“Yeah, man,” a voice chuckled. “We’re making big money tonight.”
I swallowed, hardly daring to breathe. My knuckles were white as I clutched the edge of the desk in front of me.
“Hey, Chambers,” another voice yelled. Chambers?
I heard a hitch through the speakers, almost as though Kellan had drawn in a sharp breath. Could it really be Archie Chambers? That would be too much of a coincidence.
I edged closer to the speaker, my ear practically pressed against it as the voices faded to nothing.
It didn’t seem like Kellan moved at all for the next few minutes, and I worried about how many other people were inside the warehouse. Would he be able to get back out the way he’d come?
I heard some rustling, certain voices fading away, and others replacing them. There were at least five people in the warehouse with Kellan, I was sure of it. Panic cursed through my veins. What if he was discovered?
A door slammed shut, the sound reverberating across the warehouse. I drew in a sharp breath. Every second that passed, with Kellan still there, was another opportunity for him to be discovered.
There was some more crackling – it sounded like Kellan was finally moving. I heard another bang as another door shut, and then my heart stopped beating altogether, relief and dread battling equal wars within me.
As clear as day, I heard Dad’s voice come through the speakers.
“You’re welcome to try,” he said, his beautiful, familiar voice hoarse.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
* * *
- NOW -
“COME ON, MARIO,” a cajoling voice said through the speakers. I recognized it immediately.
It was Uncle Luke.
I felt a flash of fury at the sound of his voice. He’d seen me suffer for weeks, pretending to be sympathetic and concerned when Dad had first gone missing. The whole time he’d known exactly where Dad was and what had happened to him. I couldn’t believe that he’d had the audacity to show his face around me, day in and day out, for all those weeks. I'd known him since I was a kid. I'd trusted and leaned on him. How the hell did someone like that even live with themselves? The confirmation of his betrayal cut deep.
“No, Luke,” Dad said, his words quiet but sure. “My mistake was ever trusting you”
I trembled and shook in my seat at the sound of his voice, a silent tear making its way down my face. It had been so long since I'd last heard him speak. I thought I’d never hear his voice again.
I couldn’t imagine what Kellan was going through, being so close to him. I prayed fervently that he stayed silent and didn’t make any rash decisions. He was hopelessly outnumbered.
“Think about April–“ Luke said, my name sending a jolt through me. How dare he. How fucking dare he.
“Don’t pretend you care. Don’t you ever fucking speak her name.” Dad practically growled. I sat back, blinking rapidly. I could count on one hand the number of times I'd heard him swear in my life. It was just not something he did. But I was glad to hear his anger. Glad to hear the fight in him. With any luck, it meant that his situation wasn’t too bleak and that he really was okay.
My cell phone lit up on the desk, beginning to vibrate. It was Axel, trying to Skype me. I turned it off quickly, not wanting to miss a second of what was going on at the warehouse.
There was a moment of silence through the speakers, and I could only imagine the silent hostility in the air. My heart was hammering in my chest, and I was so aware of how quickly things could change for Dad. In the space of a second, his safety could easily be put on the line. I didn’t put anything past Uncle Luke – not anymore.
“Mario, we’re working on the same side here,” Luke tried again, his voice turning silvery.
“No, we’re not.” Dad’s words were biting. “You’ve been a part of this for years, right from the start. God Luke, is that why you joined the force in the first place? I never asked, never really wanted to know.”
There was a heavy pause, only broken by the static making its way through the speakers.
“You were in college, Mario, and where was I? I was headed nowhere fast. The family helped me get into the academy. I'd probably still be trailer trash, working for less than minimum wage. If it weren’t for Antonio, I wouldn’t be the Chief of Police. I wouldn’t be where I am now. I owe him. I owe Cosa Nostra everything.”
“And what about your loyalty to the force? To me?” Dad said, his voice hard and unforgiving. “You dragged me into this mess. You were the one who helped me get my license and a firearm permit. You encouraged me to quit my job and take up bounty hunting. It was all premeditated. I took all your advice, believing you had my best interests in mind. But you intended, right from the fucking start, to get me to join the LSG.”
“Mario, what else were you going to do?” Luke said placatingly. “Slave away and barely keep your head above water? I helped you get in the clear. You’d be paying off Louise’s hospital bills for the next decade if it wasn’t for me.”
“And it would have been preferable to this mess.” Dad’s voice was aggressive. “Why the hell are you here, Luke? Why now, when you haven’t shown yourself in front of me for weeks?”
I felt a small measure of relief that he hadn’t had to spend the whole time he’d been gone in the presence of a friend who’d turned around and betrayed him.
“Where’s the USB, Mario? Our men searched that office of yours from top to bottom. I searched it myself and didn’t find a single thing. We kept our end of the bargain. We promised that April wouldn’t be there when we searched, but you haven’t held up your end,” Luke said, voice turning unpleasant.
For a moment, I was really confused. Then realization set in. Had those two guys that had broken in told their bosses that they hadn’t found the flash drive? I understood how it might have been more preferable to telling them they’d found it and lost it. I couldn’t imagine that going over well. Is that what had happened? Had those guys been acting on their own when they’d broken into Kellan’s apartment?
Kellan and I had been so sure that the LSG had known, that they’d tracked us to his apartment to retrieve the flash drive. But maybe it hadn’t been the whole of the LSG that was looking for us.
“Is that why they brought you in? They thought you’d be the one to get information out of me?” Dad chuckled harshly. “They couldn’t have been more wrong.”
He wasn’t saying anything, I realized. He wasn’t assuring them that the flash drive had been in his office. Maybe he’d guessed that I’d found it. He wouldn’t point them towards me.
“Come on, Mario. We were good friends–“ Luke started.
“We were never friends,” Dad snapped. “I should never have trusted you, should have known when our cases kept getting away so easily that something was going on.”
“I gave you the opportunity to join us. You refused,” Luke said. He’d refused? Questions I'd had for so long were finally being brought out into the open, but so far they were serving only to confuse me further. “You wanted to carry on with bounty hunting – slave pay – compared to what we could have done for you. And now, after everything we have done for you, you bring this down on our heads.”
“You are not the wronged party here, Luke. I believed you were my friend. I thought that you had helped me out so much, and in turn, I'd be sending you to prison.” Dad’s voice shook. “And what did I receive for my indecision? A death threat, but more than that, threats to hurt my daughter, and to recruit a vulnerable boy, barely an adult, to your side.”
I swallowed hard. Were they talking about Kellan? Was he even still there? He could have planted the bugs and left, but somehow I knew, just knew, that he was still there. He wouldn’t have been able to leave, not after hearing, maybe even seeing, Dad.
“I did you all a favor,” Luke said softly. I had to strain my ears to hear him. “I know how much it devastated you that April couldn’t go to college. The rate those bills w
ere piling up, and the interest on all the loans you’d taken out... you’d never have gotten out of that shithole of an apartment, let alone sent April to college. Kellan had nothing going for him–”
I winced at that. Kellan was most likely right there, listening to everything alongside me.
“He had everything going for him!” Dad roared, and I flinched back a little from the computer. I was glad to hear him defend Kellan, but fearful, too. Despite their previous friendship, Luke was now Dad’s captor. I didn’t know what he’d do to Dad if he was angered. “And I would have worked myself to the ground, rather than have accepted a dime from you. Money wasn’t why I joined, and you bloody know it.”
Had Dad joined the LSG... because of us?
“What do you want me to say?” Luke was getting antsy, I could hear it in his voice. “It was better than the alternative. There were some that wanted me to just get rid of you–“
I sucked in a sharp breath at the thought of that happening. A world without Dad in it was a world I couldn’t imagine living in.
“Get rid of me?” Dad’s voice was almost sad, and it cut through me like a blade. “You say it like you’re talking about throwing out an old pair of jeans. Were you ever truly my friend?”
“–but I didn’t listen. Instead, I got you to see what would happen if you didn’t join. I got you to see the benefits,” Luke insisted.
“Keeping my daughter alive? Keeping Kellan out of your clutches? Yeah, I saw the benefits,” Dad said, the vehemence behind the last word strong.
It sounded as though years of bottled up thoughts and feelings were finally coming to the surface in this conversation. There was righteous anger on Dad’s part, and an uncomfortable denial on Luke’s.
“You can’t accuse me of going back on my word,” Luke said, his voice fluctuating through the speakers. It sounded as though he was moving around, perhaps pacing. “Kellan was never recruited. You and April are alive and fine–”
“Only after I promised to join,” Dad retorted. “Only after it benefited you.”
I bit my lip hard, feeling faint. He really had done it for us... for me, and for Kellan.
“The last laugh is still on you, Mario. What do you think is going to happen if the USB isn’t found? You’ll end up behind bars for your part in it all, and that’s if you don’t end up dead before that. What do you really stand to gain?” Luke was derisive.
“The knowledge that I did the right thing,” Dad said simply. “That I did what I had to do to make things right.”
More tears trickled down my face. I would have given anything in that moment to be able to see him. Guilt, for ever having doubted him, weighed heavily on my chest. I'd spend the rest of my life making it up to him if I could.
I prayed that I was given that chance.
“You were always too proud, Mario, and that’ll be your downfall.” There was scorn in Luke’s voice.
“Pride had nothing to do with it. I hated feeling like a criminal,” Dad said, self-loathing clear behind his words. It hurt to hear it. “I’m just sorry that it took you wanting to recruit Chambers – a rapist – to get me to finally do something. He deserved to rot behind bars, and you wanted to give him a way out, an opportunity to do it all over again.”
“That was very stupid of you, Mario,” Luke said, sounding closer than ever before. I tried to tamp down the alarm mounting within me at his proximity to the bug and perhaps to Kellan. “You should have known that we’d find out if our computers were breached.”
“My only regret is the pain my daughter must be feeling at my disappearance,” Dad said finally, the first hint of emotion in his voice. I swallowed hard, the ache in my chest almost unbearable.
“Enough of this chit-chat,” Luke said, realizing that a heart-to-heart wasn’t going to endear him to Dad. “Where is the USB, Mario?”
“Why the fuck is he even still here?” Another voice joined the conversation, jarring me. I'd almost forgotten that they weren’t the only ones inside the warehouse. “He obviously ain’t gonna tell us shit,” the unpleasant voice said.
“Mario, what have we done to deserve this?” Luke implored. “You’re out of debt. You have a beautiful house that’s fully paid for. We did this for you.”
“I'm not stupid enough to think that I’ll be getting back to any of it if I cooperate,” Dad scoffed and I heard something that sounded like a chair being pulled back.
“But what about that blonde bombshell of a daughter? How about we pay her a little visit?” the other voice said. I stiffened in my seat.
Dad didn't say anything for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was laced with rage. “You wouldn’t fucking dare.”
There was a sharp sound, flesh hitting flesh. A groan of pain from Dad. The few bites of dinner I'd had threatened to rise back to the surface.
“How do you think Frankie and his men are going to react?” Luke said, taking a different route. I had no idea who this Frankie person was, and I didn’t particularly care to find out. “They won’t take this lying down, especially as that USB has information about them on it. You think we’re bad? We’ve got nothing on them. They’ve been doing this for decades, and another generation before them. They will destroy you.”
That didn’t sound good. In fact, it sounded downright awful. We needed to get both Dad and Kellan the hell out of there.
I lowered the volume on the computer, though it nearly killed me to do so. Skimming through my contact list, I found Nathan’s number, grateful that I'd taken the time to program it in. It rang a few times before he picked up.
“Yes?” he said tersely.
I remembered at the last second that I wasn’t supposed to know what was going on in the warehouse. “Hasn’t it been a while since he went in? You need to get him out of there.”
“I'm already on it.” His words were clipped. “A diversion is being set up right now.”
Without another word, he hung up. I stared at my phone for a second, before turning the volume on the speakers right back up.
“... despicable. Prostitution. Murder.” My eyes widened at the turn the conversation had taken. “They will have no qualms, Mario. Tony’s kept it quite, not wanting to alarm anyone, but you will be as good as dead if they find out. You were relatively safe at Tony’s, but men are constantly coming and going here. Anyone can slip into this room if they were so inclined. And believe me, if they learn what you’ve done, they’ll be lining up to get to you.”
If he wasn’t scaring Dad, he sure as hell was doing a good job frightening me.
There was a bang, the sound of a short scuffle. My heart jumped to my throat.
“What the hell was that?” another voice said. I heard keys jingle and a door close. There was silence through the speakers, the slight static filtering through letting me know that the microphone was still working, but little else. I could only hope that Kellan had left the bugs there after successfully attaching one to a power supply, and had left the warehouse.
I called a taxi and waited impatiently for it to arrive on the main road. The only reason I'd managed to pry myself away from the computer had been because of the silence coming through the speakers. Even though everything was being automatically recorded and backed up onto Phoenix’s computer system, I probably still wouldn't have been able to drag myself away. The chance that I'd miss hearing Dad's voice – perhaps for the last time – was almost too much to bear. My worry over Kellan's unanswered calls, and the mounting quiet coming through the speaker, had finally gotten the best of me.
I hadn’t left Phoenix’s house without Kellan before so I hadn’t had the chance to miss my car, or find its absence inconvenient. Until now.
I fidgeted the whole way to the meeting point where the vans were parked, my knee bouncing up and down the whole time.
Kellan’s cell phone had gone straight to voicemail, obviously switched off. It had been a long shot, knowing he wouldn’t have taken it int
o the warehouse with him, but I'd tried just in case. Nathan hadn’t picked up either when I tried to call him again. The unanswered calls did little to settle my nerves, and I was close to a break down by the time the taxi dropped me off a block away from the vans. If I found Kellan there, he’d be receiving a sharp jab in the ribs for not calling me.
When I rounded the corner five minutes later, I saw Kellan immediately. He was sitting down in one of the vans, the door open. A strand of dark hair fell into his face as he leaned his elbow on a knee. He looked tense and on edge. Relief filled me at the sight of him. He was here. He was okay.
He jumped up when he saw me, putting his drink down. He seemed to hesitate a little, but I didn't. I collapsed into his arms, wanting to smile and cry and kick him all at the same time.
“You’re here."
“I am,” he murmured, stroking my hair. I pulled back a little and stepped hard on his foot. He winced – though he didn’t look too surprised. It was the hug that he hadn’t seen coming.
“You could have called me!” I said indignantly, but I was too relieved to be truly angry. For a moment, I was reminded of the many stupid fights and pointless arguments we’d gotten into, back when we were both still teenagers, living under the same roof.
“He’s alive, April. He’s alive,” Kellan said, voice filled with wonder.
“I know. I heard you. Phoenix had everything connected in his den. I heard Dad. I heard him speak,” I said, still marveling that I’d gotten that chance.
“You’re not angry?” His eyes searched my face.
“Angry?” I said blankly. “Why would I be angry?”
“I couldn’t get him out.” His face was torn. “I had to leave or they would have found me. We’ll get him out, though. We will,” he said, determination filling his face.
“Of course we will. I'm just glad you got out okay. There wasn’t anything else you could have done,” I told him, realizing that Kellan was shouldering some guilt for leaving Dad in the warehouse. “Did you see him?” I asked, throat tight.
Above all Else Page 25