by B. B. Hamel
Cara was quiet on the way back to the city. I knew this was hard for her and I wanted to ask what she was thinking, but I decided to give her some space first. These games within games were new, especially when those games involved killing and death.
But I was used to it. I’d been living on these streets long enough to know how things worked. As soon as the Lionettis heard that I was trying to sell off the dossier, they’d come back to the table—or they’d try something stupid.
I drifted from the suburbs and back into the city, taking the long way through the shady, quiet West Philly streets. The neighborhoods got denser and denser, and traffic picked up as I meandered toward University City. As I rolled through a stop sign, I had about two seconds to react to a black SUV barreling toward me through the intersection.
“Oh, fuck,” I said, which is really all I had time for, since two seconds wasn’t very long. I hit the gas to try to get out of the way, but the SUV slammed into my rear end, spinning the car.
Cara screamed. Fortunately, we both had our seatbelts on. Safety first and all that. The car came to a halt facing the wrong way and I leapt over Cara, grabbing the gun from the glove compartment.
“What’s going on?” she asked, eyes wide with shock. “It’s just an accident, right?”
I kicked open the door just as two guys jumped out the back seat of the SUV. “I don’t think so,” I said as they raised their Uzi submachine guns in my direction.
I dove back inside the car and yanked Cara down. I pulled off her seatbelt and shoved her onto the floor. She screamed as the guns blared like tiny explosions going off all around. Sparks flew and something burst in my car’s engine. Steam drifted up and I cursed as the guys came closer and closer.
If I didn’t do something, they’d be on me in a second. We were fucked just sitting there in the car, but the engine was screwed, and they kept firing.
I had to do something desperate. I dove from the car and hit the ground on my shoulder, skidding on my side. It hurt like fucking hell and would leave a nasty road rash, but that didn’t matter—I squeezed off three rounds, hitting one of the guys clean in the chest. He dropped and I rolled to the side as more gunfire broke out. I managed to reach the parked cars to my right and scrambled between them as bullets smashed all around me.
More shouts from the SUV. I came up firing and managed to wing the Uzi guy. He shouted in pain, clutching at his injured arm, and dropped back into cover. A third guy left the SUV, stepping out from the driver’s side, and I put a bullet in his skull for his effort. He dropped with a groan, blood splattered on the pavement.
I ran back to my car and grabbed Cara. “We have to run.”
Her face was pale with fear and she trembled, but she crawled across the center console and stumbled to her feet. Uzi guy came up again firing, but he was wild and inaccurate with only one hand. I shot at him and missed as we sprinted away. More bullets slammed all around us, missing by inches, and I shoved Cara in front of me, hoping to block any stray shots that might catch her.
We got lucky though. She turned the corner and I was on her heels. Pedestrians stared in pure shock as I shoved the gun away and grabbed Cara’s hand.
“This way,” I grunted, pulling her along. I got my bearings and headed toward University City, slowing down to a jog, then to a walk after a few blocks. I was drenched with sweat and Cara gasped for breath.
“What the hell was that?” she managed to ask.
“Ambush,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Who were they, though?”
I shook my head.
I didn’t know, but I had some guesses. Lionettis probably, maybe Maher’s guys, or possibly some other crew the Lionettis decided to send my way.
It was hard to say. That firefight was a blur of action. I got lucky back there—if those guys had been a better shot, or if they reacted faster, I would’ve gotten filled with bullets.
“Come on, I have a safe house near here.”
“You do?” She clutched my hand. “Are you sure we’re safe?”
“Definitely,” I said, which was a lie, but I couldn’t have her freaking out.
The problem was nobody should’ve known how to catch me. I took an odd way in and out of the city, purposefully going off the beaten path to avoid being followed or intercepted. And yet exactly that had happened.
I didn’t have a leak—I hadn’t told any of the guys in the crew where we were going. And even if I did, I trusted them all with my life.
Which meant I was being followed from the very beginning.
The safe house was right off UPenn’s campus, a tight little apartment above a hoagie shop filled with hungover college kids. It was hot and I cranked up the window AC. Cool air blasted over the grungy yellow couch, teal chair, and cheap IKEA TV stand.
“I’ll call German and let him know what’s going on. He’ll come and get us.” I checked the blinds—nobody waited outside, noting suspicious down there. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Just tired from running.” She stood in front of the AC unit, fanning herself.
“Don’t move. I’ll handle this.” I went into the other room to make some calls, but my stomach was a twisted knot.
I knew what sort of danger I was in, but this felt like something I hadn’t anticipated. If someone managed to follow me, that meant I was dealing with some talent. I could handle the typical low-level thugs the Lionettis liked to employ, but if they stepped up their game then I was going to have to be extra careful.
Because it wasn’t just about me anymore. It was about Cara and keeping her alive, and I planned on doing exactly that.
12
Cara
A cool breeze rolled through Luke’s back yard. He wanted me to stay inside—said Maher might still be watching—but I couldn’t stay cooped up in that house forever when he got to leave whenever he wanted. Luke had a crew to run and I understood he couldn’t sit around with me all day, but that still didn’t mean I wanted to spend my days bored out of my mind watching the same TV shows over and over again.
So I sat outside on his tiny patio on a black metal chair and kicked my feet up on the table. It was nice out, and the wind made the file folder in my hands flutter a bit as I paged through the images.
The dossier was fascinating. The more I went through it, the more I understood that it was a work of art as much as it was a tool. I noticed the same girls appeared in the pictures over and over again: one woman with thick, dark hair always stared into the camera with a vicious smile, like she enjoyed the fact that the Lionettis were capturing these men in the act; another, a pale woman with blonde hair, always seemed embarrassed. I wondered what went through their heads during, if they were afraid or excited, if it felt good to have sex in front of a camera knowing that these powerful men would be ruined if the photographs ever got out, or if it was simply a part of their job. It couldn’t be a good thing, that much was obvious—there was something desperate about all of them.
The men didn’t interest me as much. They were powerful in their own fields and while I only recognized a few of them, I could imagine what the others were all about. Businessmen, entrepreneurs, public figures, media personalities, law enforcement, judges, politicians, anyone that had something to lose if their reputation was tarnished. And yet all of these men fell for the Lionettis’ trap.
I didn’t know what that said about the state of our world. Probably nothing good.
The sort of people that went into politics, or obsessed about business enough to succeed, or hustled to the top of any industry were not necessarily the nicest human beings. They were driven, maybe smart, but definitely ruthless. Power drew those sorts of humans like moths to a flame, and I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad for these bastards.
Some of them deserved it, and I wanted to see them all burn.
It was strange. My father died for this dossier, and now it sat in my lap on a cool, breezy day, the sun shining through the trees, and I felt calmer than I ever h
ad in a long time. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt good—probably before my mother died, when I was a little girl. My dad had relentlessly destroyed everything nice in my life and made sure I was left with nothing more than the house and barely the means to feed and clothe myself. Now that he was gone, I should’ve been sad, and I should’ve hated Luke for killing him.
I only felt sorry that he hadn’t died sooner.
I pulled out on particular photograph. It was the dark-haired woman again, grinning fiercely into the camera lens. Behind her, a hairy-chested man gripped her hips and was fucking her from behind with his hilariously awful face. He had short, salt and pepper hair, square jaw, blue eyes, good teeth, and a birthmark on his chest the shape of an acorn. Staring at him, I tried to picture what he’d do to keep this photo from ever being released—
And the idea hit me like a lightning storm.
I jumped up and paced around with the dossier under my arm. I felt manic and all I wanted to do was hunt down Luke and jabber at him. Instead, I tried to think it through, tried to picture what it would be like if we actually went through with this, and the more I considered it, the more I actually wanted to follow through.
Luke came home a couple hours later. I practically jumped his bones, shoving the dossier at him like it was a magic talisman. “We have to talk.”
He stared at me and took the file from my hands. “Uh, all right. Were you reading this?”
“All day.” I paced around, waving my hands in the air. “I was looking at them and thinking about what we could do with this stuff, and I realized something.”
He slipped past me and went into the kitchen. I followed, buzzing like I was high.
“What did you realize?” He took a beer from the fridge, cracked it open, and drank half of it back.
“We can use it.” I pointed at the dossier. “You want to pretend to sell it and lure the Lionettis out into the open, right? But instead of doing that, why don’t we actually use what’s in there?”
He frowned at me, head tilted to the side. “You mean blackmail someone in here.” He waved the dossier in the air.
“Exactly. Imagine what we could do with all that stuff.” I started pacing again, unable to contain my excited energy. “The guys in there deserve it too. I mean, they’re supposed to be leaders, and instead they’re busy fucking prostitutes. Half of them are wearing a wedding ring, and I bet the other half took it off.”
He studied me for a long moment. “You’re pretty keyed up.”
“Damn right I am. These guys all probably think they’re invincible, but imagine what we could do to them? We could ruin them all if we wanted, or we could make them do something good for once in their life.”
“What sort of good do you want to do?” He reached into the dossier and took out the top picture. It was that guy with the acorn birthmark. “This man right here, he’s a developer. All he does is buy shit and build.”
“We could make him, I don’t know, donate money to the children’s hospital.”
He snorted. “I’m sure he does that already.”
“We could make him do something to hurt the Lionettis.”
That got his attention. He frowned at me, then down at the photo. “Like what?” he asked slowly.
“I don’t know, that’s not really my thing. I mean, I don’t know how any of this works. But he’s in their file for a reason, right? Why are we assuming they’re not already blackmailing him into working with them?”
I saw it dawn on him slowly, the same thing I realized in the back yard.
Of course the Lionettis were blackmailing these people.
Why would they go to all that trouble to gather up this evidence and then not use it? As some sort of insurance policy? That seemed pretty tame for a gang of violent criminals.
They were using it. Of course they were using it, half the men in that folder were worth blackmailing.
“You think all these guys are working for the Lionettis?” He said it with a touch of awe and fear. “Honestly, Cara, that would explain a lot. The Lionettis seem to get away with things the rest of the families never do.”
“They’re blackmailing judges, cops, and politicians. Obviously, they’re getting away with it.” I walked up to him and tapped my finger against the dossier’s cover. “But now we have this and it’s our chance to get a piece of that action.”
He stared at me like I was crazy then burst out laughing. He tossed the dossier down onto the table then wrapped his arms around me. I grinned as he pulled me against him and held me tight.
“You realize how dangerous this idea is, don’t you?”
“Of course. But hey, if the Lionettis could do it, then why not us?” I stood up on my toes and kissed his chin. “Imagine what we could do if we tried.”
“You’re crazy and I love it.” He kissed me deeper and slow. “I think I have an idea. That developer guy, I’m betting I know why he’s involved with the Lionettis. How about we pay him a visit and ask some questions?”
“I would like that very much.” I tilted my head. “Are you going to tell me how smart I am?”
“You’re a devious little genius.” He released me and grabbed his beer, holding it in the air. “To your brilliant, twisted mind.”
I gave him a little bow. “Thank you, thank you. My only concern is that they’ll go to the Lionettis and make things harder for us.”
“At this point, I’m not sure it matters. They already know we have the file, so what are they going to do? Be even more pissed off? Can’t get even angrier than they are already.”
“Fair point.” I sat down at the table heavily. Exhaustion moved over me suddenly as my energy slowly sapped away. I told him my idea and now that it was out in the air and moving forward, I didn’t have the excitement of it to sustain me anymore.
He sat down across from me. “Want to hear something funny?”
“Absolutely.”
“Franklin pulled off that job.” His grin spread wide.
“You’re kidding me.” I gaped at him then laughed. “I thought he got shot or something.”
“Apparently, those were warnings and it went off without a hitch. He called me earlier saying he came into some cash and was willing to cut a deal.”
“What a snake.”
“I know.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I told him I’d think about it, so I’m guessing we’ve got a day or two before the whole city knows what we’re about.”
“How do you want to make this all happen?” I leaned toward him and reached out my hand.
He stroked my fingers gently. “I don’t know yet. The blackmail idea is the stronger of the two, but I want to keep this other thing in play, just in case.”
I chewed my lip, looking at him, and felt the strangeness of the situation overwhelm me. Here I was at the table with my father’s killer, letting him touch my hand like he was my lover—which maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t, I couldn’t tell just yet—and we were talking about pulling off some crazy job against the biggest, most terrifying mafia family in the city.
I didn’t know how we could possibly make it happen. And yet I wanted to try.
For so long, I flitted from day to day, scrambling just to make enough money to survive. I never thrived, never took a step out of my comfort zone, but here I was in the deep end swimming hard to keep my head above water. Yet I loved it, the danger and the uncertainty, it made me feel a buzz at the base of my spine, and it was all because of him.
I wasn’t safe—and yet he made me feel safe anyway. Luke had that effect on me, like he was a beacon in the dark, a lighthouse perched on a massive cliff keeping me from slamming into the rocks. I wanted to follow him wherever he went, and I didn’t know where that impulse came from, but it drove me hard.
“Whatever you want to do, I’ll help,” I said softly.
He tilted his head. “Why is that? Why the sudden chance?”
I pulled my hand away and looked down at the floor. “I’ve been thinking about
my life a lot. I guess coming close to dying can do that.”
“And what did you realize?”
“Everything I did before was worthless.” I clenched my jaw. “Working all the time, cleaning the house, hustling to survive when my father inevitably came rolling through to fuck everything up, it was just existing. It wasn’t living.”
“You think this is living?” He sounded unsure, and I didn’t know what that meant.
“I think this is better than the alternative. Before I was just waiting around to get old and die, but now at least I feel like I’m doing something.” I looked back up at him and forced a grin on my lips. “Besides, I like the idea of making these rich asshole guys pay for being such sleazy bastards.”
He laughed and nodded slowly. “So long as your heart’s in the right place.” He stood up and walked over to me. I tilted my chin up to accept a kiss on the cheek, but didn’t let it go further. “I’ll speak with German and we’ll figure out the next move.”
I grabbed his hand before he could walk away. “You’re not leaving me behind.”
He hesitated. “It’s safer here, you know. Maybe you’ll come up with more ideas.”
I tightened my grip. “No, Luke. I’m not kidding. I’m not staying behind.”
He held my gaze and I didn’t look away. He could talk all he wanted about keeping me safe, but I wasn’t staying locked away through this whole thing. If I was going to be a part of it, I was going to be an active participant—not stuck in some stupid room like a useless piece of furniture, only good for a quick fuck and nothing else.
“All right then.” He nodded once and I let him go. “I won’t leave you behind.”
“Thank you.”
“Just know that I can’t guarantee nothing bad will happen. We got lucky already, and I don’t know how long that’s going to hold.”