investigate. David couldn’t handle being fired from his job and being investigated by the courts.

"Walker, I really need to talk to you about your future in private if you don’t mind. A special group has contacted me and they want you for some project but with this steroid problem I’m not sure that they’ll still be interested. One of the representatives is in my office right now."
"Fine let’s go into your office and talk about it then," was the only thing David could say to him.

They walked past the front desk and kept on walking to the elevators. They stepped into the elevator and the doors closed almost instantly. The commissioner pressed the button to go to the top floor. Neither of them paid any attention to the smell of cologne that caused the elevator to reek.

The elevator stopped when they reached the top floor. The metal doors slid open and it lead to a short hallway with only one door at the end. There were pictures of former commissioners all along the walls except for the current commissioner.

They walked to the door at the end of the hallway. Before either one of them could open the door it opened by itself seemingly. In reality there was a woman on the other side of the door.

The woman had been wearing black dress clothes like a businesswoman would wear to work. She had blonde hair down to her shoulders and her eyes were almost the same shade of blue as David’s. When David saw her he couldn’t help but think that he had seen her before though he didn’t know where.

 

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"I take it that you are Mr. David Walker?" she asked.

Her voice was so soft and clam, David was positive that he had seen her before. He was positive she had spoken with him. The place where they had met was unclear to David. It thought of any possible place where they could have met but he couldn’t think of any place where this woman might have been.

"Yeah, I’m David Walker," he replied some what sarcastically.

She slightly nodded, "Well I am Denise Burns and I am working for a business that you probably never heard of. Most citizens haven’t heard of for that matter. It’s called the Burns Corporation. My father was the founder of it a few years back. We designed weapons and suits that the U.S. Navy Seals would wear on occasion."

David just looked at her as she talked about the business. He had no idea what this had to do with him but it had to be important.

"My father has lived here for most of his life and the evil that shrouds this city has gotten out of hand. We came to the commissioner to see if he would give us one of his best officers so we could train him to use stealth, high tech gadgets, and hand to hand combat. Though since the person we wanted was already a police officer that would be taken care of," she continued.

He nodded his head and turned to look at the commissioner but he was reading one of the files that was lying on his desk. David wondered why the wanted him to do this. He surely wasn’t the best cop in the department so why him?

"I’m not a cop anymore so I’m not sure if you want me or not."

She didn’t understand what he meant, "Why did you quit David?"

The commissioner jumped in, "He was fired because of his steroid problem."

David didn’t know why he had to interrupt the conversation. Perhaps he was trying to get the woman’s attention. Maybe he didn’t like what she was talking about. He never did want anyone that wasn’t in law enforcement to take the law into their own hands.

"We still want you for the job David but there are several stipulations to this agreement. You can’t let anyone about this, you must take out Vercutti and Jordan, and you can’t be seen by any criminal."

"What about money?" David asked her as he rubbed his sore aching shoulder.

"We are willing to buy you a pent house until you are done working for us. We will pay all your bills, buy your groceries, and pay for gas," she answered.

That was exactly the answer David had wanted to her. He would be doing basically the same thing as he was now but for more money and a nice place to stay. There was no doubt in his mind that he would take this job.
He tried to act like he was thinking about it but there was nothing to think about. This could be the best job of his life and for triple the money he was making before.

"The only reason I’m allowing this is because Vercutti and Jordan need to be taken down," the commissioner said.

It was ironic that the man who had been accepting bribes from both of the major drug lords in the city said that. Most of the cops in the department knew about but there was nothing they could say. Even if they did say anything they would be hired soon after.

David stood up from the comfortable leather couch and stretched out the same shoulder he had been rubbing. He wondered what he had done to make it hurt so badly but he couldn’t place it. He had been running down burglars all week so maybe that had been it.

"So do I get one of those suits that you all made for the seals?" David asked.

"You’ll be briefed about all of that tomorrow at noon. Do you know where the suburbs are?" she asked.

"Yeah, I know where it is."

She nodded, "Drive about fifteen miles past that and there will be an old dirt road on your right hand side. Go down the dirt road and you’ll be in an old abandoned city. You’ll see our business as you go along."

 

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Likewise she stood up from the couch and she extended her right hand out to David. David shook her hand while he smiled at her. Neither of them could stop smiling at the other. He knew that there was a spark between them. When the handshake stopped she walked out of the room. David couldn’t help but watch her leave. He turned to the commissioner and looked at him again.

"While I’m here I might as well turn in my gun and badge," David remarked sarcastically.

He pulled the star that was on his uniform off and he pulled the pistol that was in his hostler out. He laid them both on the commissioner’s desk and smiled at him. As he looked into the commissioner’s eyes he could see a great deal of worry. Then it struck him, the commissioner could tell Vercutti all that was said in this office. Denise had just given everything away to the enemy. Though she might have had this secret meeting in his officer for a reason.

"I’ll return my uniform another time I guess."

The commissioner extended his hand out too, "Walker, you were a good cop and I’m sorry you have to go onto more illegal things. But this one you’ll get away with."

"I’ll make you proud big guy," David smiled.

David turned his back to the commissioner and began walking towards the door. He was about to close the door when the commissioner called out David’s name again. David poked his head back through the door and looked at him.

"The only problem you had out there was that you took everything too personal. You just can’t do that in this line of work, David. Aggression is good but not always. You can knock the crap out of the wrong guy and suffer many consequences just because of who they work for. If this was any other city than you would have been just fine, Walker but things work differently in Darington."

It took him a few moments to understand what he had been talking about until he remembered two weeks ago. David had fought one of Vercutti’s men and he had almost killed him due to his anger. Vercutti must have gotten to the commissioner so he could make sure it wouldn’t happen to one of his men again.

He pulled his head back out from between the door and the wall. He walked with his head hung down as he thought of that night. He had remembered it so vividly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to remember it any longer though due to the repercussions it had on him.

David stepped into the elevator when he finally noticed the smell of cologne. It was as if someone had taken a bath in cologne right there in the elevator. He wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed it before.

When the elevators opened he walked out as fast as he could so he could get away from the stench. He walked through the crowd of people until he saw his former partner Freddie.

"David let’s go for a ride," Freddie told him.

"I’ve had my last ride in a police car Fred. I was just fired from the force."
Freddie was in shock he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. There was no way they could fire one of the best cops in the department, he thought.

"Come on man, I’ll give you a ride home and you can tell me about what happened," Freddie said.

 

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Both of them walked out of the Daring Police Department depressed. Both of them had lost their partner. It was odd to David because he had worked with Freddie every day of his short career.

They walked to Freddie’s car and they both climbed in. The sound of the seat belt latching could be heard twice nearly at the same time. It was a routine for the best friends.

Freddie backed the car up from the parking place and he drove out of the parking lot. As Freddie drove down the busy street David looked around at the city as a citizen for the first time since he began working at the police department. He looked at a myopic old man who was barely dodging the people who walked beside him on the sidewalk.

"Tell me the story David," Freddie said.

David looked up at the sunny sky and said, "They found out that I’ve been taking steroids and the commissioner fired me."

Freddie took his concentration off of the road for a split second to look over at David. Freddie had known he was using steroids but he didn’t want to believe it. He turned his attention back to the black pavement and the variety of vehicles that drove on it.

"What are you going to do for money David?" he asked.

"Something will come up."

David looked over to his right and saw that Davis’s Bar and Grill was just down the street. He could really use a drink right now.

"Just drop me off at the bar I need a drink," David told him as he scratched his chin.

Freddie continued to drive until they were right beside the bar. He stopped the car to allow David to exit. As David opened the door he looked back at Freddie and smiled at him.

"Stay in touch David. We good cops need to stick together," Freddie said while he brushed his hair back.

David knew he’d stay in touch with Freddie but Freddie wouldn’t know it was him. Freddie was one of the only good cops in the department. He was the only one he could trust with his life.

He stepped out of the car and quickly shut the door. He briskly walked onto the sidewalk and into Davis’s Bar and Grill. As he looked around at the strangers they were all staring at television. David turned his head slightly to see the score of game seven and it was three to zero. Boston was winning while it was in the seventh inning.

"David, you’re missing a once in a life time event. McGraw is throwing a perfect game!" Joe yelled.

David was surprised that McGraw had been doing so well against the Yankees. The Yankees were one the one team McGraw has had trouble with this year.

He walked over to his favorite seat and sat down once again. The second he sat down Joe had a cold beer already sitting on the bar for him. It didn’t take David long to pick up the beer and finish it off. David was a social drinker so he only drank every once in a while.

 

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Joe pulled out another bottle of beer and poured it into the cold mug that sat there. David could only think of what a day it was as he guzzled it down. Joe just watched him drink it as fast as he could.

"Rough day?" Joe asked.

"I got fired just a few minutes ago. Commissioner Union found out that I’ve been using steroids," David replied.

"You’ve been on the juice? I thought only baseball players used those," Joe joked.

David smiled even though he didn’t think Joe’s bad joke was even remotely funny. David knew that the only thing Joe had was his bad jokes and this bar. Without either of them Joe would be a sad man. He liked to see the cheerful briskness of Joe so he would just humor him by smiling or giving a little chuckle.

"It’s been a hell of a day Joe I’m going to get out of here as soon as McGraw finishes off this perfect game."

It was now the top of the eighth inning and McGraw continued to make the Yankee players to ground out on the first pitch. McGraw had only thrown about forty pitches and at this point of the game that’s simply amazing.

"So what are you going to do for money?" Joe asked.

"That’s been a popular question as of late. I’ve already got a pretty good job lined up. It’s in a similar line of work," he answered.

Joe just nodded as he watched the television set. History was in the making and Joe didn’t want to miss a second of it.

"I’m pretty tired I think I’m just going to call it a night. I’ll talk to you tomorrow Joe," David yawned.

Joe turned his head and looked at him, "You’re not going to wait till he finishes off the perfect game?"

"No it’ll be on every sports channel for the next few days I’ll just check it out then," he replied.

David stood up from the seat and reached out to shake Joe’s hand. Joe didn’t even notice David’s hand right there beside him. David took back his hand and laughed at Joe.

Joe was probably one of the biggest Red Soxs fans in the world. He had pictures of great former stars of Boston like David Ortiz, Ted Williams, and Carl Yastrzemski. All the other pictures he had were of hall of fame players, who of course played for the Red Soxs.

David walked out the door and he wasn’t even noticed by any of the drunks or his friend. He had too much on his mind to watch a baseball game even though it was an important game. He walked along the cracked sidewalk as he headed towards his apartment. His apartment was just a few blocks away from Davis’s bar.

David didn’t know what to think of his new job. He knew he could finally stop the shroud of evil that was so popular in this city. He could finally put a stop to the Jordans and the Vercuttis. David couldn’t stop the drug lords as a cop but as something more he could put an end to the tyranny.
Emotion ran through David’s head like several speeding bullets. All at the same time he was nervous, a little frightened, and excited. He had no idea what to think about being a vigilante. Everything had happened at the same time it felt like.

 

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He turned the corner when a gang of African American males stopped him. They were all wearing clothing that the gangs usually wore in the early 90’s, white tank tops with baggy jeans that were basically around their knees. One of them had a large radio that was blasting rap music. Most of them were bobbing their heads to the music.

"You can’t come this way," one of them blurted.

David looked around the crowd of what looked like high school kids. There were ten of them and they all weighted about one hundred and fifty pounds. It wasn’t anything David hadn’t seen before. These so-called "gangs" were a dime a dozen in this city there wasn’t anything special about them.

"You kids better get home. It’s getting dark," David said.

The tallest of the group ran at David and swung at him. David grabbed his fist then began to squeeze with all his strength as he heard the bones crack. The kid screamed in pain as he did it. The rest of the kids ran in different directions to escape what they thought was a madman.

"Tell your friends that this city has a guardian angel around now. Tell everyone in fact," David told the crying teenager.

"Okay mister just get off!" he yelled.

As soon as David let go of him he ran off like his friends had done. A smile came across David’s face when he thought that he just saved those kids life and possibly someone else’s life.

He started walking towards his apartment once again. He could see the apartment complex from his current position, which was just across the street. It was six stories tall. You could tell it hadn’t been painted in awhile due to the paint chipping away. Due to the paint coming off it had revealed the old cream color of the building; the newer color was white.
"Damn I can’t wait till I move out of this old building."

He walked across the street that separated him and the side of the road that the apartment was on. David sighed as he pulled his key out of his pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. He turned the key to the left and twisted the doorknob to open the door. Every so often the door would stick and it required force to pull the door open. The interior of the building was almost as bad as the outside. It was no wonder he stayed at Davis’s so much this place was worse than his was.

David turned to his left to see the set of stairs that led to the top floor where his apartment was. He hated living on the top floor because he was so afraid of heights. He wasn’t sure how he would coup with living in a pent house that would be even higher than his current home.

When he was close to half way towards his room he heard the screams of a woman. It sounded like it was coming from the top floor or maybe the roof because the screams were so faint. He rushed up the stairs until he got to the top floor. It was then clear to him that the screams were emitting from the roof. He looked down both ends of the hallway and he saw the door that led to the roof. He ran as fast as he possibly could down the hall and through the door. He ran up the fire escape until he was on the roof.

A man was holding a woman by the throat. They were at the edge of the roof. David edged towards them until the man turned his head and looked at him. The man reached towards his back and quickly pulled out a pistol. His hand was shaking as he pointed it at David.

"There’s nothing going on here man just turn around and go back," the man shouted.

"I can’t do that man. I can’t let you throw that girl off this building and let her die. That’s just not going to happen on my watch."

David tried to stay calm but it was a challenge. He took another step towards the two but quickly stopped.

"Let the girl go kid. Whatever she did to you isn’t worth it," he said.

The man looked David up and down as he noticed that he was in a police uniform. Now the man was just as nervous as David was.

"If you want her alive then you have to come and get her, pig!" the man yelled.

David walked slowly towards them. It felt like his heart was going to leap out of his chest. When he was about a yard away from them he reached his arm out for the woman to grab. She reached then grabbed his arm and he jerked her away from the edge.

"Alright everything’s fine now you can put the gun away," David said.
The man began to laugh uncontrollably like a clown at the circus. He pointed the gun to his head.

 

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“Mister Vercutti will never let me live for this so I might as well end it right here and right now. And by the way the girl you thought you just saved is no more than a crack head. She owes Vercutti money and there’s no way you can save her from him."

The man pulled the trigger instantly brains splattered everywhere. His lifeless body fell backwards off the building and it landed on the hard concrete. The woman wrapped her arms around David’s body and began crying. He put his arm around her back to comfort her but there wasn’t anything David could do in reality. They both knew she was going to die soon enough. David had just delayed the inevitable.

“What am I going to do?” she asked him.

“Get out of town,” was the only reply David could think of.

“He’ll kill my family if I do that. If I could only go back in time.”

She was right, Vercutti was a ruthless man and he’d stop at nothing to get his money. David was the only one who could stop this man and he was determined to do so.

 

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I'm working on chapter two later today I think I'll be done with it some time next week if anyone's interested. No one probably reads this but I'm going to post it anyway.