by Jami Gray
She wasn’t impressed. His frame wasn’t the only average thing about him. Brown hair cut short matched equally brown eyes set in a face neither attractive nor ugly. If she passed him on the street she’d never guess at what lay under the skin. Thing was, after watching his interaction with the Raiders and seeing his handiwork with Echo, she wasn’t about to underestimate him.
He stopped and brushed a hand over the tangle of Echo’s dark hair, her flinch coiled like a vicious poison in Charity’s gut. Even the Broker’s smile was fucking average. ‘Echo here, has been nice enough to inform me you were recently asking questions about my business. Business that took a nasty turn this morning.’ The hand in Echo’s hair clenched. ‘Something I explained to our mutual friend here, I wasn’t happy about.’ He gave her a vicious shove that sent Echo sprawling with a pained groan. River Man didn’t shift his shark-like gaze. ‘In fact, I’m quite curious as to who invited you to what was a private meeting.’
Charity’s thoughts spun. River Man hadn’t snatched her bait, instead, he went the same route she did when she hit town—hit up the person who knew the comings and goings of Kennewick, Echo. Which meant he had no idea who she or Ruin were, but assumed they were the shooter. It was too soon to decide if that was a good or bad thing.
Unfortunately, before she could say anything, Ruin cut in. ‘You did.’
That took River Man by surprise. ‘Excuse me?’
Shut up, Ruin! She silently screamed the warning wishing she had the ability to gag the idiot. Instead, she could only stand there, hands bound, teeth gritted, head aching and glare as he dug his own grave.
‘You should choose your business associates,’ Ruin sneered, ‘with a bit more care. They got greedy.’
Brown eyes widened as knowledge struck, then narrowed. ‘Fuck me, you’re a goddamn Vulture.’
‘Not my type, but I’m sure Reaper will make an exception just for you.’
She made a distracted mental note never to be on the receiving end of Ruin’s fury, it cut deeper than bone.
As a threat it worked. River Man’s face lost a bit of colour, but it didn’t last long. He turned his attention to Charity, calculation seeping into his flat gaze. ‘And you?’
Again, Ruin spoke before she could. ‘A fun piece to get to that one.’ Ruin lifted his chin towards Echo. ‘They’ve done business before, so I used her to get me in.’
As much as she appreciated his attempt to keep her out of the line of fire, she wasn’t comfortable with him playing her shield. Unfortunately, she was short on alternatives. When he refused to acknowledge her glare, she fought to keep her churning emotions from her face and turned her anger towards River Man. She held his reptilian gaze with a disdainful sneer.
His cold smile made her uneasy, an instinctive reaction to an unknown threat. ‘Well then, I hope you enjoyed it while you could as I’m afraid your fun has come to an end.’ His attention shifted to behind her. ‘Gil, Bo, bring him along.’ Scar Face and Muddy Eyes slithered up to Ruin, grabbed his arms and dragged him back towards the stairs.
Fear seared through her leaving her heart frozen. She turned to follow, only to be brought up short with a vicious grip on her arm. Turning to the man who held her, she spat, ‘Where are you taking him?’
River Man’s smile was merciless in its cruelty. ‘Whereas your worth is minor, as a Vulture, his is much, much more. Enough that I may yet be able to salvage the transaction you two cost me.’ He tossed her towards Echo, sending her to the unforgiving floor with bruising force. With her hands bound, she could only twist to take the impact. Pain, bright and sharp, lanced over her hip and shoulder, adding grey edges to her vision. She tried to relearn to breath and dimly heard him give orders to the guards on the bottom floor. ‘Keep them here. I’ll be back soon to get them ready for delivery.’
Dropping her head to the floor, she swallowed against the choking dread and prayed for a fucking miracle.
Chapter 20
Another fist slammed into his already sore ribs and this time, Ruin couldn’t hold back his groan. He wasn’t sure how long he hung here playing punching bag for the two ham-fisted dick weasels getting their rocks off. Long enough he’d be pissing blood for a week when he got out of here. And it was definitely a question of when, not if. They had his arms chained above his head, the heavy links coiled around his wrists pulling him up until only the toes of his boots brushed the floor. River Man was a fucking sadist. No surprise there considering the number he did on Echo, or the perverted plans for both her and Charity he delightfully shared with Ruin on the trip over to wherever the hell they were.
Ruin twisted his head and spat another mouthful of blood off to the side, waiting for the next punch. It took a second to realise none was forthcoming. He lifted his head to find out why, only then registering his right eye was swollen shut. His left worked well enough to see River Man standing in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Ruin. Unfortunately, he was smart enough to stay far enough back so Ruin couldn’t kick him. He knew the Broker held no intention of killing him, but it didn’t stop the fucker from beating the shit out of him.
He didn’t bother talking, simply held the little man’s gaze. Unsurprised when River Man broke. ‘Feel up to talking now?’
Ruin forced his abused lips into a fierce smile and held his silence. He figured out quick that the one thing guaranteed to get the Broker talking was staying mute. The ego-driven sociopath just couldn’t resist bragging. Granted it was petty as shit, but since all he could currently do was hang around, he’d take it.
River Man considered him for another long, tense moment, then surprisingly changed tactics. ‘Here’s the thing, you and I wouldn’t be here if Tyke employed a better calibre of talent. The directions given were simple, remove Crane, keep the Vultures busy. Yet the fuckwits decided to improvise. I’d offer my apologies on your friend’s death, as I’m sure their choice of amusement was quite brutal, but I’ve a feeling you wouldn’t take it. Not that I blame you. Of course, now that I have to clean up their mess, I’m tempted to let you loose on them. Save me the trouble of doing it later.’
Now they were getting somewhere. ‘Feel free. I’d be more than happy to take out your trash.’ His voice came out rough.
River Man’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, but he wagged his finger. ‘No, I’m afraid it’s too late for that. Instead, I’m going to hand you over to someone who has a better use for you than I do.’
Deciding it was time to wipe that smug- ass grin from his face, Ruin drawled, ‘You mean Reznik?’
It worked like a charm. River Man’s face wiped blank, then a slow tide of anger seeped in, but he still tried to cover his lapse. ‘And who is Reznik?’
Turning his head, Ruin sent another mouth full of blood to the stained floor. Then he slowly came back to centre, his almost numb fingers gripping the chain between his wrists in an attempt to take some of the stinging pain off his shoulders. ‘Don’t play stupid, it doesn’t look good on you.’ Manufacturing a combination of pity and contempt, he stared River Man down. ‘Reznik is the one pulling your strings.’ Then he decided it was time to start a little manipulation of his own. ‘And he’s not one for loose ends either.’ Ignoring the fire flash of pain, he managed to lift his shoulders into a shrug. ‘You’re a lucky bastard. If you hadn’t dived for that tunnel this morning, there wouldn’t be any loose ends to worry about.’
As taunts went it was lame, but it managed to worm its way under River Man’s skin. His arms dropped to his side and his hands curled into fists. ‘You trying to get me to believe Reznik made a deal with you? A fucking Vulture? Why the hell would he do that?’
He wouldn’t, and anyone with a working, non-paranoid brain would know that. Thankfully River Man’s grey matter was jumpy as shit and susceptible to mind games. It gave Ruin something to work with so he could buy time. ‘Not privy to the deets. I leave that political shit up to my man Reaper.’
That brought River Man a couple of steps close
r. ‘The Vultures are loyal to Crane.’
Taking a risk, Ruin leant forward, the chain creaking with his movement. ‘Wrong. The Vultures are loyal to the Vultures, everyone else can fuck off.’
Warned by the crafty confidence in River Man’s slow smile, Ruin braced. ‘Except Simon.’
Play along, Ruin. The reminder didn’t do much, but he choked back the snarl of fury urging him to do something stupid and bit out, ‘You said it yourself, the Raiders are fuckwits. When they killed Simon, they fucked with our plans and signed their extinction order, theirs and the one holding their leashes. Can’t leave mistakes like that lying around, best to get rid of them. Consider it good business.’ Savage satisfaction burned through him at the flash of fear that River Man was quick to hide.
‘So now you’re threatening to turn on the one you’re supposedly working for?’
Forcing his muscles to uncoil, Ruin simply smiled. ‘Wasn’t Reznik’s hand on the leash.’ He gave River Man a few seconds of puzzlement before adding another psychological cut. ‘It was yours.’
Confusion snapped to wariness. ‘See, that’s where you’re mistaken. I didn’t orchestrate Simon’s death. I simply relayed Reznik’s orders. The Raiders’ decision to go after Simon rests on them. Feel free to wipe them out. I’m sure Reznik will be thrilled with their removal. It’s one less loose thread he has to snip in the end.’
In the end? What the hell did that mean? Studying River Man, Ruin knew it was useless to pursue that angle. No way the Broker possessed the real game plan. Especially since he didn’t even blink about eliminating the Raiders. If Reznik truly didn’t give a damn about wiping out the Raiders, did River Man realise what that ultimately meant for him? Considering the heavy egotistical blinders he was wearing, probably not. But there was one part of this mess River Man might know. ‘See? I think you don’t give the Raider dogs enough credit. Taking them off the board plays hell with Reznik’s kid snatching business, but taking your ass out, well that just leaves empty air. Easy enough to find another blowhard to take your spot. Hell, maybe I’ll volunteer for it, might make an amusing distraction.’
River Man’s jaw clenched until bone pressed against his skin and Ruin wondered if he managed to tip the asshole over. Somehow the other man managed to reel it back. ‘Those kids are more valuable than—’ He stopped short, his lips compressing into a tight line. ‘Never mind. This is getting us nowhere.’
Actually, it was wasting time, and that’s all Ruin could do. Burn through enough to give Charity or Vex and Havoc a chance to find him. He just had to hang in there. Maybe mess with the little shit’s mind a bit while he was at. Time to go balls to the wall. ‘Had Reznik’s permission to put you in the crosshairs.’
His words not only stopped River Man’s retreat but brought him back that final fucking step. Ruin didn’t wait, but grabbed the chain between his hands, whipped his leg up and nailed the River Man under his chin with the tip of his booth. A pained roar erupted as River Man stumbled back, hand covering his face as he fell to his back on the floor. The other two dashed in, and he managed to keep them at bay with a series of vicious kicks, but it was a losing battle. Their fists managed to connect more and more often, until he could only hang there and endure as the pain wrapped tighter and tighter coils around his mind. There was a lull in the pummelling and something wrapped in his hair and yanked his head back with vicious intensity.
‘Open your fucking eyes.’ The sibilant command penetrated the fog of screaming aches. ‘Open them or I’ll cut off your balls, you bastard.’
Yeah no, he had plans for his little buddies. The distant thought made his lips twitch, which sent an arrow of fire across his face. He groaned but forced his heavy lids up. He managed to get his left eye open only to have River Man’s blood-coated face take up all the space. Well now, that was a thing of beauty.
‘Think that was funny, fucker?’
It took effort, but Ruin managed to get his tongue working. ‘Fucking hysterical.’
That got another sharp drag on his hair and sent knife-like pain radiating up his neck. ‘Let’s see if you can keep laughing.’ With that parting shot, the hold on his head reversed and slammed his head forward, sending his body swaying in the chains.
The fists returned and it wasn’t long before the sounds of his pained grunts filled the air.
Well, shit.
Chapter 21
Charity rolled over with a soft groan and blinked up at the swaying play of shadows on the roof. ‘What the hell happened, Echo?’ She kept her voice soft, aware of the guards below.
‘Warned you.’ Her answer was a croak.
‘You gave us up.’
Echo’s laugh edged close to a sob. ‘I like breathing, Charity.’
Yeah, so did she. The ringing in her ears started to recede, and her headache stayed bearable if she didn’t move. She stared blindly up at the ceiling wondering how long their two guards would stay away. Worry for Ruin clawed at her, shredding the calm she relied on to tatters. The stupid, thickheaded idiot. Giving himself up like that! Dammit. River Man would turn Ruin over to Reznik. The sleazy ass crime lord would take great pleasure in making an example out of one of the infamous Vultures. Granted he’d do worse to Lilith’s top ‘Hound, but it didn’t soothe her worry or erase one iota of her guilt.
‘Think we got time before he gets back?’ The question drifted up from the bottom floor courtesy of one of their guard dogs and snapped her out of her pity party.
‘Maybe,’ drawled a second one. ‘We can wait a bit, jus’ to be sure he ain’t coming back any time soon.’
Next to her, she felt Echo stiffen. Before the other woman could do much more, Charity shifted her leg and kicked Echo’s ankle in warning. Echo needed to stay still and quiet. No need to cue the moron twins on the fact the two women were listening. She kept her breathing shallow and didn’t move, grateful when Echo did the same.
‘I need a piss.’
‘Yeah, I need a damn drink.’
‘We can’t both leave at once,’ the first one whined.
‘Where the hell they gonna go?’ sneered the second. ‘Only way out is through us.’
It wasn’t hard to figure out what was coming next. Charity let her lashes drift almost closed. Sure enough feet thudded up the steps and over to her, accompanied by the stench of body odour. ‘Bitches are out, they ain’t going anywhere.’
‘You sure?’
It took everything she had not to brace for the kick that landed in her stomach. Instead, she doubled over the foot with a stifled groan, mentally ripping him a new one.
Clueless motherfucker spat, ‘See? Out.’
‘Fine,’ the first one snivelled. Then the two idiots clomped down the stairs. She waited until they started a conversation with the others downstairs before whispering, ‘Echo?’
‘What?’
Hearing the snap of Echo’s temper reassured Charity. ‘You up to fighting?’
‘There’s like two of them, maybe more, and I’m beat to shit if you haven’t noticed.’
So was she, but it wouldn’t stop her from getting to Ruin. ‘Doesn’t matter. They just sent one out to run sentry. If we do this right, they won’t catch on until it’s too late.’
‘I’m going to regret this,’ Echo muttered, but she turned over to face Charity. ‘Now what?’
Doing a quick inventory of Echo’s battered body, she sent up a fervent ‘thank you’ when she noticed Echo’s swollen hands were bound in front of her.
‘I need you to get the blade out of my boot so we can cut these damn ropes.’
Echo’s bruised eyes drifted down Charity’s legs. A glimpse of her normal irreverence appeared. ‘It took getting beaten near death to finally get my hands on your body.’
Catching the fear under the false confidence, Charity didn’t hide her tiny grin. ‘Cheeky bitch.’
Carefully the two shifted their positions until Echo was at Charity’s feet, her fumbling fingers at her pant leg. Seconds ticked by, eac
h one another lost moment.
When a soft, frustrated sob broke, Charity murmured, ‘It’s okay, Echo, deep breath, you can do this.’
Finally, Charity felt her blade slide free. ‘Okay, got it.’ Echo’s voice was a mere whisper.
Charity forced her battered body to turn so Echo could cut the rope binding her hands. The harsh bark of male laughter brought their movements to a stop, neither one daring to breathe until they were certain no-one was coming back in. Charity knew their luck wouldn’t hold much longer. She strained her arms and kept tension on the rope. When the last strand snapped, and blood rushed through reigniting nerve endings, she bit her lip to keep her painful yelp quiet. As soon as she could, she turned back, took the blade from Echo and sawed through her bindings.
With their hands free, they both sat up, their attention focused on the stairs, ears straining to catch what was happening below.
Echo leant in and rasped, ‘Now what?’
‘Now we get our clueless duo back up here. Maybe draw the others out while we’re at it.’
Echo looked at her. ‘How do you plan to do that?’
‘Give them every man’s fantasy.’
Her answer left Echo blinking. ‘Honey, I’m really not in the mood.’
Charity snorted. ‘Not that, a cat fight.’
Understanding lit Echo’s eyes. ‘Got it.’
And with that, they rose stiffly to their feet. Charity shook out her arms, the hand crushed under the boot was slow to respond, but it worked. The world dipped, then steadied. Her chest ached like a bitch, but overall she could work with it. She waited until Echo did her own inventory and gave her a nod.
Dragging in air, she yelled, ‘You stupid bitch! I’ll gut you for giving us up!’
‘Giving you up?’ Echo screamed back. ‘You still fucking owe me for the information. I’m not willing to die for you and your bastard boyfriend.’
A shout from outside drifted upstairs, soon followed by pounding feet rushing inside on the bottom floor. One of the guards shouted, ‘What the fuck is going on up there?’