“Let me ask you a question, Jasper. What is inside of a bullet casing?”
“You’re a smart man, so you must know that the confines of one are simple. You have gunpowder, primer, and finally a big shiny lead bullet to cap off of the top. The construction is simple, but the power it holds is in surmountable.”
“All one has to do to take advance of one is load it into a gun, point, and shoot.”
“In an instant you can stop someone in their tracks for good.”
“Therein lies a secret fourth ingredient. The threat of the bullet tearing through your brain, the belief that once it’s fired the game is over? That’s what we call obedience.”
“Because it isn’t what’s in the casing that’s important. It’s what the innards can do when released upon the world. No one truly understands what the inside of a bullet is until the trigger is pulled and it’s embedded in their skull.”
“In a way, it’s a lot like those boxes that ended up in CJ’s hands, aren’t they, Jasper?”
“For weeks you’ve held them over his head, placing the barrel of a loaded gun to his temple and just begging for him to cross you. You’ve loaded the boxes into the magazine and only he truly knows the raw, destructive power that they hold.”
“Everyone wants to know what’s inside. They want to know what the primer is, what the gunpowder behind the bullet consists of. Until the gun goes off we’ll never truly know, will we? To find out what lies inside requires the bullet be fired.”
“Like any good hostage situation you know exactly what power you hold. Because as soon as CJ moves he knows the end is coming.”
“He’ll find himself dead before he hits the ground.”
“The thing about this situation though? There’s more than just you and CJ, isn’t there? Because while you have just one gun to aim at him, I’ve decided to step in.”
“And I’m packing much more than boxes, Redgrave.”
“See, in my hand is a standard issue sidearm, and locked in the chamber is a bullet filled to the brim of gunpowder. I tried to use it as obedience, I tried to simply warn you to leave.”
“But you didn’t listen.”
“No, you simply cocked your gun and let CJ see there was another box ready to fire.”
“So what am I to do other than make good on my promise. See, I’ve long since decided to bend the rules, Jasper. The little Eagle you knew who only used the threat of obedience? Who never pulled the fucking trigger? He’s gone and he has been for a long time now.”
“I’m done playing games.”
“I’m tired of keeping the casing unfired and the box unopened.”
“When we meet in that ring, I’m pulling the trigger first. I’m splattering you across the mat and putting you down for good.”
“No one is above the Law, Jasper.”
“And I am the Law.”