by B. B. Hamel
“I have faith in you.”
His smile was tight, but he nodded and walked away.
I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling.
I didn’t know what I was becoming. A monster, a psycho. I was angry, definitely angry, and desperate to feel as alive as I possibly could—and he was the only way I could get anywhere near that. But the person I used to be was a shadow of what I thought I was becoming, and I didn’t know where this would all lead me.
It was terrifying and it was so exciting, I could barely contain myself.
13
Luke
I sipped an absurdly dark and strong coffee and leaned up against the brick wall of a fancy coffee spot downtown near the hospital. Cara stood next to me, pretending to look at her phone, while I scanned the crowd and all the people that came past. Men and women in suits on their way to work, young kids with backpacks, doctors and nurses hurrying on their way to a long shift, all sorts of people mixed together on the sidewalks. I loved the flow, the variation, the way no two people were ever exactly alike. I never got bored of people watching.
At least until I found my target. Jeff Bruner was a distinguished-looking man in his sixties with salt and pepper hair, sharp blue eyes, and an extremely slick and expensive business suit. He was the sort of man that walked into the room and tried to dominate it with a look—which mostly made him come off as a total asshole. I nudged Cara and nodded at him as he approached the coffee place and went inside.
“I’m honestly amazed,” she said, shaking her head. “How’d you figure it out?”
“German followed him for a couple days.” I took another swig of the coffee and made a face. “Seriously, this stuff is disgusting and way too expensive. Why do people come here?”
“Status.” Cara shoved her phone into her back pocket. She had her hair up in a braided bun, though I wished she’d wear it down. Then again, I did like the sweep of her neck and the peak of her ears. “Should we follow him inside?”
“I don’t think we can approach him here.” I frowned toward the street. I didn’t see where Jeff had come from, but there weren’t any waiting cars, so I guessed he walked. Real man of the people. “He’s heading to his office, so we’ll get him on the way.”
“You don’t plan on kidnapping him or something, do you?”
“Of course not.” I frowned at her. “Although I bet the ransom would be a lot of money.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t do something stupid, please.”
“That’s why you’re here. You can temper my worst impulses.”
She snorted but said nothing. I watched the door furiously for a few minutes until Jeff came back out again with two coffees, one in each hand. He strode off down the sidewalk and I hurried after him with Cara right on my heels.
I stayed a few feet back but didn’t let him out of my sight. Cara stayed on my left, weaving around slow walkers and ambling homeless guys with shopping carts. I scanned the crowd ahead as we came to more tall office buildings, and I knew his place wasn’t too much further up. An alley just to the right halfway up the next block, and I caught Cara’s eye with a nod, then walked faster.
I reached Jeff as we came parallel with the alley. I bumped into him and grabbed his arm. He cursed as the coffee in his right hand tilted backwards and splashed down the front of his chest. “Oh, fucking shit,” he said, taking a step back. A big, brown splotch was all down the front of him. “Watch where you’re going, you dumb asshole.”
“So sorry,” I said, grinning, and moved closer to him. There were a lot of people around, and I couldn’t be too obvious about this. “I didn’t mean to spill your drink, Jeff. It’s just that I wanted to talk, and I thought we might do it in private.”
He opened his mouth to tell me to fuck off or something along those lines but stopped and narrowed his eyes. “You know who I am? Who the fuck are you?”
“My name’s Luke and I work for a very special family.” I grinned at him and raised my eyebrows. “I was looking at some pictures of you recently with some very attractive women and I thought—”
Jeff’s face turned bright red. “What the hell are you talking about? Pictures of me? What pictures of me? Who the hell are you?”
Cara came up on the other side of him. “We’re here from the Lionettis,” she said, glaring at him. “Now shut up and come talk.”
His jaw tightened. If he weren’t being blackmailed, he wouldn’t know who the hell Cara was talking about—but he only nodded once. I gestured at the alley behind him, and he hesitated, but walked ahead.
I glanced at Cara and she winked at me, grinning. I rolled my eyes and kept close to Jeff.
The alley was tight, just enough space for a dumpster on either side and a few stoops. It was empty though, and Jeff stopped a few feet inside and turned to me with a wicked scowl on his face.
“I don’t know who you think you are, but I was told if I did my part, I wouldn’t get approached again.” Jeff’s jaw clenched.
I took out my phone. “Here’s the thing. I’m not actually with the Lionettis.” I pulled up a picture of his photo and before he could say anything, I held it up and let him take a look. “But I do have their dossier on you.”
He went very quiet. “You can put that away.”
I shoved the phone into my pocket. “Let’s talk.”
“Not until you tell me who the fuck you are and how you have that picture.” He looked at Cara, but all the anger was gone—replaced by ruthless pragmatism.
“My name’s Luke, and this is my associate, Cara.” I gestured at her. She seemed to like that description and her smile widened. “To tell you the truth, Jeff, we stole the fucking dossier from the Lionettis, and now we’re here to change whatever deal you had going with them.”
He stared at me like I was insane. “This is crazy. How am I supposed to believe that?”
“How else would we have a picture of you fucking a prostitute?” Cara asked. “The Lionettis aren’t dumb enough to show that stuff off. They want you to keep working for them.”
Jeff grimaced and looked around. “What do you people want?” He was sweating now, getting worried. That was good.
“I don’t care about money, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m not here to make your life too much harder, if we can avoid it, but I do need your help, Jeff.” I stepped closer. I was a good three inches taller and easily had twenty pounds of muscle on him. “But I am going to need you to cooperate.”
“Cooperate with what, exactly?” He stepped back and ran into the wall.
“I know you’re running money for the Lionettis. They’re using some of your buildings to launder cash, aren’t they?” I was guessing at this point. We had some ideas about how Jeff could be involved with the Lionettis, but we weren’t positive, so I went with the most likely one.
And fortunately, it seemed as though I was right. “It’s not a lot,” he said. “A few thousand per month, nothing huge. I put it on my books, then I hire contractors, pay them the money, and that’s it. The contractors aren’t actually real, it’s another front they run.”
I glanced at Cara. She nodded at me.
“Here’s the deal.” I held up my phone again with the picture on it. “All you have to do is stop washing money for the Lionettis. Stop doing whatever they had you doing, and this picture will disappear.”
His eyes widened. “You’re fucking with me, right?”
“I’m absolutely not fucking with you. All you need to do is stop taking their money. That’s it, and we’ll make sure the photos stay buried.”
“They’ll kill me,” he said softly, eyes wide with fear. “I’m serious, they’ll try to murder me if I stop. I started because of that damn picture, but I’m in way too deep now.”
“That sounds like your problem. Maybe you need to go on a very long business trip for a while. Disappear, get out of town. Whatever you have to do.” I leaned closer to him, close enough to smell the fear coming off him like a stench. �
�But stop laundering their money.”
“I can’t do that,” he said, his voice small.
“Then I’m going to make sure this picture goes out far and wide.” I shoved my phone back in my pocket. “If you won’t work with me, then I’ll fuck you over to show everyone else that I’m not joking around. You’ll be useful one way or the other.”
I turned to leave. Cara walked with me, leaning against my shoulder.
“Wait,” Jeff said, sounding desperate. “Hold on. There are others?”
I stopped and looked back. “There are others.”
“How many? Any of them like me?”
“All of them are like you.”
“They’re all disgusting assholes,” Cara added.
Jeff grimaced. “All right. Just give me a day to figure it out, okay? The Lionettis won’t bring cash until tomorrow, so I need a day.”
“You have a day.” I gestured at him. “I’m going to check. Believe me, I have people that’ll hear if you fuck them over, and if you don’t, I’ll know. You have a day.” I turned away again and Cara fell into step.
We turned the corner and left Jeff alone in the alley. Cara’s hand found mine and her palm was sweating. She grinned huge and leaned against me, and I threw my arm around her shoulder.
“That was insane,” she said and laughed. She sounded shrill and giddy. “I thought he was going to scream for help.”
“You turned that around. We had a sort of good cop, bad cop thing going on.”
“Yeah, and you were both good and bad. All I did was stand there and call him an asshole.”
“Which was more than enough.” I tightened my hug then let her go. “I’m not sure he’ll listen, but I think he’s spooked.”
“You think the Lionettis are going to hurt him if he stops working for them?”
“Absolutely.” I glanced at her. “Do you care?”
She shook her head once. “No, I really don’t.”
“Good. Then it sounds like you’re in the right business.” I tugged her along behind me. “Come on, we’ve got more people to blackmail.”
She laughed and we hurried back to my car.
14
Cara
Franklin showed up at one of Luke’s clubs two days later. I sat in the back with a book and a Diet Coke sweating on the table. German, Marvin, and Vlad were playing cards and drinking vodka, while Luke sat at the bar, counting money.
It took a little convincing, getting Luke to let me come along with him. He wanted to keep me stashed away at home like a pretty little doll, but I couldn’t stand sitting alone in that house for another second. Luckily, he agreed that being in a room full of his loyal soldiers was probably safer than being home alone in a house that Maher knew about, so he let me tag along and hang out.
The strip club wasn’t my kind of place, but anywhere was fine with me. At least I had a book and the guys could be entertaining.
But when Franklin walked through the door, a hush fell over everyone. Luke stood up and greeted the man, but the boys seemed on edge.
“Nice place you got here,” Franklin said, looking around.
“Keep your eyes to yourself,” German said. “Money has a tendency to disappear from places you visit.”
Franklin looked hurt. “I’ve never messed with you guys.”
“Keep it that way,” Vlad said, glaring.
Franklin sighed and held up his hands. “I’m only here to talk business.”
“Come on, sit over here.” Luke led Franklin over to my table. I smiled at him and waved as he sat down across from me.
“Didn’t expect to see you hanging around with the boys,” Franklin said. “How’s that treating you?”
“Not too bad. They’re all bark. And I guess they’re some bite too, but I haven’t seen it yet.”
He laughed as Luke pulled up a chair and sat down. “What can I do for you, Franklin?”
“I bet you heard the bank job worked out.” Franklin’s smile split his face in half. “Man, you should’ve seen the tellers, practically shit themselves. I shot off a few warnings, and—”
Luke held up a hand. “Get to the point.”
“Right.” Franklin cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’ve got half the funding, and another guy’s got the other half. There’s a lot of interest in this dossier, you know? Lots of guys coming up to me, begging to get in on this action, but I keep telling them I’m the main man on this sale.”
Luke studied him for a moment. I could almost read his facial expression—it was a little annoyed mixed with equal parts amusement. Franklin had no clue what was going on, but he clearly wanted that dossier, and clearly understood what it represented.
Unfortunately for him, we also understood.
“Here’s the thing, Franklin. Deal’s changed. I’m going to need at least a million.”
Franklin’s eyes popped out of his skull. “Excuse me?”
“A million,” Luke said, nodding.
“I’m not sure,” I said, frowning at him. “Just a million? That sound a little cheap.”
Luke stroked his chin thoughtfully. “You’re right. I’m glad you’re here, otherwise I would’ve given this thing away.”
Franklin was sweating. He stared between us like we’d turned into green monsters. “Million,” he whispered.
“Two million,” I corrected. “I think that’s more reasonable, right?”
“Two million,” Luke agreed.
Franklin gagged. “I can’t come up with that kind of money.”
“I’m sorry to hear it,” Luke said, standing. “Maybe if you talk to all those guys that’ve been approaching you—”
“You bastards,” Franklin said, turning red. “I ripped off that bank and saved the damn money. And now you’re saying you’re going back on the deal.”
“Easy, Franklin,” Vlad said, pushing his chair back. He stood and lifted his shirt, gripping the gun in his waistband.
Franklin glared around the room then took a deep breath to steady himself. “All I’m saying is, I thought we had a deal.”
“We might’ve, but not anymore.” Luke cocked his head. “How about you do me a favor though, and maybe I’ll reconsider.”
A greedy light blossomed in his eyes. “What favor?”
“I need information on the Lionettis. I need to know if one of their clients suddenly dropped out and refused to launder money for them.”
Franklin perked up. “I heard that one already,” he said, nodding vigorously. “Yeah, I heard just this morning, the Lionettis are pissed as hell about it. Everyone’s been talking, and the Lionettis have been kicking down doors and cracking skulls. I think there’ll be blood soon.”
Luke glanced at me and grinned. “Perfect. All right, Franklin, you’ve been a huge help. See you later.”
Franklin stood and looked around. “That’s it? We’re not going to come to terms?”
“Tell you what.” Luke walked with him to the door. “Since you helped me out, I’ll cut you a break. I want one point seven-five million, all right? That’ll be reasonable, I just knocked off two hundred and fifty thousand.”
Franklin groaned as Luke shoved him out the door and slammed it shut.
Vlad cackled with laughter and sat back down. Even German looked amused as Luke walked over and took the seat next to me.
“What do you think?” he asked softly.
“Word’s out, that’s for sure.” I chewed on my fingernail. “Only I’m worried it’s not a good thing. What if it backfires and the Lionettis attack?”
“We’ll see. They can’t just roll in here and kill us all. They don’t know where I’m keeping the dossier.”
“Where are you keeping it?”
He winked and shrugged. “Don’t you worry about that. The less you know, the better.”
“Says the guy that knows everything.” I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder. “Think Franklin’s right about the Lionettis hurting people?”
“Probably. They’re not
exactly known for their restraint.”
“I sort of hate that, you know.”
“Don’t let it bother you, it’s not like these are good people.”
“Fair enough. They’re all guys just like you.”
He laughed. “Killers and thieves.” He stood up and stretched. “Poor Franklin, thought he was getting the deal of a lifetime.”
“Poor Franklin,” I agreed.
Luke returned to the bar and went back to counting.
I leaned back in my seat and tried to steady my pounding heart. I caught a grin from Marvin and he winked at me, and I smiled back uncertainly, not sure what the guy wanted—but Luke’s men were all right. German was quiet and intense, and the others could be sort of loud and obnoxious, and Vlad was a hilarious muscle-head, but they seemed to mean well and left me alone. I expected a bunch of gangsters to be a little bit more aggressive than they were, but Luke seemed to have them under control.
Marvin got up after another hand of cards and sat down at my table heavily. Luke shot him a look, but I waved him off and smiled at Marvin.
“You looked lonely so I thought I’d come say hello.” He grinned at me and sighed, leaning back in his chair.
“You don’t think the other guys are going to make fun of you for talking to the boss’s… prisoner? I actually don’t know what I am to him.”
Marvin laughed and shook his head. “Nah, they’re all just jealous you didn’t tell me to fuck off already, I bet.”
“Does Luke bring a lot of girls around here?”
“To the strip club?” He raised an eyebrow. “No, I think he’s got more class than that.”
“You know what I mean. Does he have a lot of, you know, girlfriends?”
Marvin stroked his chin. “The boss does what he wants to do, if you know what I mean, but I’ve never seen him with anyone serious before.”
“Is that what you think I am to him?”
He looked at me from beneath hooded eyes. “Let me be honest with you here. I’ve seen the boss with women before, you know what I mean, but the way he looks at you is something else. It’s like you’re his favorite thing in the world.”