Stepping back, Brash blinked in shock.
Animal must have been listening in too because he moved close to Brash’s side, concern creasing his brow. “What the hell?”
“I won’t bore you with the conversation Jarvis and I had… But I wouldn’t expect you to take my word for what happened… You hate me because you think I killed him.” Leaning toward them, she moistened and plumped her lips before murmuring. “I didn’t.”
Offering the USB to Brash, she wasn’t surprised that he was too stunned to move, so she shook it at him.
“That’s… that’s his death?” he asked.
“In audio,” she said. “This is a limited time deal. You want to know how it went down? It’s on there. You can hear it with your own ears. Why don’t you listen to that before you reek your vengeance on me? Listen and you’ll learn I’m not the one who needs to be punished.”
Slipping the USB into Brash’s shirt pocket, she sidestepped and moved around the pair. They were busy absorbing her unexpected revelation, which gave her time to get out of there.
If they wanted to pursue her and take her down, they could do it later. She figured they should at least know the truth before taking their revenge on the wrong person. Ophelia was already mad at her. If she found out that Harlow had revealed her secret to Brash and Animal, her anger would rise until it burst the pressure gauge.
But it was done. Harlow owed the woman nothing.
Keeping her secret was of no benefit to Harlow where those men were concerned. If there was a chance that revealing it would get them off her ass, then it was a risk worth taking. But it did increase the danger on Harlow’s tail.
Hagan had warned her on that recording that Ophelia could snap and when she did, it usually had fatal consequences.
This was it. Harlow was in it. For the moment, she was alone. Knowing she had limited time before Ophelia caught up with her, she wanted to cover the last two bases before facing her judgement. She just hoped she got the chance to see Ryske one more time before that happened. Except without knowing where he was or what was happening in his life, the chances of that seemed slim.
29
Harlow’s stop at Clyde’s was shorter than she’d wanted it to be because he was about to head out on a call. Before he left, he’d handed her his stacks of notes, which he’d made into a file, and told her Jarvis Hagan was connected to just about every city department in some way.
She thanked him for his role in securing Felipe’s future free of his violent father. Clyde played down his involvement, claiming it was part of his job. But she could tell that he had taken it upon himself to ensure the boy wasn’t going to have to live under his father’s tyranny ever again.
Tired and light-headed, probably because of the stresses of the day, Harlow had almost fallen asleep in the cab on her ride back to the neighborhood. In spite of her exhaustion, she wasn’t going home. Her work wasn’t done for the day. Any question over her choice of destination was erased when they drove past Floyd’s and saw no signs of light or life.
Harlow didn’t like seeing the building lifeless. It reminded her of when it had been vacant before. This time, she wasn’t going to bring it back to life. At least, she wasn’t going to do it alone. Her boys were out in the world somewhere; she hated not knowing where.
One friend was her last hope for locating her crew. If he couldn’t help her, she would have to kiss goodbye to any chance she had of seeing Ryske again before her inevitable confrontation with Ophelia.
If she had her crew at her back, she’d be strong, and could lean on them for support. But without them, she wasn’t sure she could pull this off alone.
After knocking on Bale’s apartment door a few times and receiving no response, she let herself in and checked around. Finding everyone close to her had vanished was too much like a replay of the old days. But after discovering a dirty coffee mug in the sink and water in the shower stall, she guessed that Bale was out rather than gone.
There was only one place she’d have to go after this, and chose to give Bale a chance to come back before running off to that destination. Deciding it would be best to have her wits about her, just in case anything did go down, Harlow dumped her gym bag, kicked off her shoes and climbed into his bed.
If Ophelia came looking for her, she might go to Floyd’s. Harlow doubted she would think to come to Bale’s, unless Anwen had filled her in on the doctor’s whereabouts. But if Harlow was going to find herself bleeding and in need anywhere, the apartment of a trusted doctor was probably the best place.
Closing her eyes, she relaxed and let herself fall asleep.
It was fully dark out when Harlow felt his hand on her face. Turning into the caress, she smiled and whimpered a sound of appreciation.
“You pop up in the strangest places, Sweeting,” Bale’s voice broke through the night.
Harlow rolled a little and let her eyes open to find him sitting on the bed at her side. “I was tired.”
“I guessed that,” he said. “Are you injured?” She shook her head. “Pregnant?”
His hopeful brows made her smile. On a deep breath, she pushed her fists into the mattress and made herself sit. “I don’t know the answer to that one.” Scooping her hair away from her face, she drew her knees to her chest, hooking her dress over them and hugging her legs tight. “What time is it?”
“Late. You can sleep if you need to, I just wanted to check that you were okay… I’ll go in the other room.”
She snatched for his arm before he could rise. “Tell me he’s alive.”
Concern crept over Bale’s expression, hardening it. “He’s alive,” he said, cupping her face. “Jesus, Harlow, yes, he’s alive… Have you been worried all this time that—”
“Not that worried,” she said, rubbing her cheek on his palm. Squeezing her eyes closed, she pretended she could feel the texture of Ryske’s scar there. But it was just an illusion, so she opened her eyes again. “If I’d been that worried, I’d have chased you down at the hospital… I guess it was just… in the back of my mind.” While still in the stupor of sleep, her fear had slipped out. “So much has happened, Bale.”
He smiled. “It feels like you’re always saying that… Did you use the sedatives? Is that how you got out?”
She shook her head. “I used Ophelia’s on Friday. I didn’t have to use Brash’s. I have it with me, you can dispose of it.”
His hand fell to his lap. “Or use it on my brother when he gets one of his dumb ideas.”
That made her laugh. “Or for that. Yes.”
“Ryske told me about Ophelia,” he said. “How did you get away?”
“I knocked her out,” Harlow said and proceeded to tell him about everything that had happened that day.
By the time she was done, Bale was seated beside her on the bed. Both of them were leaning on the headboard, their hands were linked between them.
“You did the right thing, babe,” he said. “You had to get out of there. But you’re in serious danger now.”
“I know that.”
“If she is what Hagan said, and what you’ve known she is for a while, then she won’t let this go.”
“I left all her medical notes in the safe deposit box. Will you translate them?”
“You know I’ll do my best,” he said, picking up her hand to kiss the back. “It sounds like she has a personality disorder, antisocial or narcissistic, maybe both … I suppose her issues haven’t been managed in recent years, certainly since her brother died, because she’s had no one to monitor her… You said Hagan states in the recording that he fears she would be responsible for anything that happened to him. Why can’t you take it to the cops?”
“Seeing her behind bars would be the best case scenario. Unfortunately, she knows too much. She could make a deal and testify against all of us to get herself out. It would become a game of he said, she said and I don’t trust we’d come out on top.”
Especially not now that Ryske owned the club, was the contact who’d
recruited Svetlana and her girls, and was the one who did the drug deals. Harlow had set this in motion. She was the one who’d bought in and the person to initially contact Svetlana.
The whole situation was a mess. But knowing that Jarvis Hagan had friends in high places in the city helped.
“The idea is to give Ophelia a choice,” Harlow said. “Either she leaves the city of her own accord and never contacts us again, or we reach out to the DA with what we have. We could agree to make a deal first.”
“Ryske will never testify in open court. He just… he wouldn’t do it.”
“He will if it means me and his crew will be safe. I understand he won’t want to and I know the defense would try to attack his credibility. I can testify, I was there. But there are others who know things.”
Lydia was sympathetic and could help with Parratt. If Maze could get whatever Parratt’s wife had, they would have him on their side.
Ryske should be able to persuade Anwen. He could get Yarker too, she was sure of that, if he could manipulate the man into believing he’d been intimate with Ophelia and had maybe mocked him.
“Others? You think that you can persuade other people to turn on her?”
“I would have faith if I had my crew,” she said, wriggling closer to rest her head on his shoulder.
He let go of her hand to raise an arm over her and around her shoulders.
“If Ryske knew you were getting away from Ophelia, he’d have been here. He was going nuts; we were worried about him getting himself hurt. Working with Costello helped, but nothing was going to replace not having you… The guys had an idea to get him out of town. Maze stayed behind because Ryske didn’t want you not to have back-up nearby. I think Maze is at his parents tonight. Ryske wanted all of them to stay for you, but Dover had to go with him. Someone had to be able to step in if he got out of hand. Noon isn’t the most persuasive and Ryske outmatches him for strength.”
Dover wasn’t outmatched by any of the crew; he was the most muscular of them all. “Out of here to where?”
“Doing your bidding. The task was for you. That was probably the only thing that persuaded him leaving was a good idea. They took Anwen to her old place, they’re clearing it out and shutting it down… After that they’re going to set her up in her own apartment. They’ll be back Friday.”
Friday. That could be too late. It was already late Tuesday.
Brash and Animal would have heard the recording; they’d know the identity of the real killer. By now, Ophelia would have figured out that her minions hadn’t dragged Harlow back. The danger level was increasing every minute.
Without her crew, Harlow couldn’t be out in the open and wouldn’t be able to coax the consortium to follow her plan. On her own, she wasn’t likely to make it through the rest of the week with a pulse.
Twisting out of Bale’s half-embrace, she moved ninety degrees to face him, but flattened her hands on his thigh to look at them rather than him.
“Did he talk to you?”
“Ryske,” Bale said. “About?” Raising her chin just a fraction, her eyes were at the tops of their sockets when they found his. “Yeah, he did, and I think you’re both crazy.”
“You don’t have to understand it.”
He didn’t smile. If anything, his expression grew more severe. “That’s exactly what he said.” Pushing away from the headboard, he grabbed her hand. “Do you really think that he would want anything to happen to you? Do you think he would want you to hurt yourself? Would you want him hurting himself for you?”
Withdrawing her hand, she could feel her palms growing sticky. “You don’t know what it is to live without him,” she said and her eyes closed. “I don’t want him hurt. I want him happy and alive. I want him to have everything in the world… But look at how he’s been since I’ve been at Ophelia’s. How would his quality of life be better if he knew I was never coming back?” Bale’s lips thinned. “I don’t want him hurt. But I know what it is to live without him and I couldn’t do that again. I won’t do it again. If he feels the same way, who am I to tell him that his feelings aren’t valid?” Trying to soothe his frown, she stroked his face and leaned in. “If I’m still here, if I’m not hurt, I expect you to do your damndest to keep him with me.”
“And if I can’t? What if I’m not there? What if you have kids?”
“I’m not pregnant,” she said.
“That’s not what you said before. You said you didn’t know… Have you had unprotected sex since the last time you did a test?”
“Do you pepper your brother with this many questions?”
“It hasn’t been smart to mention your name around him at all recently,” Bale said. “And he’s not the one I have to worry about getting knocked up.”
“Oh,” she said, seeing a chance to lighten the mood. Propping straight arms behind her, she leaned back and crooked a brow. “So if I get pregnant, I’m the irresponsible one and…” a thought suddenly hit her. “Wait a minute…” Sitting up, she wagged a finger at him. “It was you.”
“What was me?”
But she wasn’t buying the innocent act. “He had condoms when he showed up. Those weren’t a gift from him, those were a gift from you… You bastard.” She socked his shoulder. “You asked if we used condoms when you knew we did.”
Now she got a half smile when he caught her wrist and she laughed. “No, I didn’t. I knew I gave them to the jerk, but he doesn’t keep his head around you… he’s too busy being led by the little one.”
Sliding towards the end of the bed, she lay down. “I feel like I spend more time talking about having sex with him than actually doing it.”
Bale slid down to lie facing her. “Thought you weren’t together.”
He was sort of trying to sound like he was teasing, but she knew he wanted answers too. “We’re not… but we’re not… not either. We’re in flux.”
He laughed. “What does that mean?”
Harlow wanted to growl. “It means, we were talking about whether we should be together or not when all this crap with Ophelia started. We didn’t come to a conclusion and now we can’t even talk to each other.”
Wearing a look of concern, he raised his temple to his fist, propping an elbow on the bed. “Are you saying you haven’t had sex with him for weeks?”
Letting her jaw move her chin, she curled her tongue in her mouth. “No, I didn’t quite say that… I said we can’t talk, not that we can’t fuck.”
Groaning, he flopped onto his back, letting his hands fall on his face. “God, you deserve each other.”
Taking her turn to prop her head up, she smiled. “Ryske does that,” she said, tracing a nail in the line between his fingers, hoping to tempt them down.
She did and he laid them on his chest. “Does what?”
“Groans and flops away from me thing. He covers his face, talks from behind his hands… I don’t know why I didn’t notice you were brothers right away.”
“You weren’t in bed with both of us right away.”
“True,” she said, picking up his arm and wrapping it around her shoulders as she lay down again, this time putting her head on his chest. They lay in silence for a minute. “Bale?”
“Hmm?”
“You will tell him I love him, won’t you? I know he knows, but with all this flux stuff… if I don’t make it to Friday, tell him… remind him…”
“That you love him?”
Closing her eyes, she let her lips curl. “That he’s the goddamn love of my life.”
“I will, babe,” he said and she felt him lift his head to kiss her hair. “But you’re going to make it.”
She lost her smile and her eyes opened again. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’m your doctor,” he said, stroking her hair. “And I haven’t lost anyone on your crew yet.”
Just that reminder did make her relax. With Bale looking after her, she had the best chance of surviving. If Ophelia got to her in private, and had a weapon, t
he chances of survival would be nil. In spite of that, Harlow had fought through a lot to get to this point, she wasn’t going to stop fighting now.
30
Waking up in Bale’s apartment was great. He brought her coffee in bed and went out to buy breakfast which they ate together in the living room.
He had to work that night and because she thought it best to lay low, Harlow was happy to hang out with him. Enjoying a few hours where life didn’t have to be about death and plotting was rejuvenating.
They cooked lunch together and had a nap in the afternoon. Harlow kind of forced him into following his routine. He needed the sleep before his all-night shift at the hospital. If she hadn’t been there, he’d have napped. She didn’t want to be responsible for him injuring someone or making a mistake. So, the compromise was, they napped together.
Harlow had been blow drying her hair with a blow-dryer left behind by one of Bale’s ex-girlfriend’s—at least that was his excuse for having it—when he came in with the pregnancy test.
Harlow refused to pee on the stick. Instead, she acquiesced to having her blood taken. The doctor’s excuse for the blood draw was checking her interlude with Ophelia hadn’t had any damaging effect on her body. But she knew he’d do the pregnancy test too. Not that it mattered. She had no reason to believe that she was pregnant. The blood results wouldn’t come back fast, so she decided the doctor could have her blood and leave her in peace.
Saying goodbye had been tough. It had felt so final. Harlow didn’t know what would happen to her over the next few days; there was a chance she wouldn’t ever see Bale again.
It was that prospect which drove her to her next destination. Her parents’ house.
Harlow hadn’t been home in weeks. When the cab pulled up outside, she felt more nervous going in than she ever had before. Her family was in there. Her niece or nephew was growing in her sister and there was a possibility she would never meet the little one.
It was a sobering thought and one that made Harlow think about what Bale had said the previous night. If something happened to her, Ryske would take his own life. She didn’t want him to be hurt, but understood why he’d make that decision.
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