Chasing Silver

by Jamie Craig

  “Who’s helping you?”

  “Nobody but me,” Cesar said, moving to the foot of the bed.

  Nathan sent him a dismissive glance before turning his attention back to Tian. “You’re not smart enough, and we both know it. Your boys aren’t, either. Who’s helping you?”

  Anger flashed in Tian’s black eyes, but only for a moment before he subdued it. “I don’t think you’re in the position to ask questions.”

  “You’re not going to defend yourself?” Nathan rasped. It took what little energy he had left to speak. It took even more energy to enunciate through his swollen and bleeding lips. He welcomed the bitter taste of copper flowing over his tongue with each word, preferring it to the lingering flavor of laundry detergent.

  Tian’s hand shot forward, his fingers wrapping around Nathan’s neck. “I don’t have to answer to you. Or explain myself.”

  “But somebody is helping you.”

  “Yeah, somebody is. Your worst nightmare.”

  He released Nathan with disgust, stepping back again. Nathan took several deep breaths, though the air burned on its way down his throat. “What’s my worst nightmare’s name?”

  “Why do you care? You’ll be dead before you have a chance to meet him.”

  “I’m hurt. I really am. Don’t you know I care about you, Tian? I care about your friends, your goals, your future. I guess that’s why I’ve spent so much time looking into your life.” Nathan’s lips twisted into a grotesque smile.

  “You don’t know shit about me,” Tian countered, his eyes narrowing.

  “Let’s just finish him.” Cesar pulled a gun from his waistband. “One shot in the head, and it won’t matter what this motherfucker knows or thinks he knows.”

  Nathan didn’t look away from Tian, though he was intrigued by Cesar’s reaction. He had made his intentions known several times, and chief among those, was keeping Nathan alive long enough to see Remy’s end. And now Cesar was ready to kill him right there? Looks like somebody hit a nerve.

  “No,” Tian said, holding his hand out. “You heard what Kirsten said. He’s hers until she gets what she wants.”

  “Man, fuck that bitch. What’s she going to do about it?”

  “She might not be able to do anything, but Gabriel will.”

  “Gabriel?” Nathan interjected. “Is he your new friend, Tian? What’s his last name?”

  “Shut up,” Cesar snapped. “I’m tired of hearing your voice. Do I need to gag you?”

  “No gagging either,” Tian said, taking the gun from Cesar. “What if he feels like talking?”

  “He always feels like talking,” Cesar muttered.

  “Gabriel de los Rios? Is that your new friend’s name? You’re right to be scared, Tian. I’d listen to him, Cesar.”

  “You’re already a dead man, Pierce. Just because this Henryk bitch wants to keep you alive doesn’t mean you’re safe forever,” Cesar said, dragging the tip of his bloody hanger up Nathan’s chest after retrieving it from the dresser.

  “Well, so are you. You don’t need me to tell you that you two are just the grunts, right? You must know.”

  Tian brought his elbow down on Nathan’s stomach, knocking the wind out of his body. Nathan closed his eyes, struggling to keep control. He didn’t know where his breaking point was, didn’t know how far they could push him before he snapped, but he thought they might be getting close. He felt like he was shattering, his skin pulling apart from the endless shallow cuts that Cesar had carved into his flesh.

  “He’ll kill you,” Nathan said, when he could speak again. “When you’re of no more use to him, he’ll kill you. And he’ll take everything you’ve worked the last decade to create. Was that the deal you made to get me? I’m flattered.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cesar said, reaching for the lighter he had discarded earlier. He ran the flame over the hanger, his eyes glowing.

  “Cesar,” Tian said sharply, holding out his hand. “It’s my turn.”

  “What do you mean, it’s your turn? I’ve barely started.”

  They both looked down then, studying Cesar’s work. A part of Nathan wished he could see it himself. But even if he had the mobility, his eyes were too swollen and thick for him to see much of anything.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll leave some for you.”

  Cesar scowled, clearly wanting to argue more, but left without further protest. Tian followed him to the door and locked it behind him, tossing the hanger aside.

  “What do you know about him?”

  Nathan swallowed. “About Gabriel? I think I want that water now.”

  Tian growled with frustration, but he ducked inside the dark bathroom, returning with a glass of water. He held it to Nathan’s lips, allowing him to take several loud gulps before pulling it away. “Now what the fuck do you know?”

  The cold water flowed through him, landing hard in his sore stomach. It almost replenished some of his strength—enough to keep him talking, at any rate.

  If Tian wanted to know about Gabriel, he’d tell him the man’s entire life story.

  “Gabriel has been in and out of L.A. for about a decade now. He comes into town, finds the newest up-and-comers, and makes them a little stronger, a little more powerful. But it comes with a price, right? He’s not altruistic. He’s not helping you because he wants to be your friend. He wants to rule Los Angeles and he’s so subtle, so slow, most people haven’t noticed at all.”

  “But you have?” Tian asked coldly.

  “It’s my job to notice. And he noticed you, didn’t he? You didn’t contact him first.”

  Tian folded his arms. His silence was enough of an admission.

  “He wasn’t going to get involved before Kirsten Henryk found him, was he?”

  Tian remained silent.

  “Do you know what she wants? Do you know why I’m still alive? They didn’t tell you, did they? Because you don’t matter. He wants your territory, he wants your men, and he wants your death added to his reputation.”

  “Man, fuck you.”

  “I didn’t make a deal with the devil. But I’m surprised you did. Thought you were smarter than that, Tian.”

  Tian stared at him with unreadable eyes for several long seconds, the wheels in his head turning almost audibly. Tian had made it as far and as long as he had because of his strong sense of self-preservation. He didn’t put anybody or anything ahead of himself, and Nathan appreciated that. No ties meant there was nothing to grab except the man himself.

  “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

  “I’ve met Gabriel before.” Tian opened his mouth, his eyes flashing. Nathan only smiled. “Did he tell you he never heard of me? The man’s heard of me. More than once. But Tian, why would he lie to you?”

  “I should kill you now.” Tian raised the gun. “I think it’ll be doing all of us a favor.”

  Nathan opened his hand, flashing his burned fingers. “You kill me before I hand over the coin, and you are a dead man. Do you want to survive this little deal you’ve made, Tian? Regardless of what happens later, it’s got to be better than a shallow grave. You played right into his hands. You owe him, and he’ll collect.”

  Tian shook his head. “You have more reason to screw with me than Gabriel does.”

  “No, that’s not true. I just wanted to put you in jail. Gabriel wants to take everything you ever cared about and kill you,” Nathan pointed out.

  Tian’s lips thinned. “I think that’s what he intends for you, Nathan. A single bullet right between Remy Capra’s eyes. Well…” He smiled now. “…eventually. But I’ll let you see her one more time before it’s all over.”

  * * *

  This was not the way Kirsten had envisioned things working out. Pierce should have given Remy up without much of a fight. The one thing she’d learned about the bounty hunter was that he had a tenacious sense of self-preservation. Given the choice between him and Capra, the choice should have been simple. It was inconcei
vable that Remy could have gotten to him so badly in such a short period of time.

  Yet, Cesar and Tian had been with him for far too long. And as soon as Cesar came storming out of the room, his thunderous glower told her things with Pierce were not going as he had anticipated.

  It was time to start reconsidering her plan. She needed the Silver Maiden, and if Pierce was going to drag his feet—if he ever gave them the information they wanted at all—she had little choice but to find new means to get it herself. Gabriel would be little help. He trusted Tian too much, and had no idea how Remy Capra worked. Kirsten had to find a new ally.

  A crash came from the kitchen, followed by Cesar’s shouted curses.

  Or an old enemy.

  Picking up the portable phone, Kirsten carried it out to the front of the house, slipping the door shut behind her. Information connected her to the number she wanted, and she listened to the wordless Muzak as she waited for the receptionist to finish putting her through. In the distance, the sounds of the ocean relaxed her, in spite of the anxiety of failure twisting through her gut.

  He answered on the first ring, his deep voice brusque, the soft hum of car engines in the background.

  “It’s good to know my shot didn’t wound you too badly. How are you feeling, Officer McGuire?”

  His sharp intake of breath made her smile. “Ms. Henryk.” His voice was tight. “Somehow, I don’t think you’re interested in how I’m doing.”

  “You’re right. I’m not.” When she heard a door open and close inside, Kirsten hesitated, glancing over her shoulder to see if she would be interrupted. Nobody came out.

  “Do I get to find out what this is about?”

  She smiled. “Whether Nathan Pierce lives or dies, of course. Or is your ex-partner’s life not worth as much as one silver coin?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Kirsten gave McGuire two hours. Her original ultimatum had been one, but he scoffed and said, “Obviously, you know as much about L.A. traffic as you do ethics. I need more time than that.” His comment almost angered her enough to call off the deal, but she held her tongue. Tian was proving less than useless. Regardless of how she felt about McGuire, he was her best bet at getting the Silver Maiden back.

  Finding another opportunity to slip outside and make the call, however, proved troublesome. Cesar hovered in the background no matter where she turned, complaining about the lack of real food in the house and how violence always made him hungry. She dispatched him to a nearby Mexican restaurant with enough cash to satisfy whatever craving he had. Gabriel was in his bedroom, taking a midday nap, while Tian didn’t seem to know what room he wanted to settle in.

  She decided to risk it when he went to the bathroom.

  “McGuire.”

  The California sun was hot on her cheeks, but the warm flush spreading through Kirsten’s body was caused more from relief than anything else. She hated being so dependent on this rogue cop, but if he answered his phone so quickly, he’d been anticipating her call. He was a man ready to talk. That had to be a good sign.

  “Do you have the coin?”

  “I got it. Let me speak to Nathan.”

  “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

  His explosive curse pierced her line, and Kirsten held the phone away until he lowered his volume. “…Unless you want me to turn you in for kidnapping, you’ll put him on the damn phone!”

  “We both know you can’t turn me in if you can’t find me. And if you continue to treat me like an amateur, I’ll find another way to acquire the coin and your friend will die. So go on. Be a jackass and kill your friend. It’ll be funny.”

  Silence. Threatening Nathan Pierce’s life was the best way to get to this man.

  “How do I know he’s even still alive?” McGuire demanded, his voice lower.

  “Because I’m giving you my word. Cop to cop.”

  He snorted. “You shot me. That doesn’t inspire me to trust you, Ms. Henryk.”

  “Yes, but now we’re both in a position where each has something the other person wants. I have your friend, you have the coin.” She paused. “And Remy Capra.”

  “What!” He was back to being loud again. Kirsten thought her initial impressions of him as a reasonable man had been too optimistic. With the right stimulus, he was very easily provoked to fury. “You didn’t say a word about Remy being part of this deal.”

  “I didn’t think I had to. You’ve known from the start I was looking for her.”

  She didn’t hear his response. The door behind her opened, startling her into whirling and facing Tian’s frowning face. Before he said a word, she disconnected the call.

  “Who were you talking to?”

  “One of my contacts.” Her eyes were cool as they met his. “I was checking in to see if he had any new information on the girl.”

  “You found a friend in the LAPD? I thought you said you were new to town.”

  Though her features remained placid, inwardly Kirsten seethed. Damn it. He’d overheard too much.

  “It doesn’t take living somewhere for years to find a sympathetic ear. Just because you think you’ve got the situation under control doesn’t mean I have to sit back and wait for things to happen.”

  “It takes years to find a sympathetic ear in L.A.,” Tian countered. “You were talking to that McGuire prick, weren’t you?”

  “I was talking to my contact.” She refused to have this argument with him. With her shoulders squared, Kirsten stepped forward to go back into the house, only to have Tian’s hand shoot out and grab her arm, forcing her to a halt. Her gaze flickered to his white-knuckled fingers, ignoring the pain of his tight grip. “Let me go or lose that hand.”

  “You come waltzing in here, expecting everybody to lick the shit off the bottom of your shoe. I don’t know how you got Gabriel to help you, but I don’t really care, either.” Tian tightened his hold. “Cutting deals behind his back and putting me and mine in danger? That, I do care about.”

  Only the fact that he was closer to his gun than she was to hers kept her from shooting him then and there.

  “I’m doing what I have to, to get the job done.” Her voice dripped with ice. “And if you think Gabriel has a problem with results, then by all means, let’s ask him, shall we?”

  “You want to find out if Gabriel has problems with cutting deals with McGuire? You think he might appreciate the fact you’re revealing the location of his safe house? Fine. Let’s go ask him,” Tian said, dragging her into the kitchen.

  * * *

  “Damn it!” Slamming down the phone, Isaac glared at the tech in the corner. “Please tell me you got that.”

  The computer tech squinted at the screen in front of him, his fat fingers flying across the keyboard. The electronic taps and beeps of his computer filled the room, stretching the passing seconds into a full minute, but his narrowed eyes never left the screen, the beads of sweat popping out on his shiny pate. His discomfort was obvious, but Isaac didn’t care. Because this wasn’t an active case, he had to pull a lot of strings to get the trace done, not to mention doing it over the phone since he had to drive to Nathan’s bank and retrieve the coin first. He’d been designated a signatory and had his own key to the safe deposit box since Nathan had first rented it.

  If the trace didn’t work, Isaac didn’t know what he was going to do next. He didn’t know why Kirsten had hung up on him, and he had no idea how Remy would react if something happened to Nathan. He glanced to where the girl in question fidgeted against the far wall, waiting for the tech’s response as impatiently as he was. Correction. He knew how she would react. Violently. At anybody who happened to be standing too close.

  Isaac was about to march forward and slam the computer over the tech’s bald head when the man’s face lit up with excitement.

  “Got it!”

  The printer beside him sprang to electronic life, humming for a moment before its rollers began to spew out a sheet of paper. Isaac darted forward to snatch it off the tray,
beating Remy there by only a split second, and almost sighed in relief when he noted the address.

  “That’s only thirty minutes away,” he said, turning on his heel and heading for the door. “This’ll be over within the hour.”

  He was startled to a halt when she cut him off. “You’re not leaving me here.” She vibrated from all her pent-up energy, hands on her hips as her doe eyes crackled with expectation. “I’m going with you.”

  “No, you’re not.” Grabbing her by the biceps, Isaac dragged her out of the conference room he’d conscripted for the phone trace, down the hall, and into a tiny interrogation room at its far end.

  “I know you care about Nathan.” He didn’t have time to stand around and debate this with her. One of them had to be rational. “But guess what? He’s got his head turned around because of you, too. And if something happens to you getting him away from Tian, it’s going to kill him. So stop trying to turn this into a one-woman crusade and start being as smart as Nathan claims you are. You can’t go with me.”

  “You can’t stop me.”

  “I can.” He held up his key ring, jangling his keys in front of her face. “All I have to say is you’re a hostile witness, and I can lock you up in here to cool down until you’re ready to talk. Nobody would question it, and nobody would come to your rescue.”

  “I’ll scream.”

  “You’ll be wasting your breath.”

  She didn’t back down. “Why are you doing this? Just because you don’t like me—”

  “I like you just fine!” Frustrated, Isaac rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the knots starting to return already. “Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but hell, between your crazy story and everything that happened with Susanna, can you blame me? You don’t have a monopoly on caring about him, Remy. He and I might not be blood-related, but he’s the only family I have I’d die for.” He took a deep breath. “But it doesn’t matter anyway. This has nothing to do with that. You heard Miles. Cesar is out for blood and you’re next on the menu. I take you in and—”