by Naomi West
I stared down at him, feeling a weight lift off of my shoulders. “Maybe you’re right. You don’t think she left the Edge, do you?”
Pearl took a deep breath like she wanted to speak, but then just let the air out, her eyes uncertain.
“Is there something you know, Pearl?” I asked, my voice icy.
She frowned, her gray brows furrowing. “Well, I sort of laid into her before about being weak. She seemed to be forming up some sort of plan; if she heard you and Christine insulting her for not grabbing what she wants, Ivy might have left to try and prove you both wrong.” Pressing her lips into a thin line, Pearl looked around the room. “I don’t think she would have gone into hiding inside of the Edge. I think she’s probably out and about, making plans if I had to guess.”
I could feel a rise of cold in my chest like my organs had somehow turned to ice in a second. “What was she planning?”
“If I had to guess? Something about that business that was taken from her. Taking it back would be an asset not only to her character but a financial asset for the Edge, too.” Pulling her grey curls back into a ponytail to keep it out of her face. “Odd, though. If I were her, I would have recruited some of the boys to help.”
I swallowed hard around a sudden lump in my throat. “Unless she was aiming to kill two birds with one stone. Ivy is the one who has been pushing for me to meet with Carlos and end the cartel deals.”
Patrick paled. “She’s been what?”
“Quiet.” I glanced around; it didn’t look like anyone was listening in on our conversation, but I still kept my voice low. “She might be calling Carlos in, trying to lure me into a meeting with him.”
Pearl’s fingers knitted together. “Would she do that?”
“If she thought it would fix things here? Yes, absolutely yes.” I didn’t know how I was so certain, but the truth of it seemed to echo in my bones. “So where is this business of hers?”
Pearl shook her head. “I never learned where it was. I know it’s over by the canal, on the west bank, but I don’t know exactly where.”
Patrick seemed to find his tongue again, and his face was filled with red rage that seemed to inflate every vein in his forehead. “So you are going behind Kelly’s back and meeting with the Carrion Club?” He seethed with anger, his eyes burning with it. “And you never thought to come to me?”
“No one else in this place would dare stand up to him. I’m going to fix what Kelly has done. If that means going behind his back, throwing out the cartel, and putting two in Kelly’s skull, I’ll do it. If I don’t comply, Carlos has promised a full-on blood war. Either way, I’m dead, Patrick.” My hands curled into fists. I didn’t like not having a choice. I liked it even less when I had two choices and they were both shit. “Ivy has been pushing me to fight back against Kelly for days.”
All of the anger seemed to deflate out of Kelly’s second in command. I never would have described Patrick as old until I saw his face when I finished my speech. “You’re right. I should have stopped him, Creed. But he’s mad for power. Literally, he’s gone insane. I can’t reason with him anymore.”
“He’s not fit to lead,” Pearl whispered. Her voice was a monotone. She wouldn’t look at me or her husband.
“I’m starting to agree with you, Pearl. Are you going to stop me, Patrick?”
The second looked like a deflated balloon, his face suddenly pale and incredibly sad. He was silent for a long time, his eyes losing all of their luster in seconds. It was like a vampire was slowly drinking the life from him. “No,” he answered finally, his voice low and dark. “No, I can’t stop you anymore. I’m too old to be stopping anyone anymore. I will leave this up to you.”
I nodded. “You won’t regret this.”
“I hope not, boy. I hope not.”
“Regardless of what I choose to do, though, Ivy belongs to the Edge.” I frowned, looking up at the ceiling. “It’s time she learns where her boundaries are.”
“Don’t rope her in too much, Creed,” Pearl said, her voice still empty and tired. “I think she will surprise you, if you give her the opportunity.”
With that weird bit of advice stuck in my mind, I left. My bike was totaled in the attack on our clubhouse, so I took someone else’s. No one said a word to me as I picked a bike off of the rack and demanded the keys. No one argued, no one tried to stop me. No one reported me to Kelly.
I think they are all secretly hoping I’ll get rid of Kelly. Starting the bike up, I sped out of the clubhouse before Kelly could demand anyone stop me. I was out on the road in a moment, the wind whipping through my hair as I rode. It wasn’t as good as my bike; I really mourned her loss. She was perfect: perfectly calibrated, perfectly put together. Perfect in every way.
But this bike still would get me where I needed to go. And it still filled me with the joy of riding. I like the way the wind felt through my hair and across my skin. Even in this cold, the ride was thrilling. I could think more clearly on the bike, the rush of colors streaming by me as I raced through the night time streets.
I’ll start with Carlos’ hideout. Perhaps they’ll be leaving to meet her and I can follow them. I headed over to the hideout trying not to think too hard about what I was about to do.
About how I was about to turn traitor and throw away everything I’d ever believed it.
As I sped closer to the hideout, the grayish color of predawn started to rise over the world, casting the city in colorless grays and blues.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Ivy
My whole body was quivering by the time the sun came up completely. It was damned cold out here, and I was exhausted. I stayed out here all night, my nerves too jangled up to even think about finding a place to sleep. I planned out every detail of what I would need to get Janice out of my business and to get me back in.
I’d managed to find an all night print shop that let me type up the contract. I read it through a thousand times before printing off a copy, fairly sure it was as airtight as possible. I was looking forward to the look on that bitch’s face when I walked in and took her whole life away. Finally, she would know what it was like to have everything taken from her.
“What do you need us to do?” Carlos asked. He brought his most intimidating men; even though I knew they weren’t here for me, I was still intimidated by their deadpan stares and wicked smiles.
“I need you get ready to text Creed; let him know where we are. Here is the phone number for his cell.” I handed the piece of paper over. “I got it off of his son, so it should be accurate. When he comes, you will have your meeting. Did you bring me what I need?”
Carlos nodded, reaching into the back of his shirt and pulling out a very small handgun. It wasn’t the same one my dad had brought to the gun range with me as a kid, but it was close. So very close.
“You’re tall enough now to reach the guns in the house, little lady,” my dad had said as he taught me the right way to hold the gun, to reload it, aim it, and clean it. “Once you have all of this memorized and once you’ve demonstrated your respect for the gun, you can shoot it.”
He’d kept his word, too. I was only ten, so I thought he’d back out. I remember the first time I shot it, the heavy feel of the recoil and the scent of smoke filling the air. The heft of this gun was close enough to the one my father gave me that day (and many days after) that for a second, I thought I could smell the smoke and gunpowder. I thought I could hear my father’s voice, congratulating me on a good shot.
Unlike the heavy, awkward gun that we’d had the day Josh and I had been kidnapped, this one felt right in my hands. I still was pretty sure I couldn’t shoot a living thing, but I looked threatening as hell with this piece in my hands. “Thank you, Carlos.”
“Of course.” He smiled coldly as he bowed a little to me. “Now, what is the plan?”
I ran them through the details as Carlos punched the message to Creed into his phone. All of the Carrion men were silent and attentive, each one nodding a
long with instructions. I was a little unnerved; it felt a little like I was getting ready to lead an army into battle. I felt untested and not ready. But it was now or never. It was prove myself to Creed or nothing.
“Any questions?” Not a single one of the men moved or spoke. I gulped, trying to hide my trembling from the Carrion Club. “Perfect. Now we wait.”
The eight of us waited in silence as time inched forward. The sun rose completely, hidden behind a thick layer of close, wintery clouds. I shivered as the first snowflakes fell to the ground, but was thankful. Not a soul was out this early on a Saturday with the snow coming on. But I knew Janice would be there. She just had to be.
As punctual as ever, Janice sidled up to the store. She was humming a Christmas song under her breath, pulling out her keys, and started to unlock the door. Lucky for me, she didn’t notice the odd assortment of unsavory looking men in the park, watching her storefront like hawks.
“Let’s get this over with,” I told the men. They all stood up with me, almost in sync. Are these guys robots or what? “Come on, before she sets down her stuff and relocks the door.”
They rushed the door like a bunch of trained, military SWAT team members from the movies. It was a little chilling to see their efficiency. Creed couldn’t regret having peace with Carlos if he saw this; the Carrion Club would have slaughtered the entirety of the Devil’s Edge with this kind of precision. I shivered to think how close we had come to destruction under Kelly’s rule. With Carlos’ help, Creed and I would destroy him. I smiled at the thought, following close on the heels of the Carrion men into the shop.
Careful of the merchandise, the six bikers stepped into the store, their eyes running over the inside of the store with trained eyes. The front room was cleared, so we progressed to the back office in near silence, walking back to the back office where Janice would be setting her things down on her desk. My desk. It was mine.
Janice was dressed in a tailored suit and rather expensive looking pumps. That anger that had simmered inside of me all night long sprang back to life. She’d been living the good life while I rotted out there.
No more.
No one would ever walk all over Ivy Simmons ever again.
When Janice turned around, her whole body went slack with shock. She dropped the papers she’d been holding. “I-Ivy?”
I smiled at her. “How has business been, partner?”
I grinned even wider as Janice winced. She’d always been pretty, but relative ease had really done her some good. Her skin was soft and expertly painted. She had a fancy haircut, her blonde waves tumbling to one side in a very artistic way. Those big blue eyes had contacts instead of the heavy, tortoiseshell glasses she’d worn when we’d worked together. That should have been me.
Before I even began to speak, Janice dove for the security button behind the desk, pushing the button with a manicured finger.
Nothing happened. Panicked, Janice pressed the button again and again, her eyes growing ever wider.
“Funny thing about alarms; they work great 90% of the time. But if you have some kind of power failure, the system doesn’t always properly work.” I set down a bundle of cut and split wires wrapped around a battery on her desk, grinning as she gaped at it. “I think you’ll find your security system has unfortunately been properly uninstalled.”
“What do you want, Ivy?” Janice said, her eyes roving over the oddly quiet, tattooed men I’d collected for the next step in my plan. Carlos sat in the back, spinning a very wicked looking blade around one finger. Janice watched the knife spin, swallowing hard over and over. “You don’t belong here; I fired you a long time ago.”
“Fired! Me? This was my business,” I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest.
“That’s not what any of the paperwork says.”
I tapped my chin with a fingernail, pursing my lips. “Are you sure? Are you sure there’s not a single piece of paperwork you have lying around with my name still on it?”
Janice’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You keep very meticulous records, I know,” I said, waving my hand at the six men. All of them stepped forward at once, each grabbing one of the filing cabinets and sorting through the papers on the inside of each of the drawers. I was rewarded with the already pale skin of Janice’s pretty face paling even more, giving her a ghost-like complexion. “I have a feeling there were a couple of pieces of paper you might have had to hold onto that still bore my name.”
The men had found a few pieces of paper, and they pulled them out, piling them on the desk. I picked up the first one, examining it with a critical eye. “Hmm, white out. Very creative. I wonder what might be under that?”
Janice looked a little green around the gills as she sat down hard in her office chair, her eyes locked on mine. “What do you want?” she croaked, her whole body quivering.
Sitting down on the corner of her desk, I put my face as close to hers as I could bear, a small smile on my lips. I let the flames of my hatred for her burn, the flames reflecting on my face. “I want my life back, you selfish bitch.” She shook her head and kept shaking it, her eyes too wide and her nails digging into the wood of my desk. I brushed her fingers away. “Janice, my dear, you’re going to ruin the varnish on my desk.”
“This is my desk!” she shouted, her voice filled with incredulity.
I laughed, watching as the potential papers with my name buried in them piled higher and higher on the desk. It wasn’t a large stack, but it was big enough to make Janice look truly ill. “Only because you stole it.”
“You never break the rules, Ivy; what- What?” I found great joy in watching her sputter with disbelief. “What happened to you?”
“You did,” I answered, tapping the end of her nose with my nail. “Do you know what it’s like to scrape together a living from nothing? What it’s like to live a shithole? To get a job at a shitty diner so you can finish off your customer’s plates of food because you can’t afford to pay for your own?”
Janice swallowed hard again, her eyes so wide that I could see white all the way around her irises. “N-n-n-no,” she managed to strange out.
I leaned a little closer, making Janice’s breath hitch. “You will soon,” I whispered. “Funny thing. We could have both been successful. There was enough room for us both here. But you had to go and get greedy and fuck it all up for us both.”
Carlos chuckled darkly from behind me. A thrill went through my whole body. This felt so good, so incredibly right. This was mine, and I was going to take it. I didn’t feel like myself anymore. I felt like someone completely new. And I liked it.
“As I see it, my old friend, you have two choices.” I stood and walked around the desk. “We can settle this like adults; I think that’s the best solution to our problems.” I handed her the unsigned contract I’d made up that morning, signing over everything back to me. Janice made a strangled sound in the back of her throat. “Or, we can do this the hard way.”
“W-w-w-hat’s the hard way?”
“I take all of these papers here with my name on them, and we burn this place to the ground.” I fanned myself with the papers, a wicked grin on my mouth. “With you inside. Either way I win. I either get my store or the insurance. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“I’ll call the police!” Janice said, her voice breaking like a teenaged boy’s.
I chuckled, grinning back at Carlos. “Oh, I wouldn’t suggest it.”
Janice looked back at Carlos, too; whatever she saw there scared her so bad, I was pretty sure she was going to pee herself. “Fine! You- you win.”
“I do, don’t I?” I answered, handing her a pen. “Sign it.”
“You are not Ivy Simmons,” Janice said as she put the pen to the paper. She scribbled her name down, her hands shaking.
“I am; I’m not the doormat you tried to make me into anymore. I met some people who helped me find my spine. Cool story, isn’t it?” I smiled as I swiped t
he paper out of her hands. “Now, I would suggest taking this $20 and catching a cab out of town. If we ever see you back within city limits, I’ll have some friends come to visit.”
Janice stood up from my desk, collected the twenty and her purse and walked out, her whole body quivering with fear. I hugged the contract to my body, grinning wildly as I looked around. Mine. It was mine again.
But that wild joy didn’t last long.
Within seconds of Janice disappearing, I heard the distinct sound of a motorcycle pull up to the storefront, the sound rattling the foundations. My temporary elation shattered into a million pieces. Creed was bound to be furious; there wasn’t anything I could do about that.