by Huss, JA
“You do your job your way, and I’ll do mine,” the guy in black says. “And fuck that brother shit. We’re nothing, Tet. Nothing. You chose them over me and I’ll never forgive you.”
Bobby says nothing, just stares at his angry brother, his jaw clenching a few times. The fist not holding a gun is pumping. Like he’s got the urge to hit this Cy person, but is restraining himself. “You grab the Blackbird and the Duchess, I’ll get the Kitten.”
“And the Bomb?” the angry guys asks.
I have to stifle a gasp, because shit, that’s my mobster name. That guy wants me.
“The Bomb is out. I had her picked up at work. Her bike is still in front of the shop, but she’s been taken to her old apartment. Leave her out of this.”
“I’ll get her too, if you fuck up,” Cy says. “I’ll get all of them if you fuck this up.”
Bobby nods. “Sure. Sure you will.” Then he turns and walks back to the stairs, his footfalls fading away with him. It takes the new guy a few seconds to follow, but he does.
And then the heavy stairwell door slams closed and I’m alone.
With hostage number one.
Chapter Thirty - Spencer
I sit at my desk for the rest of the afternoon. Ford calls again at four thirty. Ronin left with Rook and Kate. Ashleigh left with Ryan. He’s already dropped her off at the gas station down the road. Ford’s got five pairs of eyes on her alone, so we’re both watching a silent feed of her in real time. I watch the cab pull into the gas station parking lot, and then head out, grabbing my new helmet off my toolbox as I walk past and enter the back garage. The guys are all waiting. They know something is up, but they keep silent. In fact, it’s so fucking quiet in this garage with no camera teams around or Director Larry barking out commands, it makes me uneasy.
“You guys don’t have to come.” I stare at Ryan when I say it.
He smiles at me. “Just shut your trap and start your bike, Shrike. Let’s go rile Fonzie up.”
We all kick the bikes over at the same time and the garage is alive with the thunder of power. I push the button on the opener and the doors lift up. We wait until they are halfway, and then the four of us pour out of the building looking every bit as badass as we sound. The crowd that was out front is running our way and Ryan gives them a little salute as the door closes behind us and we exit out onto Maple Street, then stop for the light at College.
We’ve got the attention of the entire downtown. Heads are peeking out of doors, a line of people waiting for coffee at the FoCo Cinema across the street all turn round simultaneously, and when the light turns green, car alarms go off from the noise we’re making. We cross College and head down Riverside.
I tap the Bluetooth attached to my ear and wait.
“I’m here,” Ford says after a few seconds.
“Keep me updated,” I say back. I’m not sure if he can hear me over the roar of the bikes, but that’s the best I can do at the moment.
“Scott’s on alert. He’ll start driving over in eight minutes. Ash just pulled up in the cab. The whole garage is looking at her. Fonzie is making his way over, asking her if she needs help. I need your ETA so I can talk myself out of going down there and kicking his ass for talking to her.”
“Five minutes,” I say back.
“Well, hurry the fuck up.”
“Where’s Ronin?”
“I’m here,” Ronin says. “We’ve got Kate and we just left our apartment building heading south. We’ll be inside in about… five.”
“Any trouble?” Ford asks Ronin.
“Not right away, but yeah. The cameras are practically jumping out of the bushes right now. But I’ve got it covered. We’re a block away now. You OK, Rook?”
Ford and I stay silent as we try to hear her answer, but we can’t catch it.
“Hey, back off!” Ronin yells to someone in their vicinity. “I’ve got a camera too, asshole.” Ronin goes quiet for a second and then speaks low into his phone. “I can see your security, Ford, so we’re good.”
“If those reporters touch Kate, I’ll kill them. What’s your ETA now, Spencer?”
“We’ve arrived, you freak. Can’t you hear us coming?” Because I can—our bike noise comes through the ear piece connecting me to Ford. “Let’s start some trouble.”
“Ashleigh is still filling her tank. Hurry, Kitten,” Ford urges her from afar. “Fonzie is looking your direction, Spencer. Here he comes, get ready.”
The four of us pull up into the industrial complex driveway that winds around the various buildings and then make the left turn that leads to Cikes Bikes. I still have to shake my fucking head at that shit. There was no name under that picture Ford showed me of him and his pedophile father, so I bet that’s not even his real name. Asshole.
Drake and his team of seven or eight are all walking down the driveway once we turn into their little parking lot. I look past him at Ashleigh, who is still messing with the gas can.
The boys and I stop and rev our bikes, letting the douchebags come to us.
“I’ve got the bot into the bay,” Ford says in my ear.
“We’re inside the church,” Ronin adds.
“We’re a go here too,” I chime in. I nod my head at Fonzie as he comes up talking shit. Ryan and I look at each other and smile and then Griff and Fletch shut their bikes down and get off.
Another look at Ryan tells me he knows what’s up, so I let them take it from here and watch Ford drive the little bot over to Ashleigh. She’s got the trunk open and then she races to the bot, scoops it up, and puts it in the trunk.
And that’s when Fonzie decides he wants to fight. He swings at Fletch, but Griff knocks him back and then all eight of those posers are on my two guys. Ryan and I are off our bikes, throwing punches, when the cops show up. Scott is ordering us to stop on his speaker, but the only thing I care about is that Ashleigh weaves that piece-of-shit Beetle in between our chaos and drives off.
“Mission accomplished,” Ford says. “Now get out of there and we’ll meet at the farm.”
Everything is a blur after that. People are pushing me, Fletch and Griff are still trying to throw punches, and Ryan is talking to Scott calmly.
“Shrike, what the fuck is going on?” Scott asks.
“Hey, we pulled up to check things out and these assholes just attacked us.”
“Yeah,” Ryan says. “I’ve got it all on film.”
Fucking Ryan might be my new number one.
Scott watches the video for a few seconds and then takes out his cuffs and makes a grab for Drake. His little blonde partner catches Fonzie before he can slink away from Scott, and slaps the cuffs on him.
“Paybacks are a bitch,” I say under my breath. But Fonzie catches it and lifts his chin a little as he sneers at me.
“You best remember that, Shrike.”
“OK, we got a problem here,” Ronin says in my ear. “There’s a mess of fucking reporters inside the church now. We need that car.”
“I’ve lost Ashleigh,” Ford says, just as Ronin finishes.
“What?” we say together. Both Scott and Ryan are looking at me funny.
“I’ve lost contact. The car stopped in an alley, two blocks east of downtown. I’m on my way, maybe she ran out of gas again.”
“Call her, Ford,” I say out loud, even though both Ryan and Scott can hear me clear as day. I hold my hand up to their questioning looks.
“I did, she’s not answering.”
“I need that car, Spencer. We need to get out of here. I’ve got Rook and Kate in the bathroom.”
“She’s not here,” Ford says.
“What?”
“Rook?” Ronin calls. “Rook?”
“What the fuck is happening? Ford? Ronin?”
“Ashleigh’s gone,” Ford growls.
“Rook and Kate are gone too. I put them in the bathroom and they’re gone!”
I look over at Drake and he’s smiling. “Paybacks, Mr. Shrike, are always a bitch.”
> I lunge at him, swing mid-leap, and my fist crashes against the side of his jaw. His head swings in this exaggerated motion, almost like I’m watching in slow-mo, and then we both hit the ground. I sit up, straddle his chest and start whaling. “Where the fuck are they!” I pound on his face, one punch after the other. “I will kill you—”
My oxygen is cut off as an arm wraps around my throat, and then I’m being dragged off Drake.
Scott leans down, rolls Drake over and picks him up off the ground. It’s only then that I realize the person holding me back is Ryan. I stop struggling and he lets go. “That motherfucker,” I say, walking towards Scott as he lifts Drake up off the ground. “That mother—”
Scott’s hand darts out and catches my fist before it connects with Drake’s face again. “Get lost, Spence. Now.”
“Come on, dude,” Ryan says. “We gotta go.”
I shake my head and point at Drake. “If you have them, Drake… if you’re involved, just remember your own famous last words. Paybacks aren’t a bitch, man. Revenge, now that’s a motherfucking bitch.”
Scott whirls Drake around and pushes him towards the open door to the backseat of the cop car, but Drake plants his feet and calls out over his shoulder.
“You best be thinking about revenge, Shrike. Because it’s about to jump up and bite you in the face.”
And then Scott pushes down on his head and shoves him into the car, closing the door behind him. He points to me. “Get out, now. Or I’ll arrest you too.”
Ryan pulls me back to our bikes, and I go through the motions. My mind spinning. Ashleigh, gone. Kate, gone. Rook, gone. I pull out my phone and press Ronnie’s face.
It doesn’t even ring.
But the operator tells me that this phone is no longer in service.
Chapter Thirty-One - Veronica
I breathe erratically for several seconds and I swear to God, if I have a panic attack now, I might as well just give it up. Come on, brain. Work with me here. I’m scared, but I cannot afford to freak out like this. Everything in my body is telling me to run away. To hide, call for help, get the hell out of here. My heart rate jacks up just thinking about these possibilities.
But that’s feeding into the panic. I’m safe here. Bobby and that other guy are gone. I know they’re not coming back right away, I know the plan. I’m safe here. Running away would actually make things worse for me.
So I take a deep breath and move the screen aside so I can squirm my way out from under the stairs.
The woman is crying. Her chest is heaving with the effort because it’s almost impossible to cry with the restraints she has on her mouth, not to mention her hands being tied behind her back make it more difficult to breathe. And I can sense that she’s feeling this limitation. Because I’m feeling it right along with her.
I get to my feet and walk over to her, then pluck an earbud from her ear and lean into whisper. “You’re OK,” I tell her. “You’re gonna be OK.” Bobby was adamant that Ashleigh’s sister be contained. In fact, his exact words were, ‘She’s a wild one.’
She cries harder so I just replace the earbud and she tries to talk through her gag. I think she’s begging me to let her go. But that’s one thing Bobby was very clear about. Do not let them go unless I hear shooting. Because if I hear shooting, the game is over and things got messy.
I’m not sure what that means. Messy. But I don’t need to be Ford to figure out it’s bad.
The woman is not placated by my words, in fact, she’s more distressed than she was before because I probably scared her. She begins to hyperventilate, her breath coming in gasps though her gag, and I almost have my own panic attack with the thought that she might die.
Fuck that. I go back over to her and pull the gag down her chin, letting it hang loose around her neck.
She gasps for breath, making all kinds of strange sounds as she tries to get more air inside her body. “Please,” she gasps between her hitching breaths. “Please, let me go!”
I pull the earbud back out and lean in so she can hear me. “I can’t, now stop being so loud. They might be close by and if they come back here and see you, the whole plan will be ruined.”
“My father is rich,” she pleads with me. “My father will pay you to let me go. Lots of money. My sister’s husband, Ford Aston, is rich too, he can pay you right now, he lives here.”
Oh, fuck. “What’s your name?” I ask in a whisper.
“Amber Li,” she sobs out. “I’m Amber Li. I’m Ford Aston’s sister-in-law. I can pay you, please, just don’t let him get me!”
“Who?”
“Tony! He’s a bad guy, whatever your name is. He’s bad. I tried to tell Ashleigh, I tried to warn her. But she fell for all his charms.”
Tony. “The dead guy?”
“You know him? You know me? My sister? Tony’s not dead,” she insists. “He’s been hiding for months. He lied to Ashleigh—”
“Wait.” I cut her off. “Amber, listen to me. There are two guys here, how would I tell which one is Tony?”
“Two? Oh, God, no. He’s gonna kill him too! He’s gonna kill all of us!”
“Who, for fuck’s sake? Who?”
She’s panicking now. Her breathing is coming in long draws and uneven gasps.
“Amber, please. They’ll be back soon and they’re bringing my friend and Ashleigh and Kate. I need to know what to do!”
“Do they look like brothers?” Her voice is low now, but it might just be that she’s having trouble forming words through her trembling lips.
“Yes, like brothers!”
“Oh God, he’s gonna kill him, he’s gonna kill me, he’ll kill you and your friends and who knows, he might even kill Ash and Kate. Oh God!”
I slap her. Hard, right across her face. She recoils and begins to choke on her panic, so I slap her again, and this stuns her silent. “Look, bitch, I need to know what the fuck I’m up against. Which one is which? How can I tell them apart?”
“Tony is the mean one. The animal. The killer who’s been trained since he was a little boy that revenge is the only answer. And right now, we’re all on his list. We’re all on his hit list because every one of us is standing between him and his property.”
“What property?”
“Ashleigh and Kate.”
I slip her gag back up and scoot away once more.
Holy fuck.
What the hell is happening? Is Bobby really Tony? Did that asshole lie to Ashleigh and fake his own death? And I just spouted off my theory to him last night and he never answered me.
My panic attack is back in force and so is Amber’s. We sit there together, sucking up air like it’s our last dying breath, and I can’t take it anymore. I grab my phone and bolt down the hallway. There are still walls in this place, not like the condos downstairs. So there are rooms. I try the first door and the handle turns. I push it open and enter, closing the door behind me.
I bend over at the waist and try to calm down, but that’s one of my panic attack defenses. So I do the opposite. I stand up straight and hop up and down, trying to raise my heart rate with something legitimate, instead of the irrational flood of fight-or-flight adrenaline that is now coursing through my body.
After several minutes of hopping my rate evens out. It’s still fast when I count, but I’ve got a legitimate reason for it now. I’m not in a blind panic, I’m doing a mini-workout.
I stop hopping and notice my surroundings.
It’s not dark in here, but not because there’s lights on nor is there light from outside filtering in through the curtains because there’s no windows. It’s light in here because I’m in the security room and there are walls and walls of monitors, but every one of them is white with static. They’ve been disconnected because after tonight, this place obviously never existed. I’m the only record of what’s happening.
I am not cut out for this shit.
I don’t think Bobby is Tony. I think the other guy is Tony. That guy had killer written
all over him. Bobby… he fed me a nice dinner. He was understanding and he gave me a chance to save Spencer and not let him walk into a setup blind. He gave me the chance to protect him. All I have to do is make sure Bobby comes out alive. That’s it. Just have his back and things will be cool.
I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m so fucked.
That mean guy with Bobby already said he was looking for me. Bomb. That’s me. And the mean one was the one grabbing Ashleigh and Kate. Blackbird and Duchess, he said, but I’m pretty sure Duchess is a name Ford calls the baby.
And then I hear her. The loud, incessant crying of a very distressed Kate.
Chapter Thirty-Two - Spencer
Ford storms into my office and takes a swing at me. I duck and swing back. He lands a fist on my jaw, spinning my head a little, and then I see red. I throw him down on the ground and land on top of him. He locks an arm around my neck and I get him in an armbar, ready to crack that shit if he doesn’t let go.
Ryan and Ronin pull us apart.
“I told you,” Ford says as Ronin pulls him off to a corner. “I fucking told you if she got hurt, I’d fuck you up, Spencer.”
“She’s not the only one missing, asshole! Rook is gone and so is Veronica, so don’t fucking pin this shit on me! Besides, what the fuck happened to that security team you had on her? Huh? How’s their failure my fault?”
“It’s your motherfucking job!” he snarls back. “My job is hacking. Ronin’s job is lying. Your fucking job is security! I did my job and you fucked it up again!”
Ryan extends his hand and I let him pull me up. Ronin offers the same courtesy to Ford.
We all look over at Ryan and he shakes his head. “I’m out, I get it.” He backs out, closing the door behind him.