by Sophia Gray
It may have been over a decade, but the warehouse still looked just as grimy and shitty as ever. What was it with these guys having nasty haunts? I couldn’t imagine they benefitted from living in such horrible conditions. It was just like Peyton’s little hideaway apartment, only worse. There were rusty nails all over the ground leading up to the warehouse, and I suddenly hoped Lily hadn’t been wearing open-toed shoes. The last thing she needed was tetanus.
Every muscle in my body tensed as I heard the rough barking of a German shepherd. It lunged at me and then yanked back, whimpering. When I got closer, I realiTorque that it was on a tether connected to a metal spike in the ground.
“Easy,” I whispered, keeping my hands down and at a safe distance from the dog.
The dog barked and saliva dripped down its jowls, spattering the ground. As I stepped to the other side, it began to growl at me. I reached for the shotgun at my side and pointed it at the dog’s head. The dog whimpered and backed away slowly, letting me pass. I nodded at it.
“Good boy,” I whispered quietly. “Thank you.”
The dog obviously didn’t respond so I gave it a wink before sneaking over to the corner of the building and sliding along the side. Inside, I could hear low male voices, but nothing indicated that Lily was there. I couldn’t hear her voice, and it sounded like the guys were talking about some big drug deal.
Shaking my head, I blinked and looked down at my feet. I couldn’t believe that it had come to this. After all of my work, I’d still been outsmarted. I’d always known how tough the Iron Angels were, but this felt like a whole other ball game.
Perspiration slid down my forehead as I inched my way closer and closer to the door of the warehouse. I cocked the shotgun and kept it pointed straight in front of me. Suddenly, the chattering inside stopped. I looked up and checked for a surveillance camera, but nothing was there.
Just as I was about to move forward again, a pair of hands clamped down on my shoulder. I was spun around, and before I knew what was happening, I was falling in a blackout haze to the ground.
***
When I woke up, my head felt like it was stuffed with concrete. I felt dried blood on my temple, and I moaned, screwing my eyes shut in an attempt to stop the pain. My whole body hurt; it was almost like my bones had been broken. Cautiously, I lifted each limb up in the air. I was sore but usable. But I was stuck to something…
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realiTorque I was tied to a post in the center of the room. Curiously, they hadn’t cinched my wrists, rather the upper portions of my arms. I heard a stirring in the room and looked around desperately for Lily. If they had her, they had to have her nearby.
I was able to fish a knife out of my breast pocket with my teeth and use it to slice away at the ropes that bound my biceps. By the time I was through, I was shaking and sweating with the effort. My heart sank when I realiTorque that this was probably exactly what they had wanted: me getting cocky and coming out blazing. Slowly, I walked out of the tiny room and into the main part of the warehouse.
Peyton and some men I’d never seen before were sitting at a table. Peyton looked up at me and grinned, and for a moment it was just like old times. I had to remind myself that he was the furthest thing possible from my friend on the planet.
“Old friend!” Peyton called as if reading my mind. My hand flew to my side, looking for the shotgun, even though I saw it propped against the wall. “So good of you to join us, Torque. I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show!”
I’d never heard Peyton speak so clearly, or so intelligently, and the change was startling.
“Don’t you have anything to ask me?” Peyton grinned. “About your little girlfriend?”
“Fuck you,” I spat out. “Where is she?”
“She’s not here, little Torque,” Peyton cooed sarcastically. “Can’t you see that? Are you fuckin’ blind, man?” His cronies chuckled, and he silenced them with a glare. “Don’t you have something you wanna talk about with me, son?”
I stepped closer, clutching the knife I’d used to cut myself free. “You’re dead,” I hissed out. “Get up and fight me like a man, Peyton.”
Peyton looked around in mock surprise, and his men laughed again. This time, he didn’t tell them to shut up. “I don’t know about that,” he finally said. “I don’t think I’m done with you yet. What do y’all think? I think we should have a little more fun with the other McIntyre sibling.”
I growled at the merest mention of my poor, dead sister. “Fuck you. I’m going to win this, not you.”
Peyton gestured around at his men. For the first time, I noticed how burly and huge they all looked. “That’s what you think,” he said delicately. “You can go now. I’ll have Rocky show you out.”
“Fuck.” I growled. “When are we gonna do this like men, Peyton?”
Peyton didn’t answer; he waved one of his hands in a fey little gesture. “Beats me,” he finally said. As I was leaving, he called out, “Whenever I feel like killing you, I guess!”
My blood boiled as Rocky escorted me outside. He was a head taller than me and seemed to almost be mute; he was one of those guys with no neck and two hundred pounds of muscle on his frame. Still, though, I decided to try him.
“Where’s Lily?”
Rocky looked down at me and then swung a punch that left me seeing stars. Pain exploded in my jaw, and my mouth was suddenly full of a warm, iron-like taste.
“Fuck you.” I scowled. He dragged me to the end of the lot and pointed at my car.
“Thanks for nothing,” I muttered under my breath.
So they didn’t have Lily. But where was she? I sat by my car and watched as Rocky the Hulk staggered back towards the warehouse. As much as I desperately wanted to make sure she was okay, I knew that I had some things to take care of first. For one, I had to find a way to determine the weakness of Peyton.
It wasn’t enough that he was letting me go on some sadistic leash. I wasn’t going to be a pawn like that, not if I could help it. Plus, if they didn’t have Lily, it meant she was safe. Or safer, at least, than I’d thought earlier. Peyton and all of his men were at the warehouse; I wouldn’t have been surprised if they never even talked to her in the first place.
They were just using her to get to you, you fool, and it worked, I thought miserably. I’d never been so vulnerable in my life, not even when Rose was still alive. Until she’d been killed, I stupidly thought that I was safe from things like that happening. And regrettably, I hadn’t ever given her the attention and security she’d deserved. But then again, I’d tried with Lily. And just look at where you are now, the voice in my head hissed out.
I shook my head angrily. I was going to have to come up with a serious plan.
Chapter Thirty
I was still sitting on the hood of my car when Peyton walked out of the warehouse two hours later. Two hours later, I was no closer to a plan. I had no idea where the gun was, and when I saw him walking towards me, I realiTorque that I might not have longer than a few minutes left in the world. But when Peyton spotted me, he grinned.
“I thought this was too good to be true!” Peyton crowed. “We didn’t hear your car, and then I began to wonder if you were going to stick around and join us.”
“Never,” I said. “Where’s my fucking gun?”
Peyton held up his hands and grinned, shaking his head from side to side. “None of that sass now,” he said in a teasing voice. My heart began pounding in my chest, and I felt my palms sweating. “Do you wanna hear my little plan?”
I nodded, reaching down into my pocket and fingering for the knife. It wasn’t there, but my fingers scraped against the sides of my new phone. I’d bought a burner when I was out shopping for the gun, just in case I needed to get in touch with Lily. But this was going to be even better than that. I pressed the button on the side until I heard a soft ping indicating that it was recording.
“Sure,” I said, trying to make my voice friendly. “Let’s tal
k.”
“Not out here, fool,” Peyton snarled out. “Come back inside with us, and then we’ll have a little heart-to-heart.”
Shrugging, I stepped towards Peyton. Two of his thugs appeared out of nowhere and flanked my sides, pinning my arms uncomfortably against my body.
“They’re just doin’ their job,” Peyton said when I shot him a glare. “More than you can say for yourself right now, Torquey.”
I kept my mouth shut as Peyton’s thugs frog-marched me back inside the warehouse. Once inside the door, they let me go, and I looked around, feeling disarmed. My head was aching from when someone had clocked me earlier; every time I breathed in, I felt the dried blood crusted around my nostrils.
“What do you want?” I looked up at Peyton. His big dark eyes were all pupil; suddenly he looked eerily like another species of human altogether. I shivered when I realiTorque I was seeing him like this for the first time. The Manticore, I thought. It really is him.
Peyton approached my chair and circled, making me feel nervous. He kept his eyes on me like a bird of prey watching its next meal.
“I’m gonna be scoring a huge supply of dope pretty soon,” Peyton began. He glanced around at his thugs, and they started laughing as if on command. “To overtake the boss of the gang, Net.”
“Why the fuck are you telling me?” I angled my body closer to Peyton so my cell phone would record everything he was saying. “I can’t help you. Not when I’m gonna be too busy killing you.”
Peyton laughed, a deep throaty sound. “You’re funny, man,” he said after a minute. “You think I need your help? I’m only telling you because dead men don’t talk!”
A chill of fear ran down my spine, and I reached for my knife. Against the wall on the other side of the room, I saw something propped up and covered with a paper grocery bag. When I realiTorque it was my shotgun, my heart sank.
“So you’re gonna have this little secret all to yourself,” Peyton said. “We’re gonna let you go for a little bit so you can think about all the ways we’re gonna kill you later,” he added with a sinister laugh. “You think you can handle that, Torquey?”
“Fuck you. Not if I kill you first, asshole.”
“Torque is such a prize, don’t y’all think so?” Peyton glanced around at his thugs. One of them made eye contact with me and spat on the floor. “Now walk him back outside and give him the instructions.”
“Come here, you,” one of the guys said, walking over and grabbing me painfully above the elbow. With his other hand, he formed a fist and punched me square in the face. “That’s for making me drag your ass around,” he muttered. I blinked, seeing stars.
The men dragged me outside and left me propped up against my car. As they turned to leave, one of the thugs leaned down and whispered in my ear, “See you soon, punk.”
I shivered as I watched them walk away. When the warehouse door was safely bolted, I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Bingo. It was still recording. With a satisfied nod, I clicked it off and emailed the audio to myself and Lily. Maybe there was still time after all. Despite the pain flashing through my head, I was starting to come up with another plan.
Even though Peyton was a brutal and evil genius, I had the sense he was starting to get cocky. He only told me his plan to show off—if it was even his plan anyway. For all I knew, he could have been lying. But I’d known Peyton for long enough to think that he was being straight with me.
For one thing, he’d always been too fucking cocky for his own good. For another, I knew how greedy he could get when he really wanted something. It was more likely than ever that he’d been telling the truth. And now I had to think of a way to outsmart him.
Working with Net wasn’t a viable option. I knew that, like Peyton, he wanted me dead for my crimes against the Iron Angels all those years ago. It didn’t matter that I’d served time; the only thing that mattered was that I’d fucked them so good in the first place. But Net wasn’t stupid. I didn’t know how Peyton was going to outsmart him. Peyton was good, but he was too cocksure to really be subtle.
It wasn’t news that The Manticore was back around. I hadn’t wanted to believe it, but I was sure that Net and his thugs had sniffed Peyton’s presence out from the first rumor of his return. Peyton’s sloppiness was the one workable angle I had in this situation. I wasn’t sure what I could do with the recording; Net would never let me stick around long enough to play it. But I felt there was some hidden advantage there that I wasn’t quite understanding.
Finally, as I climbed into the driver’s seat and jammed the key into the ignition, an idea came to me. I could potentially screw both Peyton and Net if there were a way to get the recording directly to Net. I realiTorque I didn’t have much time; whatever I came up with, I’d have to act quickly.
I racked my brain of everyone I could think of who might have contact with Net. I couldn’t use Lily; that would be like throwing her right into the line of fire. But what about that bar downtown…
I drove with my foot glued to the floor until I pulled up in front of the bar. The old man saw me through the windows, fear written plainly on his face. When I slammed the door open, he cowered behind the bar.
“I can’t help you anymore,” he said in a quavering voice. “I’ve given you everything I could, don’t you see that?”
I shook my head. “I have a plan, but it involves you shutting your fuckin’ yap and listening to me, you got that?”
The old man opened his mouth to speak but then closed his lips and blinked at me slowly.
I rolled my eyes. “You don’t have to be so fuckin’ weird,” I told him. “For fuck’s sake. I need help with Net now. Peyton’s planning to fuck him over and the only way I can defeat Peyton is by screwing them both. You know anyone who sees him around?”
The old man closed his eyes and tilted his head back. “I might,” he said after a long pause. “I might know someone who could help you find him.” He opened his eyes and looked right at me. For the first time, something shrewder and colder than fear reflected in his eyes. “It’ll cost you,” he said gruffly. “You prepared to pay for what you want?”
I nodded. “I’ll give you whatever I can. I just need to fuckin’ find this guy.”
The old man held out his outstretched hand. Groaning, I grabbed my wallet out of my back pocket and handed him a wad of bills. “This is all I have right now,” I added as he grabbed the cash out of my pocket and counted through it carefully.
His face darkened. “I don’t know if this is enough,” he said stiffly. “I might need more.”
I slammed my fist on the bar and growled. “It has to be enough. I can’t get you any more until tomorrow. That’s too late. It has to be before midnight tonight.”
The old man glared at me and shrunk back into the shadows. “Fine. I’ll contact you when I know something definite. Now go home.”
Turning on my heel, I spat on the floor as I walked out of the bar. Warning bells were clanging in my head; I had no honest idea whether or not he’d be able to help me. All I had to do was wait for his command, then turn over the cell phone recording. But what if someone thought I faked it? What if it didn’t seem legitimate?
Messing with the Iron Angels would most likely end with me winding up dead, or back in prison. Still, any chance of knocking Peyton out was the only option I had. I couldn’t keep going on and letting him kill again.
Now, I had to go check on Lily. It might already be too late, but at least I could make sure that she was safe and sound.
Chapter Thirty-One
Lily
“Miss Lily! Miss Lily!” I turned around to see Shaunna running towards me. She jumped, and I caught her at the last minute, feeling her small weight wrap around my torso. She looked up at me with a big grin on her chubby face. “Miss Lily, my daddy wants to invite you over for dinner! Me and Peter are going to Grandma’s house!”
I laughed and felt a blush rise to my cheeks. “Shaunna, that’s very sweet,” I
began. “But I’m not sure it would be appropriate for your dad and me to have dinner together. We don’t know each other very well.”
Shaunna sucked in her cheeks and gave me a fish-face. “My daddy likes you. He talks about you all the time. Me and Peter want you to come live with us!”
I closed my eyes and fought the urge to laugh. It was true that since Torque and I had… split up, I’d been feeling lonely. But there was nothing in a million years that could have convinced me to go for Mark Simpson and his two adorable children. Sure, a long time ago I’d thought that he was cute, but that was until Torque stormed into my life.
“I don’t know, honey,” I said diplomatically. “Maybe I’ll talk about it with Daddy when he comes to pick you and Peter up.”