[Quinn 01] - The Cleaner

'Okay then.' Durrie motioned for Quinn to step inside.

As Quinn got onto the elevator, he glanced back at Orlando. The same fear and terror he'd seen in Garrett's eyes were in hers, too. Only there was more. Hatred and helplessness and fury.

The door closed, and she was gone.

Immediately Durrie set Garrett down. But instead of punching a button on the console, he let the elevator sit where it was for a moment, unmoving. He replaced the knife with the pistol, closing the blade and putting it in his pocket.

'You created a big mess for me,' Durrie said, his voice surprisingly light, almost playful. 'I wasn't sure at first whether to be proud or pissed off. Given the cash I'm out now, I think pissed off is the better choice.'

Quinn looked at him, saying nothing.

'But I'm going to give you a chance here, Johnny boy. The opportunity to clean things up for me, and make up for your betrayal. It's just a little sacrifice for my employers. Your head in a box should be enough. Don't worry, I'll kill you myself. No more fuckups. I'll even make you a promise. When I'm done, I'll let Garrett go back to his mom.'

'But Mommy's too busy,' Garrett said.

'It's okay. Grown-up talk, all right?'

Garrett nodded slowly, then leaned against Durrie's leg. 'What did you tell him?' 'I told him his mom didn't have time to take care of him, so he was going to be with me now.'

'You're a bastard,' Quinn said softly.

'Better that he learn about betrayal early. Hell,

I've already been a better father to him than you've ever been.' The comment stopped Quinn. He looked questioningly at Durrie, but his mentor only laughed.

'I saw you die,' Quinn said.

'You saw what I wanted you to see,' Durrie said. 'I saw the bullets hit you.' 'You heard a gun fired into a stack of boxes.

What you saw was a couple of jerks from me, and the contents of a bag of blood. That's it. You never even checked my wounds. Ortega didn't give you enough time before he knocked you out.'

Ortega, the third member of their team. Of course he'd been in on it, too. 'But I did check your pulse. There was none.'

'Come on, Johnny. There are dozens of drugs that'll stop your heart. Me, I was more worried about getting it going again. Thankfully, Ortega was standing by with a shot of adrenaline.'

Quinn knew they'd been idle long enough without entering a destination that the elevator had probably reset itself, allowing it to go either up or down. He reached out quickly and pushed the button for the floor above them. The elevator began to lurch upward.

'Cute,' Durrie said. 'But it's not going to change anything.'

Garrett turned toward his father, burying his face against Durrie. Quinn thought he heard the boy sobbing, but it was faint.

'You said I betrayed you. Why would you think that?' Quinn asked, ignoring the comment.

'Don't fuck with me.'

'Don't accuse me of something I haven't done,' Quinn said. Then a thought hit him. 'It's Orlando, isn't it? You think something happened between us. Nothing has ever happened between us.'

Durrie snorted. 'I was blind to it at first, you know,' he said. 'For all I know, you two had been carrying on for years. Then Mexico City gave you away.'

'It was just a job,' Quinn said. 'Nothing happened. Orlando told you that. She wasn't lying, dammit.'

Durrie laughed. 'Oh, I pretended to believe her, but I'm not stupid, Johnny. You two alone, sharing a room, and nothing happened? Right. You don't get something like this from sleeping on the floor.'

The elevator car slowed to a stop and the doors opened.

'Wait,' Quinn said. 'You think Garrett's my son?'

'Of course he's your son. That's what you get when you fuck my girl.'

Quinn couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'Garrett is your son. I've never touched Orlando, not like you're saying.'

'Don't even try that bullshit. This isn't fucking high school, Johnny. And I'm not a stupid idiot.'

The doors to the elevator started to close again. Quinn reached out to keep them open, then flipped the stop switch on the panel as he stepped quickly into the open doorway. He faced Durrie.

'What's that going to buy you?' Durrie asked.

'A moment to talk.'

Garrett was crying openly now.

'Shut up,' Durrie snapped at the boy. Garrett only began crying louder. Durrie shot a look at Quinn. 'Tell your kid to knock it off.'

'Garrett,' Quinn said gently, 'everything's going to be all right. Okay?' The boy said nothing, but after a moment his cries diminished to a soft sob.

'Nothing ever happened between Orlando and me. Nothing. I haven't even seen her for four years.'

'See what I mean about being a bad father?' Quinn's eyes narrowed. 'If I had a son, I would never do that to him.'