After that, the operation went off without a hitch.

Most of the time, Paul was kept unconscious, babysat by Jack, who would take the chains off and kill him when the detective arrived.

Nick was tied by the rigged-up gun, which would fire when Detective Fog crossed in the path of its motion sensors. Of course, the motion sensor pointed one way and the gun just a little bit off-kilter, aimed a little above Fog's head and for where she would have stood moments previously. It should hit after she was out of the way.

The only way it would kill her would be if she stepped backward and jumped up into the six shots being fired.

It wasn't hard to lead the detective to the scene. No one had been told about the hit, per se. Word had carefully and strategically been passed among the entire mafia that Paul Aniston was being held in the Dog Patch for some reason or other, for which rumors abounded. If she had leverage on anyone in the mob, Detective Fog should be able to find her way to the warehouse easily enough.

And Jason himself left Jack to man the scene while he looked for the detective. Her little scheme to sic Stink on him said she was exactly as dangerous to the mafia as Mena and Hugo thought, and it could very well have been the end of Jason Nakos, but the important part was that Jason had set her up not only to survive the trap set for her by the mafia but to leave her enough evidence to put Jack Costas in jail for murder one.

The shots fired at Nick from Jennifer Makris's gun might get her into a bit of trouble too. Some good improvisation, that.

That wasn't enough for Jason Nakos to bet all his chips on, terminating his life's work. He needed to turn over Mena Sigler and Hugo Zane as the conspirators of the murder. He needed Detective Fog to put the pieces together or Jack to roll over on the bosses.

Or both.

To make that happen, Jason had come up with a plan not kept in any file, with no paper trail, but one that he memorized and could set in motion and adapt no matter what Jack did in response. Jason had gone over the plan two hundred times in his head, and he needed it to work.

If Mena Sigler and Hugo Zane didn't end up behind bars for this crime, Jason was a dead man.

The first step was to concoct a plot so convoluted for the murder of Paul and Nick that the cops would never be satisfied Jack came up with it on its own. Mafia involvement was the default assumption, but if a crime was nice and simple, it could open and close on one button man, and everyone could pretend he had acted of his own volition, case closed.

But a scenario like this had to be concocted by the bosses, and the police wouldn't be able to put Jack away and ignore the rest. They would need to lock up a mastermind. Jack would roll over on Jason easy enough. Jason could just go along for the arrest and give up substantial incriminating evidence on Mena Sigler and Hugo Zane himself, but he planned to be long gone before anyone could get cuffs on him. Gone could mean dead.

Jack would need to give up the bosses themselves if he didn't want to do life in prison — but nobody did that.

That's why the next step was to plant the seeds of dissent. The two men chatted while they chained a mortally terrified Nick Minardos sans vocal cords up to some kind of boiler tank.

Just when Jason was about to start an obvious monologue about how this was how the mob repaid two soldiers doing a job, Jack took the words out of his mouth.

"I gotta say," said Jack, "one day it could be me getting tied up for the slaughter. And only because I did what I was asked to do. You know that's why they want this done so hush hush. Let the rumor mill come up with the reason, don't tell anyone what's happening: Sigler asked Nicky and Paulie to off the mayor, they do it, and this is their payback. As if the guys who pull the trigger are gonna go confess to the police."

Jason shrugged, taking the opportunity to be contrary. "That was why Mena gave the kids this job. So they could be cleaned up afterward."

That didn't make Jack feel any better. "Now the only guys left who know who killed Mayor Banikas — are the two of us."

"Yeah," said Jason, "But we're not two bottom of the barrel soldiers. Those two were expendable. We're not. Look at the plan. Even if Detective Fog were to walk away, we got a failsafe — we got a fall guy, planted evidence."

"Alls I'm saying is that it don't inspire loyalty. Of course no one else in the business knows this is happening. So the only two losing faith in our fearless leaders are the two of us."

"Woah, hold on there a second," Jason said dramatically, dropping the chains and holding up his hands. "Who says I'm losing faith? Speak for yourself, don't make a habit of putting words in ​my ​mouth. Like we're even friends, Jack. I see the grand plan, and I know this isn't going to turn around on me. I'm safe and secure. I don't know about you, maybe the bosses want you gone. But not me."

"You are an idiot," said Jack, not looking up from the chains and the locks he was locking. "You have no way of knowing that. You think these kids knew this was coming? The same could be in the cards for you, but you can't see it."

Jason shook his head and backed away, leaving the rest of the work to Jack. "Not me. I got assurances," he said. "And I can tell you one thing: if I go down, I'm taking a big fish with me. Believe it or not, Mena knows that. There's rats, and then there's smart soldiers with leverage. If you're that scared of the bosses, you might want to take out an insurance policy — and let them know you have it before they get too trigger happy."

"You told Mena Sigler you'd roll over on her?" Jack said, turning around.

"I told her I have everything I need to do so, were she ever to make me fall or to decide I should be taken off this planet. We have an agreement, her and me. She will never turn on me, and I will never turn on her. To make that happen, I needed leverage. She understands that. It won't happen because she won't do anything stupid. Yeah, the first rule of this business is never talk to the police, but rule number two is look out for number one. I won't fire unless she fires first. So I set up a ratty trap." He shrugged and turned away, looking like he didn't want to talk about it anymore. Maybe a little ashamed.

Let Jack stew on that, along with his own doubts. With that done, Jason had one last trap to set up: the planting of the plans. The documents themselves, the paper trail — Mena's copy, with her fingerprints all over it. She had asked him to shred it, but if she was smart, she would have made him do it in her office instead of excusing the men to get right out of there. The problem was finding a place to plant them where Detective Fog would find them, but the officer on the scene in Mena's employ would miss them. A good hiding spot, but not too good. Chances were Mena's officer wouldn't have much, if any, time alone, but Jason was gambling a lot, and he didn't want to bet on that.

He went with clever rather than difficult, something that would be the result of problem-solving and not brainless searching through crevices and nooks and crannies. There was an old automatic newspaper press in the back corner at the farthest point from the door to the kill chamber. The kind of thing no one wanted to throw out but no one needed anymore — maybe one day a museum or a collector would want it.

In need of something to draw Detective Fog towards Nick and the firing mechanism long after they had disappeared, Jason had already checked that the printer worked. It made a gloriously mysterious shuffling sound that would create a soundscape of a man limping, pulling one leg along with the pants and shoe dragging on the ground. Before he left for the bar, Jason turned the machine on, as his files indicated he would do, which was perfect because it didn't arouse any suspicions from Jack.

Underneath some already printed pages, he slipped the stack of documents, the cliff notes version of the plan, outlined in its entirety with a few lazy code words that would be easy to decipher, sealed with the kiss of Mena Sigler's own fingerprints.

The whole world would know it had been left on purpose. Detective Fog and the cops would know someone had collected it and left it for them. Mena Sigler and the mob would know someone was a rat. And that someone was either Jason or Jack.

His only hope for survival was to make it Jack.

Standing over the printing press, thinking that over, crossing his Ts and dotting his Is, he realized this was the moment of do or die. He had come to the last opportunity to turn back and unravel this crazy scheme, walk away safely, let the mob kill Detective Fog and continue to run their bloody business the way they wanted.

Jack's voice started him from behind. "Nakos," he said, and Jason swung around, jolted and afraid he had been caught red-handed, making his third and last deadly mistake of the day. Innocence all over his mask, he stepped away from the printer with eyebrows raised and ears open for whatever Jack had to say. "I wanted to apologize."

Jack's arms were spread, nonconfrontational, and his voice had the edge of someone meaning what he said but not in any way accustomed to saying he was sorry. This might have been his first time.

"Your plan, it's complicated, but it's good. I haven't been helpful, and I lost my temper. But I think this might go off the way you say it will. So I'm in." He offered Jason his hand to shake.

Jason took it and squeezed. But as the thought came that he was sending Jack straight to hell, he started to laugh out loud. It was uncontrollable, bellowing up from his belly and erupting out his mouth.

When Jack asked him what was funny, he had to lie. "Just us two, fighting like cats and dogs when we're on the same side." He pulled Jack into a manly hug and wished him luck.

As he strode away from the man, innocent as an infant, he was struck by the image that he was pouring gasoline as he strode, striking a match, and throwing the fire over his shoulder, leaving Jack to burn.

Thank you for reading Detective Fog. This story updates often and always on Fridays.

If you're looking for more of the Constellations series to read, the books can be read in any order. Check out Stars Rise to see how the stories intersect. I am so grateful for your support and your stars! Stay tuned, friends <3