by Ellie Danes
He nodded, a flicker of actual emotion crossing his cool expression. "Yes."
Chapter Eight
Slade
"You look like a million bucks, but I'd be happy with whatever spare change you got." The rumpled man heaved himself up from the sidewalk and shuffled over to me.
I stopped, my eyes still on the bodega, still intent on finding Darren as fast as I could. I felt in my pockets and grabbed the first money I felt. "Yeah, sure. Here you go, man."
He took the folded bill and sighed. "Bet you want a little information for that amount, huh, Slade?"
I felt a twinge of shame when he said my name. Of course I knew him, if I had only bothered to look past his dusty clothes and overgrown beard. "Samuel. I'm such a dick. How are you? How have you been?"
The old bum chuckled and punched my shoulder. "Don't sweat it, Slade, no one looks at me. One of the perks of the job. Besides, you look like you've got a lot on your mind."
"That's no excuse," I said. "I was here the other day and I should have thought to look for you."
Samuel narrowed his eyes and peered up into my face. "Why were you here the other day? You were on your way to bigger and better things. I'm not gonna stand for a backslide, kid."
"You always could kick my ass with a comment," I said.
"Seriously, Slade. You got out. No one gets out, so why in the hell would you be back here?" Samuel asked.
"I'm looking for someone who probably reminds you a lot of me," I told my old friend. "Young kid from the streets, Balducci's got his hooks in now. Name's Darren."
The old bum grimaced. "Heard that name on the street a few times now. Nothing good."
"I'll pay you for every word," I said, digging out my wallet.
Samuel slapped my hand. "Don't you know no better? I can't be living my good life with that shit dragging me down. Besides, you're a good kid. I'll tell you what I heard for free."
I ground my teeth in frustration. Samuel was a stubborn man, a hard-core paranoid determined to live on the fringes where the government couldn't get him. Still, he was the happiest man I knew, and the best impartial informant in the neighborhood. Even Balducci couldn't get to him because the old bum didn't want anything but a sunny corner and a few scraps of food that he found himself.
"I need to get to Darren before Balducci does. Before the mobster hands him over and I have to hold up my end of a bad deal," I admitted.
Samuel spit on the sidewalk. "Makes me sick to hear you saying his name again, kid. I hope to god you aren't doing something stupid here. This Darren ain't a bright one either. Word on the street is he was inspired by your clean break and tried it for himself. Told that greedy bastard he was quitting but he didn't think about the leverage. Balducci got a beat on his girl and you know how it ends."
I nodded, swallowing a wave of sick guilt. "Do you know where Darren is staying? I've seen him around here before but I don't know where he lives."
The old bum glanced up and down the street. "He comes and goes from that door over there during broad daylight but it's a cover. He's getting smarter the hard way. Still, he figures no one's looking at night. I saw him around the corner, two alleys down. There's a few cheap rooms over the dry cleaner's there."
I shook Samuel's gnarled hand. "I'm bringing you a steak one of these nights."
He laughed. "Only if you can stand searing it over a can fire. I ain't changing my ways for no one. Not even you."
"Glad to hear it, Samuel. Thanks."
The old bum's hand tightened like a vice. "Thank me by never coming this way again. Go live a good life before you get yourself killed."
I shook on it and headed in the direction Samuel had nodded. I was back to my circling thoughts when I heard him whistle. I whipped my head around and saw Christine jump out of a cab. She raced toward me without a second glance at the appreciative Samuel and his wide grin.
I was not smiling when she caught up with me. "What in the hell are you doing here? Again?!"
Christine gave me a pert sneer. "I enabled GPS on your phone. What are you doing here?"
"You're kidding me." I made a note to do the same to her phone. "I'm putting you right back in a cab to the club."
She had a slicing remark all ready to go but there was no need. There wasn't a cab in sight, and I knew by the time one came, she would have convinced me I couldn't get rid of her.
"Fine, but I don't think I'm any closer than I was before," I lied.
Christine shrugged. "Which way were you heading? This way?"
I almost let her keep going in the opposite direction from Darren's apartment, but the neighborhood got rougher that way. "No. I'm actually heading to the bodega to ask a few questions."
"Liar," Christine said, her chin raised up defiantly. "The GPS said you were already in the bodega. That's how I got the address."
My shoulders sagged as I slipped my hands in my pockets. "He might live over here somewhere."
"I hope it's not too far," she muttered.
She followed along behind me and I noticed she was limping slightly. "What's wrong with you?"
Christine frowned and wouldn't meet my eyes. "I twisted an ankle on the stairs back at the club."
I slowed my pace so she could keep up, even though Darren would probably be long gone by the time we found the alley behind his apartment. "You know, I had no choice. I knew you'd be stubborn like this."
"No choice in what?" Christine stopped at the mouth of the first alley and crossed her arms tight.
I swore at myself for the slip-up. "I'm trying to help, Christine. And protect you. At least let me do that."
She started walking again with a sharp wince and marched up to stick a finger in my chest. "I know you've done something. You made a deal, didn't you?"
"I didn't notice that limp when you got out of the cab. Are you sure you're all right?" I asked her.
Christine shook her head. "Oh, no, you don't. You're not changing the subject. What did you do?"
"It won't matter if we can find Darren in time. Is there any way you can speed up? This is ridiculous," I said.
"No. You're right. I don't want any part of this. Take me back to the club. Right now," Christine said.
That was it, plus the bratty stamp of her foot. If her ankle was really hurt she would have cried out in pain but she didn't even blink. "What are you playing at? Are you trying to keep me from finding Darren?"
She brushed her hair back with an irritated swipe. "Why would I do that? I mean, maybe you got me thinking about what jail time could do to someone so young. It's not what my sister would have wanted."
I held up both hands. "Oh, whoa. Now I know you're up to something. This is a total one-eighty from what we talked about the last time we were in this neighborhood."
"It's just—ouch! My ankle. Oh, Slade, ow, give me your arm." Christine collapsed against me.
I grabbed her before she toppled over but a flash in the cracked shop window next to us made me turn. Darren had appeared at the mouth of the second alley and was peering at us. As soon as I hauled Christine back up to standing, he took off running.
"Don't, Slade, please," Christine said.
Her fingers clutched at my arm but I twisted free. If I got Darren off the streets and hidden from Balducci, then the deal was useless. I would be holding all the cards again and could get Christine what she wanted. She didn't understand how Balducci used leverage like a demon that could force people to do what he wanted. But I did, and I was going to use it against him.
I wasn't surprised when Christine caught up with me at the next corner. Her ankle was fine, and she almost overtook me on the turn. Then there was a crash and I caught her back just before she toppled over Darren. He sprawled on the sidewalk, tripped up by a crate of beer. Shattered bottles crunched as he scrambled to his feet and tried to keep running.
I dove and tackled him on the sidewalk. "We're trying to help you," I growled as I hauled the young man up to his feet.
Darren sunk to
his knees like a dead-weight, and I had to drop him or rip his shirt collar. "Please. Kill me. I can't stand it anymore. I want to pay for what I did. I killed her. I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry."
"Well, we can't have him yelling that while we drag him into a cab." I cocked my arm back and was about to knock him out when Christine grabbed my arm.
She threw herself in front of Darren and held out both arms. "No. I want to hear him out."
Darren was up on his feet before she was done. He sprinted across two lanes of traffic and disappeared down another narrow alley.
"You let him get away," I yelled.
"Don't blame me for this," she said over her shoulder as she headed back to the bodega.
I watched her go, certain she had tricked me. Now, like Christine, all I wanted to know was why.
Chapter Nine
Christine
The bun I had swept my hair into was too tight, but I forced myself to leave it alone. I wanted to draw as little attention to myself as possible. I shoved open the door of the bar and left the daylight behind. Inside the bar was dimly lit by small, porthole windows that were mostly covered by old neon signs. The jukebox had been unplugged, and the television turned up so the scattered regulars could finish watching some game.
I couldn't even look. I was too nervous. Then I spotted Dena.
She was sitting on the fifth bar stool, just as she told me she would. Her white-blond pixie hair was hidden under a bright red wig. It would have been laughable, except as I watched a middle-aged man claimed the stool next to her and offered her another drink.
I was supposed to head directly to the back of the bar but I paused as the man gave her a lurid look.
"Let me guess, you like sweet drinks, don't you, sugar? How about you let me buy you one?" He licked his lips.
"Maybe next time," the undercover DA said.
The man gave her a grin. "So there'll be a next time?"
"No." Dena was relieved to see me and immediately called the bartender to settle her bill.
I did as she had told me and headed back to the short hallway and the bathrooms. I jumped half a foot in the air when a thin man appeared from the shadows. He had been leaning on the wall where the old pay phone used to be, but now he pushed off and walked past me, still chatting away on his cell phone.
I took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the women's bathroom. Inside, I immediately gripped my purse strap. I did not want to touch anything in the vile bathroom. Green paint the color of fungus was covered in patches by a different shade that only partially covered the lewd graffiti underneath. Clearly the bar didn't get a lot of women, and Dena was right, it was the perfect place for an 'off the books' meeting. Trying to be brave, I peeked in the first stall, then had to smother a scream. Aaron had appeared behind me without a sound.
My mind screamed, I don't want to die in this disgusting bathroom.
"The DA will be here any second," I squeaked out instead.
Aaron nodded and didn't say a word. Though I could tell by his stiff movements, he felt the same way I did about the meeting space.
"Please tell me I am never going to have to have another meeting like this," Dena said as she swung into the bathroom. "It's going to take three scalding showers to get rid of this place."
Aaron's lips quirked up, a terrifying mimicry of a smile, and Dena stopped short.
"Dena, this is Aaron. He's the one I told you about," I said.
"Nice to meet you." Dena extended a hand and Aaron blinked at it before giving her a quick shake.
"I'm sorry to call you and make you do this but I didn't know any other way. He can't get caught, and I don't know the first thing about wires and—"
Dena held up a hand and stopped me. "If you really think you can get Balducci to talk about it, then I'm all for it. Just remember, no whips, no spanking, no duress this time."
"Balducci trusts me," Aaron said.
"But does he talk to you?" Dena asked. "Because you don't strike me as a chatty kind of guy."
Aaron shook his head. "That's why I need Christine."
"And that's where I start to hate this plan," Dena said. "You know you don't have to do this, right? We'll get him one way or another."
"No," I said. "I've let this take over and I need it to be finished. I want to go back to living."
Dena gave me a faint smile. "All right. Fine. I'll give you the wire as soon as you tell me your contingency plan. How are you going to get out of there if everything goes wrong?"
Aaron straightened his narrow shoulders and spoke in a cold tone. "She said she'd help me. I'll die for her."
Dena suppressed a shudder. "That is terrifying but convincing. I'm going to take that as a promise."
I took the wire and handed it to Aaron. He turned toward the grimy mirror and started taping it in place.
"Thanks, Dena. I know this is crazy, but it feels like the only way," I said.
"What about Slade? Didn't you say he had some scheme cooking?" Dena asked.
Aaron's pale face watched me from the mirror. "Slade has to stay away."
He finished buttoning up his white shirt and shrugged his suit coat back into place. There was nothing left to do except go. My hands were shaking but I nodded. "All right. I'm ready."
"One block over," Aaron said and left the bathroom without a sound.
Dena grabbed my shoulder. "You can't be serious about this. That man is cold killer. The police have a file on him two inches thick but no one can ever get anything to stick. How can you trust him?"
I gave her a grim smile. "We made a deal. He wants out but that will never happen with Balducci still around. Once he's in jail, Aaron can finally disappear."
"Guys like him don't just retire," Dena said.
"I'm sorry, Dena, I know I've put you in a terrible position."
She shook her head. "No, you're right. Balducci is the bigger fish and this is our best chance. Good luck."
I left the bar quickly and headed the direction Aaron had pointed. On the corner, I paused long enough to see a redhead emerge from the dark bar. Then Aaron's arm slipped around my neck, and I saw the flash of a short knife.
A car drove up onto the curb in front of us, and the back door flew open. "That's her. The boss will be happy. He wants us to bring her to the office."
"Get in," Aaron said.
I slipped into the car and tried to hold it together as we sped off down the street. "Think the boss will be happy when I tell him about the knife at my throat?" I snapped.
The two men in the front seats chuckled but Aaron said nothing. His co-workers, clearly accustomed to his silence, chatted about possible rewards. Then the driver took a sharp detour and stopped in front of a warehouse loading door. The passenger sprang out, hauled open the doors, and waved us in.
"This is Balducci's office?" I asked.
"Multi-purpose," the driver chuckled. He drove to the far end of the warehouse and turned the car off.
Aaron motioned with the knife and I climbed carefully out of the backseat. Balducci was descending a metal staircase like a Roman emperor with his hands outstretched.
"Christine, dear, glad you could make it. Better get ready, boys, security cameras say she's got a shadow," Balducci said.
Aaron stiffened and brought the knife closer to my throat. I couldn't turn my head to look but I heard the crash. A cement block broke through a window and suddenly Slade was charging across the wide expanse of the warehouse. Two men met him but they were down in a few punches. Three more charged Slade and it took another two men before they could subdue him.
Balducci laughed the entire time until Slade was zip-tied to the metal staircase below him. Then he cleared his throat loudly. "Well, Aaron. Whaddya say? Slade just went and made your work a hell of a lot easier."
Aaron surprised everyone by saying, "Thank you."
While the men laughed, I caught Slade's eye. He was furiously chafing the plastic zip-tie along the rough metal banister, but he stopped when
he saw me. "I'm sorry, Christine. I'll get you out of this, I promise."
I was too angry to speak. He was going to mess everything up and get himself killed in the middle of it!
"Sounds to me like Christine is making her choice." Balducci strolled down the last few steps and swaggered across the warehouse floor to me. "Ready to negotiate?"
"You don't have anything I want," I said.
He waved back a reluctant Aaron. "You mean to tell me you've let it all go? Mourning period over? No more questions about your sister's murder? What a shame. Because I brought someone I thought you wanted to meet."
Slade started swearing as Darren was hauled out of a side room by Balducci's bruised men.
"Sorry, Slade, but everyone here knows this is all your fault. You thought you could quit and move on. No one leaves this organization unless it's in a body bag," Balducci said. "I can't have exceptions to the rule, because it encourages people like poor Darren here to try the same thing."
"What are you going to do to him?" I cried.
Balducci swung back to me with a wide grin. "Oh, so I might have something you're interested in after all."
I smoothed my hair down and hoped no one saw my hand shaking. "If you let him go, we can finally talk business. You know that I'm your key to a whole new world. You want out of your old territory, and I can make sure you fit in on our block."
Balducci waved one of his men over and took a knife from his belt. Then he twirled it around, catching his own smile in the reflection. "I thought about that and, you know. The whole move is going to change everything, the way we operate. Made me nostalgic for the old ways."
I wanted to run to Slade but Aaron stepped closer and laid a cold arm on my arm.
"See, I need to make sure my men understand that the changes don't mean I'm weak. Same rules apply. Once you're in, you stay in. No one gets out," Balducci said.
"You really think you can kill us both and no one will notice?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm not going to kill you. We might have business together again, down the line, neighbor. What I'm going to do is a little housekeeping. Slade is going to get rid of Darren here, and then he's going away to jail for a long time."