He filled her in on the whole story. He didn’t tell her any specifics about Dax and the Associates, but he gave her the outlines of the deal he’d had to make to get to Jerrod and his job of climbing the Hangman ranks in order to bust their government protection.
It sounded psycho when he told her about it. To spend years of his life climbing the ranks of the gangs just for the chance to kill a man? She loved him. They had a son. But he’d made his life choices based entirely on vengeance. Raised by scorpions, he thought bitterly, wishing he could give the kid something better.
“You’re working undercover? Is that what you’re saying here?”
He nodded.
“Even when you were with my dad?”
“Yes.”
“You’re one of the good guys? All this time—”
“Working for the good guys,” he said. But it didn’t make him one of them. “I’ll get our boy back.” He loved the way it felt to say that. Our boy.
“Do you think they found out about who you are? Is that why they want to bring you in?”
“I don’t see how, but anything’s possible.” And it didn’t really matter. “Look, I need you to do something,” he said.
“What?”
The way she looked at him now, it was something new. Like he was a good man, a good father. It had felt like that when Benny looked at him. Like he was somebody good.
He thought of all the things he’d wanted as a kid. Most of all, he’d wanted to know his mom and dad had loved him, or at least liked him a little. “Nadia, if something happens—”
She widened her eyes.
“If something happens, tell the kid his old man loved him.”
“You’re going to get out of this. You always do, Thorne.”
“Just…promise me. Tell the kid…fuck.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Keep him away from all this criminal shit. But of course, that’s what you were trying to do this whole time.”
“Thorne.”
“Don’t let him get facial piercings. You end up with fucking holes all over your face that never go away. And make sure he listens to The Clash someday. And don’t let him say it is what it is, okay? Ever, okay?”
“You can tell him.”
“Promise me,” he said. “Especially the part about me loving him. Tell him how we played with trucks. That kid’s going to be a great driver someday. But no texting.”
“Stop it. You’re coming out of this.”
“I’ll try.”
“You’re the best fighter on the planet.”
He shut her up with a kiss. He put all his heart into it, trembling with love. He pulled away and drew a lock of her dark, pretty hair through his fingertips, stunned that it had somehow stayed shiny as silk while her whole world fell apart. “I can’t be like a normal father and husband—you know that’s true.”
“Don’t start that loser shit on me.”
“Just listen to me—you gave me something I never thought I’d have. Us in that park like a family this morning? It was more than I ever thought I’d have.”
“Thorne—”
“It’s all okay. And no matter what happens when I go in there—”
“Oh, my God! You’re planning to die.”
He slid a finger over her cheek. He would die the kind of man he’d wanted to be in life. He would be that man for them.
“That’s a yes!”
He kissed her, then. “This is what I can give you,” he said into the kiss. “This is how I can be good to you and our kid.”
“There has to be another way,” she said.
“Not one that doesn’t get Benny and Kara killed.”
“What about Richard? Or, don’t you have undercover friends or something? Allies? You’re just going to walk in there with your hands up and let them shoot you?”
Jerrod wouldn’t be that generous. It would be worse. “Anything else gets them killed. They’ll let them loose somewhere and give you an address so that you can pick them up. That’s the outcome we’re going for here.”
“Why aren’t they calling?”
“They said ten. We have a while.”
“Why do they need so much time?”
He saw when she answered her own question. To set things up to make sure he couldn’t come out alive.
“It’ll be okay,” he said. The lie of the century.
“And we just wait? Wait for them to figure out how to make sure you die?”
“I’ve got a few moves they don’t know about,” he said.
She looked unconvinced. “I keep thinking of Benny being scared.”
“They won’t hurt them. I’ll need proof of life before I go in, and they know it. And he has Kara there.”
“Are they letting her change his diapers? And he doesn’t have his duck.”
“Shh. Stop it. You got your phone?”
“Yeah.”
“Show me,” he said. “Show me some pictures. Let me know a few things about him.”
A wild look appeared in her eyes. “Fuck you, Thorne!” she said. “Don’t you have that guy who’s your friend inside Hangman? Didn’t you say you made an alliance? After the warehouse?”
“I’m pretty sure he’s the one who screwed us. Anyone I call, they’re just going to mess it up. This is my world. It has to be me alone.”
She stared bleakly at the phone.
“Come on, Nadia. I want to see when Benny was a baby. And do you have any shots of his drawings? I bet you do.”
“Stop it,” she whispered.
He swiped a thumb across her tears. “A man fights like he draws. Did you know that? Not that the kid will need to fight. You’re going to give him a good life. Not one where he’s raised by scorpions.”
“You can’t die—I won’t let you go.”
“This is how it works.”
“That’s like saying it is what it is.”
“What are you doing?”
“Fuck you. I’m calling Richard. We’re going with you.” She grabbed the phone.
“Put it down.”
She ignored him, punching in numbers.
“Going in there blazing, that’s what got my sister killed.” He swiped the phone from her and set it on the table. “It’s the only way, Nadia. Deep down, you know that. I’m the loser who’s going to save that kid.”
“Stop it!” She punched him in the shoulder halfheartedly.
He dipped down to kiss her neck. She could hit him all she wanted. He’d be the father Benny needed now. He kissed her collarbone. He kissed her tears.
“Stop it,” she said.
“I’m the loser who loves you.”
“You’re not a loser.”
He hoisted her up against him. Her tears tasted salty sweet.
“Thorne—”
“Say it.”
“No,” she said.
“I need you to say it,” he whispered. He needed that mindset back. The lowlife who had nothing to lose. Like he was alone in the world. The way he’d felt after his sister died.
“I love you,” she said.
He gathered her hair in his fists and tipped her head back, kissing her throat. “I’m the lowlife who cares only about vengeance.”
“You care about family. And I love you.”
He held her, forehead to forehead. He loved her, too. And Benny. How could he go in there wild and free?
Chapter Twenty-nine
The kid’s incessant whimpering, accompanied by the sister’s completely useless cooing, was getting on Jerrod’s nerves as it echoed through the cavernous warehouse space.
He cranked up the Hypnodeath. The boom box beat filled the place with sound and chaos.
That worked.
This facility had been a distribution center at one time, but the forklifts and mountains of boxes were long gone; it was just a lot of emptiness now, with soaring pillars to support the roof. The sister and the kid were tied to a ring at the center of the empty expanse of floor along with Barbarian, who would like
ly stay unconscious for a good long while. Jerrod was fine with that. It was Thorne he had to punish.
Jerrod grabbed a beer from the mini-fridge. “Anyone else?”
A few of the guys raised their hands, and he tossed beers their way. Miguel declined. The guys who were busy on lookout or rigging the place would have to wait.
Jerrod liked how this operation was separating the men from the boys. Not everybody had the stomach for killing women and kids; he’d been able to count on only his closest soldiers.
Jerrod couldn’t exactly tell them the truth of why he needed to punish Thorne and his family so violently; he’d made something up about needing to make an example out of them for being the co-op pirates and restoring the trust of the Quartet. Anyway, they’d be well rewarded.
He settled back into his chair. They’d used this place a few times for interrogations, and this corner seating area had come in handy for breaks and relaxation. Interrogation was strenuous work—a lot of people didn’t realize that.
There would be no interrogation today, of course; Jerrod had learned everything he needed to know when the DNA test came back. The surprise wasn’t the fact that the kid was Thorne’s—he’d been pretty sure he’d gotten that right just by eyeballing it.
No, it was the other result that had floored him.
He’d forgotten he’d instructed the lab to run every remotely gang-related DNA sample against a DNA sample he’d dubbed Sample M. He’d given the order some fifteen years ago; the M stood for massacre, specifically the massacre of his father and his four brothers and their closest allies.
Jerrod had been in Buenos Aires recuperating from plastic surgery when it happened. His whole family was wiped out in a single attack.
Jerrod’s cousin had called to tell him, and he’d assured him their branch of the family would find the guys who did it, but they never came through. Too busy taking over the family operations.
But the killer had left behind blood.
Thorne. All this time—Thorne. Working alone, because that was his style. It hadn’t taken Jerrod long to put it together that Thorne was the kid with wild orange hair who’d come to save his sister. They’d offed her right in front of him, then took him to the desert killing grounds. Everybody thought he’d died out there.
Well, he’d die now.
One of his guys called from the field with some last-minute question about setting up the stuff. It was a stupid question, but Jerrod answered with perfect patience, because if there was one thing they all understood, it was that there could be no mistakes regarding Thorne. Miguel even wanted to go out for a smoke and to take a look around. There were guards out there, of course, but Miguel had learned his lesson about Thorne firsthand—he’d been so sure that Nadia and Barbarian had died in that warehouse. But no, Thorne had gotten to them.
Jerrod typically liked a nice, clean kill. A bullet in the head. No Batman shit. Except when the person needed to suffer.
He planned for Thorne to endure the worst kind of helplessness and grief possible. As soon as Thorne turned himself over, they’d stake him out across the warehouse from his kid and Kara and Barbarian. Jerrod would have a little fun with them all first, and then they’d call Nadia to come and get her boy and sister. The only catch: the place would blow the minute she set foot inside.
Jerrod felt that the explosion was an excellent touch because it had a note of disdain to it. It said, We won’t even have to dispose of your bodies.
When the time came, he and his men would watch from outside positions, of course, and shoot anybody who escaped.
Not that anybody would.
Chapter Thirty
Thorne’s phone rang. He grabbed it. A number he didn’t know.
Nadia’s eyes widened. “It’s not ten yet.”
Thorne answered. “Yeah?”
Miguel’s voice. “He’s going to kill them.”
“What?” Thorne whispered hoarsely.
“Everyone dies. Nobody walks. He picked up Barbarian, too. He’s saying you’re all the pirates. He’s got proof.”
“Where’s he holding them?”
“We’re all at the Bronner Atlantic Steamlines warehouse on 50th Avenue. Set to blow when Nadia goes in there to grab them. You’ll be in there, too. That’s the plan. All the doors except the west corner one are rigged. Everybody goes down.”
“But—” he stormed into the bedroom and lowered his voice. “Even Jerrod doesn’t kill a kid.”
“Yours he does,” Miguel said. “I don’t know why.”
It didn’t make sense. Thorne stared out at the funeral home. At the tap dancers.
“I’m out for a smoke. I don’t have much time,” Miguel said. “Jerrod knows you have no people, and he knows you’re expecting him to deal straight. They’ll bring you in the west door and clamp you down. When the Party Princess arrives, you all go up. You need to get in front of this. If you get in here and go for Jerrod—”
He could storm the warehouse. Take Jerrod out. Do a rescue singlehandedly. He’d have them surprised. They weren’t great odds, but if Jerrod meant to kill everybody anyway…
“Who rigged it?” Thorne asked.
“Outside help.”
He didn’t know shit about bombs, but he’d think of something.
“Hack there?”
“No. Just Jerrod’s inner circle is here. Eight guys. There were nine, but I sent Skooge out on a wild goose chase. Reduced your numbers by one. Best I could do. I’ll help, but you know why I can’t off Jerrod.”
He could hear traffic in the background on Miguel’s end.
Killing a kid. Bombs. Something didn’t add up. Thorne tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head. “How do I know you don’t just want me to come in there blazing? You can’t kill Jerrod without triggering hellfire, but your problems are over if I kill him.”
“Jesus, Thorne, I thought we partnered up.”
“So did I.” He went to the far side of the room, whispering, “He doesn’t use bombs like that. He doesn’t kill kids. Even for co-op pirates. This isn’t how it works.”
“Fuck you, Thorne. I’m giving you something real.”
Thorne shut his eyes tight. People didn’t partner with him. They didn’t give him things unless they were getting more things back. He ran it like a movie in his mind. He bursts in and kills Jerrod, only to find out that Miguel is lying and Benny and Kara are somewhere else, and they’re slaughtered like lambs in retaliation. But Miguel is out from under Jerrod’s thumb.
“I’m not playing you,” Miguel said.
“I can’t know that,” Thorne said.
“No, you can’t,” Miguel bit out. Voices in the background. Miguel swore under his breath and the connection went dead.
“What?” Nadia stood at the door. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Thorne said. It had been such a sure thing, trading himself for the life of his boy.
She grabbed his forearm, nails digging into his flesh. “Tell me!”
“A tip, but I don’t know if I can trust it. It was Miguel.”
“He’s your guy, right? Your ally from the Reedsville thing. What did he say?”
He turned to her. “Miguel says Jerrod means to kill everyone.”
Her mouth fell open.
He told her everything that Miguel had said. “But Miguel might be lying,” he added.
“Why would he lie?”
“Because he really, really wants me to kill Jerrod. Miguel’s life improves about 900 percent if I go in there and kill Jerrod.”
“Why doesn’t Miguel just kill Jerrod himself?” she asked.
“It’s called insurance. If Miguel kills Jerrod, there’s somebody out there who’s assigned to fuck up Miguel’s people in retaliation. But if I kill Jerrod, Miguel’s free.”
“You think Miguel’s that heartless? Like you have a chance to save your kid and he’d ruin it?”
“How can I know?” Thorne said, feeling panic gurgle up in him. It was his kid’s life
on the line.
“Miguel let us go from that boiler room,” she said. “You said in the car that you two decided to be allies. You said that you made a friend. You said that!”
“I know, but why would Miguel go out on a limb to help me?”
“That’s what allies do.”
“Anyway, how the hell did Jerrod figure out about Benny if Miguel didn’t tell him about us?”
“How? You know how he figured it out? You want to know?” She pulled out her phone. Benny’s face appeared on the screen. “Look at him. Who wouldn’t figure it out? Who wouldn’t look at this beautiful boy and see you in him? Who?”
He stared at his boy’s smiling face, so full of goodness.
“You see the worst in yourself. You see the funeral home. You see people wanting to betray you. You only trust me when I’m calling you a loser.”
It was true. “I never thought…”
“That I’d want to raise a baby of yours? That you were worth loving? That you’re worth partnering with?”
Something in his chest felt funny.
“That night we were trapped in the co-op, you trusted that Miguel. You made the right call.”
“I didn’t have a choice—”
“No, you made a call and it worked out. Now Benny and I need you to see clear on whether to trust this guy—without your warped view of yourself getting in the way.”
He clutched the phone, staring at the photo. His boy. This was the good in him. Nadia tried to take the phone from him, but he tightened his grip. “How did I not see him?” he whispered.
“You see him now.”
He also saw the knife, drawing across his sister’s throat. He hadn’t been able to save her. He saw the scorpions, too.
Nadia pried at his fingers and finally he let her have the phone. She set it aside and grabbed his shirt. “Can you trust Miguel?”
He thought of the misery in the man’s eyes. The connection he’d felt with him. “Yes.”
“Okay, then,” she said.
There was a long silence. Jerrod meant to kill his son. He meant to kill them all. Thorne couldn’t think. He could barely breathe.
“We don’t need you to die for us,” Nadia said. “We need you to fight for us.”
Into the Shadows Page 28