by Hamel, B. B.
“Mother fuckers.” I took the phone from her and answered it. “Fuck off,” I said.
“Please, Brooks,” came a woman’s voice, vaguely familiar. “You should talk to them.”
I paused. “Who is this?”
“You don’t know my name, but I know yours. Do you remember the night, not so long ago, when you were shot?”
“Which fucking time?” I grumbled.
“Twice, in the chest, by the Spiders.”
“I remember.”
“You let me escape. You told me to run, and I didn’t believe you. It wasn’t until they got closer that I listened and took all the girls with me.”
“It’s you,” I said softly, recognizing her voice now. It was the girl I let go that night, the one who spoke English.
“Listen to what they have to say, Brooks,” she said.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. Just listen.”
“Fine,” I said. “Okay. Put them on.”
The line went silent for a minute. Emma was looking at me like I’d gone insane.
Then a voice spoke. It wasn’t human, or at least it didn’t sound human. Whoever was speaking was using some kind of voice program to make them sound like a robot with an incredibly deep, booming voice.
“Hello, Brooks,” the voice said. “I’m glad you decided to listen.”
“Talk fast,” I said, “because I don’t have time for bullshit right now.”
“Is he dead?”
I paused as a bolt of shock ran through me. I looked around, suddenly feeling like I was being watched.
“Who?” I asked.
“Abram. Is he dead?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, Brooks, I thought you said you didn’t have time for bullshit?”
“Are you watching me?”
“Yes and no. We’ve been watching him watch you, and we saw him enter your apartment. He has been there for some time now. We suspect you killed him.”
I didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, it was obvious that Abram was dead. On the other, I didn’t know these people. I didn’t know if I could trust them or what they wanted from me. I usually didn’t want to help out people who watched me from the shadows.
But that girl had told me to listen. I’d saved her life, and I couldn’t imagine she held any ill will toward me. If anything, I imagined she’d want to try to do right by me.
“He’s dead,” I said.
“Shame,” the voice answered. “Though I can’t say I’m upset. Abram was one violent, disgusting piece of shit.”
“Can’t say I disagree, but why is it a shame?”
“Because the mafia is going to be onto you sooner or later. I’m sure you worked that out for yourself though.”
“I did, yeah.”
“We can help you, Brooks.”
“Why the fuck would you help me?”
“Because we know who you are and what you’ve done. We know you let these girls go when that went against your best interests. We know you haven’t killed Emma yet, and I don’t think you’re going to.”
I stared at Emma, completely knocked off balance.
How the fuck did the Spiders know this much? They must have been following me from the very start if they could have figured out this much. But why? I’d barely had any interactions with the Spiders. As far as I could tell, I’d never killed a Spider or even had to fight one.
I couldn’t figure out what the fuck this person wanted from me. I had nothing to offer them as far as I could tell. I wasn’t particularly well connected and wasn’t that high up in the ranks. Sure, I was a talented killer, but I wasn’t a boss.
“Tell me what you want,” I said, “and tell me right now, or else I take Emma and we disappear.”
“I don’t doubt you’re capable of that, Brooks,” the voice said, “but please just listen carefully.”
“Start talking,” I said, annoyed.
“Brooks, your people call us the Spiders, but that isn’t how we see ourselves. Think back to what you’ve heard about us. What has been our main target?”
“Slave trade,” I said. “You’ve been hitting the girl trade.”
“That’s right. Brooks, we’re a group dedicated to protecting those who can’t protect themselves. We’ve heard about you. We’ve heard about the killer who doesn’t hurt women. We thought they were just rumors until little Natasha here told us about you letting her go. And when we didn’t see Emma come out of your apartment in little pieces, we began to suspect that you feel the same way we do.”
“You don’t fucking know me,” I said, “and I don’t know you.”
“You’re right. You don’t know us. That’s a problem that I’d like to solve. I’d very much like to meet you, Brooks.”
“You want to meet me?” I asked, trying not to smile. “Seems like a bad fucking deal for me.”
“We want to help you with Emma. We can offer you protection, resources, options. We can do much more for you than you could ever do alone. All I ask is one short meeting, face to face. You can pick the time and place.”
I leaned up against the wall, thinking fast. Letting me choose the time and the place was a good move on their part. It made me feel more comfortable, but it didn’t really matter considering they were a gang and I was just one man.
Still, what they were saying made sense. I’d only ever heard of them attacking the human trafficking rings so far. I’d assumed they were stealing the girls and selling them, but I’d never actually heard of the girls showing back up anywhere else. As far as I could tell, they just disappeared.
What if they really were helping these women?
“You come alone,” I said. “One person. We’ll meet tomorrow afternoon at one. There’s a little lunch cart outside the museum, real busy around that time. You meet me there.”
“Okay, Brooks, but you need to bring the girl.”
“What?”
“Bring the girl. She’ll be safe, but she’s going to want to hear this, too.”
“No. She stays behind. No way I’m bringing her into this.”
“She needs to choose for herself.” Suddenly the phone went on speaker. “Emma, come with Brooks tomorrow. You should be allowed to speak for yourself.”
She blinked at me. “Who is this?” she asked.
“Someone who wants to help you.”
“You fucking cock,” I said.
“See you tomorrow, Brooks.”
I threw the phone onto the ground, grabbed the hammer, and smashed it into tiny pieces.
Emma kept staring at me, confusion on her face. “What the hell was that, Brooks?”
I sighed. “That was a fucking murderous and dangerous gang of people. Apparently they want to help us.”
She cocked her head. “Why did that person say I needed to make up my own mind?”
“I don’t know, but they want to meet with me tomorrow, and they want you to come.”
She chewed her lip. “You don’t seem to think it’s a good idea.”
I walked over toward her. “Listen, Emma. I don’t want to put you in any danger. Understand?”
“But they can help us.”
“Maybe. We don’t really know what they want.”
“Are you going to go meet them?”
“I was before they pulled this shit.”
She frowned at me, shaking her head. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know you think that, but these are the people who shot me. Remember when I came home with two bullets to the chest?”
Her frown deepened. “I remember, but why would you meet them?”
“Because one of the girls I let go that night told me to, and for some stupid fucking reason, I trust people after I’ve saved their life.”
She stepped toward me. “Okay then. I’m coming.”
“No.”
“You saved my life, Brooks. Now let me help.”
“No, Emma.”
&
nbsp; She shook her head and turned away. “Don’t fight me on this. I’m coming tomorrow and that’s it. We can spend all night going back and forth, or we can get ready.” She disappeared back into the bedroom.
Fuck if my cock wasn’t hard as fucking hell. I couldn’t believe the balls on that woman. It was a very, very stupid idea to bring her along, but I had to admit that her fire kept impressing me over and over again.
And she was right. If she wanted to come, she was going to come no matter what I said. She wasn’t a fucking prisoner.
I knew I should fight harder. I knew I should convince her that the best thing was for her to stay.
Instead, I began to unroll trash bags, ripping them open to make long sheets. I stuck them under Abram’s body and slowly wrapped him up. Once I was done, I tied the whole thing together with some string.
Once Abram’s body was wrapped up, I walked back into the bedroom. Emma was already sleeping when I got into bed next to her.
Exhaustion rolled through me. Even though I wanted to fight it, wanted to wake her up and convince her not to come, I found myself nodding off.
Maybe at least I’d get to dream of my cock slipping into her soaked pussy, of the look on her face as she came hard on my big cock.
16
Emma
I sat on the museum steps, enjoying the sun streaming down. It was crowded with tourists and other people milling around, some sitting just like I was, some eating, some heading into the building.
Brooks had gotten up early and gone to see a veterinarian who was willing to stitch shut his wounds, no questions asked. Once that was done, we went to the meeting place early, and he went out to scout out the area. He was annoyed that I had come, but that didn’t matter. I needed to take control of my own life and stop being a passive observer. If I had stayed behind, I would never have forgiven myself. Some part of him had to understand that.
I felt good. I didn’t know why, since I was probably in a lot of danger, but I felt good. The sun was shining, it was nice and warm, and a cool breeze passed over the crowd. I felt strong and light and free for the first time in a long time.
I watched as Brooks came up the steps toward me. I couldn’t help but smile at his dour, serious expression. He wore a light brown jacket, a black T-shirt, and a pair of loose jeans. I knew the jacket was hiding at least one gun and a knife, though I was betting he had more on him.
I smiled at him as he sat next to me. “Nice day,” I said.
“Yeah,” he grunted. “Beautiful.”
“See anything?”
“Nothing.”
I put my hand on his leg. “See? Relax. We’ll be okay.”
“Easy for you to say. I’m the one who has to kill a bunch of people if this goes wrong.”
I moved my hand back and sighed, leaning back. “Give me a gun. I’ll do some killing.”
He laughed. “You’re more likely to shoot yourself or me than the enemy, so no. You can just run.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Seriously, Emma. If this goes bad, you have to run. And run fast.”
“Why?”
“Because they’ll come for you. They’ll try to take you.”
“So what? I’m not leaving you behind.”
“In my bedroom, under the mattress, there’s around twenty thousand in big bills. Take that and leave the country.”
“Holy shit,” I said. “Seriously? Under the mattress?”
He grinned at me. “I know. Really cliché.”
“You’re a gangster with cash under his mattress. It doesn’t get any more cliché.”
“Can’t help it.”
“I was wondering what that lump was.”
“You were feeling sweet, sweet cash.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you really think I’ll need it?”
“Maybe,” he said. “Just be ready. Can you promise me?”
“Fine,” I said. “I promise.”
He nodded, satisfied. “Now I guess we wait.”
I held my hand up to shield my eyes. I checked my watch and frowned. It was a few minutes past one already, and the Spiders hadn’t shown up yet.
I found myself looking around the crowd, wondering if any of them were the Spiders. I watched a young mom playing with her little baby and wondered if she had another life. I watched an old man buying a hotdog, suspicious of his oversized jacket.
Everyone around me had become a suspect. Still, that didn’t do much to cut into my bad mood.
“What do you think of him?” I asked, nodding at the old man.
“Killer, no doubt,” Brooks said.
“Really?”
“Look at how he moves. Killer, with magic knees.”
“You mean titanium knees. He’s at least eighty years old.”
“He’s been in the game forever.”
I laughed. “What about her? The girl with the pink hair.”
“Oh,” he said, nodding. “Now she’s dangerous. Watch out.”
“Why?”
“She’s got pink hair, tattoos, and a skateboard. That girl might not be a killer, but she’s the most dangerous person here.”
I couldn’t help but laugh again as we imagined fake scenarios for a few more people in the crowd. It felt comfortable laughing and joking with him like this, almost as if we weren’t about to meet a deadly gang about my future.
I felt myself feeling comfortable with him. Just a few days ago, Brooks was a terrifying stranger who I was convinced wanted to rape and murder me. Now, though, I trusted him more than anyone else in the world. I knew he had my best interests at heart, even if I didn’t always agree with him.
Brooks was a killer, a dangerous man, but he cared about me, made me laugh, made me feel things I’d never felt before.
A few minutes later, Brooks’s phone began to ring. He answered it.
“Yeah?” A short pause. “Where?” He clenched his jaw. “Fine. See you shortly.”
He hung up the phone.
“Come on,” he said, standing. “We’re going inside.”
“What?”
“Apparently the Spider is inside.”
I got up and followed him as we wove our way through the crowd. He moved like a panther stalking his prey, lithe and strong. I couldn’t help but marvel at him as he dodged past the tourists and their screaming kids.
We got in line and waited. It moved pretty fast, and soon enough we had our tickets. I followed him as he moved along, his eyes constantly darting around. I could see that he was assessing everything around him, wondering what the angles were, how we could escape. I should have felt nervous, but all I felt was excitement coursing through my veins.
I’d never done something like this before. I felt like a spy in a movie or something. Without Brooks, I would have been lost, alone, and terrified, but with him, I felt incredibly alive.
We wove our way through exhibit after exhibit. From dinosaur bones to renaissance paintings, the museum seemed to have everything. I wanted to stop and stare at the art, to feel and experience it, but we had something more important to do. Maybe after we could wander through the halls together and I could figure out what made this man tick.
Finally, we reached the back of the building. There weren’t any other people here as we stepped into a room dedicated to voodoo art and culture. Shrunken heads, magical runes, small statues in various shapes, bundles of incense, and more dotted the walls and the glass cases.
We stopped and Brooks looked around. “This is the spot,” he said.
“Think they’re late?”
“I don’t know.” I saw him reaching slowly toward his pants where his gun was hidden.
“Hello, Brooks.”
We both looked up, surprised. A thin woman stepped into the room, smiling. She was beautiful, with thick dark hair, large dark eyes, and light, flawless skin.
“Holy shit,” Brooks said.
“I prefer Louisa,” the woman responded.
“What’s happening?”
I asked Brooks softly.
“This is Louisa Barone. She’s the daughter of the mafia’s head boss.”
She smiled and nodded. “Yep. That’s right.”
“So you people know then?” he asked. “Why would you come here and not Dante?”
“You misunderstand, Brooks. I’m the person you’re here to meet with.”
I watched as Brooks stared at her and slowly comprehension dawned. “You’re the Spider.”
“That’s right. I’m the black widow.”
“I heard you never left your room.”
She smiled again. “That’s a convenient lie. Well, it used to be true, but not anymore.”
“I don’t understand.”
She walked into the room. “Can you guess why I picked this room in particular?”
“Back of the building, few people, easy to attack.”
“All of that is true,” she said, “but there’s something else. Voodoo itself is important to me.”
“Voodoo,” Brooks said flatly.
She nodded again. “Haitian Voodoo is very, very interesting. It has a long history of important women priests. I think they’re called mambo. The mambo protect their people with magic spells to keep away evil spirits.” She looked up and smiled at me. “That’s more or less what I do, Emma.”
I blinked at her.
“Why are we here?” Brooks asked.
Louisa looked back at him. “I want to help you, Brooks. I wanted you to see me, to know my secret, in exchange for your trust. Now you know. I’ve been attacking my father’s mafia, stealing away the women he enslaves and setting them free. I’ve been running a large network of men and women for a long time, all building up to this.”
“I don’t understand,” Brooks said. “Why would you hurt your own family?”
She shrugged and came closer. “I have my reasons. But most importantly, I can help you.”
“How?”
“I have connections. I can get you into a safe house. I can get rid of Abram’s body as well, even run interference with my family for a while. Soon, we’ll be able to get you both out of the city.”
“Why?” I asked suddenly. “I don’t understand. Why would you risk your family for us?”
Louisa looked at me and smiled. “I knew you were worth bringing here. Have you ever felt powerless, small? Like nobody could save you?”