Chapter Sixty Eight: Burn It To The Ground

The fumes from the gasoline was acrid and overpowering as Antonio emptied the remains of the canister through the open window and onto the seats of the glossy black van that they had used for the heist tonight. Cooper was pouring the contents of his own canister onto the hood of the van. The two of them worked well as a team, they moved in silence ensuring the van was saturated in the flammable liquid before Antonio stepped back to admire their work. He knew from experience that the vehicle would go up like a tinderbox as soon as they flicked a flame at it. This wasn't his first rodeo when it came to destroying potential evidence as Mike Diaz, as it turned out he was pretty good at it. Him and Cooper had done it more than once back in the day.

The adrenaline was still coursing through his body from the heist tonight, he could feel it like narcotic rushing through him as he thought about the amount of unpackaged Oxy they had gotten their hands on tonight. The persona of Mike Diaz was thrilled by his potential cut of the proceeds. Antonio Dawson was simply relieved that he'd managed to deescalate the situation with Warfield so that Jay and Al didn't end up with bullets in their heads. It had come close tonight, far too close for his liking. He had no idea what the hell Warfield was getting high on but it made him unpredictable at best and that would be a problem he would have to anticipate in the future.

"You ever think about getting out of the game Diaz?" Cooper said suddenly, breaking the silence between the two of them.

"Sometimes." Antonio said noncommittally.

It had come up a couple of times when he had been running with Cooper in the past but it was always a pipe dream. Guys like Cooper and Diaz didn't go straight, it wasn't in their nature, they were life long criminals almost from birth. They didn't know any different.

"Cause I got a cousin who has a roofing company in . It's hard work. Literally, it stinks. You ever smelt a hot mop?" Cooper asked him, his tone entirely serious as he spoke.

Antonio arched an eyebrow. He knew that Cooper was trying out the idea for size, hell he hoped that one day the other man did make good on this conversation and get himself on the straight and narrow. Cooper wasn't a bad guy, he was a victim of circumstance and bad choices, there had never been anyone in his corner growing up to help him turn his life around. The other man was loyal though, fiercely though and in a way it was oddly touching that he was broaching this subject with Diaz, the guy he thought of as his friend.

"But you wouldn't have to be looking over your shoulder all the time." Cooper pointed out as Antonio reviewed him in silence. Cooper was used to that, he was a talker and that did come in useful from time to time when it came to gleaning information from him. Now seemed like the right time to make some inquiries about Manning.

"It's just something I've been thinking about." Cooper continued, interpreting his silence for interest as he tapped his head through the black knitted hat.

Antonio removed the road flare from his pocket before sparking it and tossing it through the open window of the van onto the seats. He waited for a moment, hearing that familiar swoosh of air as the spark ignited the gasoline on the seats causing a surge of flames to erupt. Both Cooper and him turned their backs on the burning vehicle, their black workman's boots traipsing on the crisp snow as the two of them headed towards the sloped embankment.

"I thought you said these guys were pros?" Antonio snarked, his tone irate as he used careful footsteps to balance his weight on the icy incline. "Your boy almost lost it back there."

"Yeah, you never can tell with Warfield." Cooper responded, mimicking Antonio's motions as they headed towards the dark road where they'd parked up their second vehicle.

Warfield was going to be a wildcard, Antonio considered. Maybe he'd lost control and killed Manning? He decided to push his luck. It was clear that Cooper trusted Mike Diaz, especially after they'd pulled off the heist. Destroying that van together had apparently cemented their friendship.

"What happened to the last guy, Coop?" Antonio queried, holding out his arm for Cooper to grab onto as the other man swayed for a moment trying to get his balance."I need to know what I'm walking into."

"They don't talk about him much." Cooper told him nonchalantly as he gripped Antonio's arm tightly, righting himself before continuing their journey towards the road.

"He's dead?" Antonio pushed, his dark eyes studying Cooper's expression for any clues to Manning's fate.

It was moments like this that reminded him that Cooper and himself were cut from very different cloths. Cooper didn't give a shit about the crew member before him, if the other guys had knocked him off it was the price of doing business. He had almost forgotten that when he'd slipped into the character of Mike Diaz.

"He wasn't yesterday." Cooper informed him. Antonio ducked his head, pretending to watch the shifting snow under his feet to mask the surprise on his features. "Today who knows?"

Today being 2am on a Thursday morning. It meant a couple of hours ago Manning was alive. The other man had been missing for almost a week now, Antonio had been undercover for four days and this was the first sniff of Manning alive or dead. If they were keeping him alive they must want something from him, something that he wasn't giving them. It unsettled him to think that it was becoming more likely that Manning was dirty.

Cooper paused for a moment, placing his hand on Antonio's shoulder and gently turning him so that the two of them were face to face. Antonio realised that he had read the concern in his features and was reaching out to his friend in order to reassure him.

"Look, just don't rip 'em off like the other guy did, and you'll be fine." Cooper told him simply, before clasping Antonio around the shoulders and urging him forward towards their waiting car.