by Tijan
I flinched, but none of the blood got me.
The body fell back against the wall, and he slid down, in slow motion, to the floor as his legs crumbled beneath him. Raize lifted a foot, nudging him over.
Loud footsteps thundered in the hallway. “What the—”
Raize looked at me as he spoke to Cavers. “There’s plastic in the truck. Grab it. Wrap his body.”
Cavers came forward, and Raize moved aside so he could get by.
As he went out, I stepped off the toilet, but my knees were shaking. I took a breath, closing my eyes and envisioning it rolling through my whole body, steadying me. When I didn’t think I’d fall over, I stepped out and around the body.
The guy’s eyes were open, staring down into the floor. Blood pooled around him as it seeped out.
“I reached out for a meet,” Raize murmured. “They rejected it.”
I whipped my head up. “He’s from the Estrada Cartel?”
He nodded, moving the guy’s shirt aside to show me a star tattoo with eight points. “That’s their sign.”
Now I knew.
I swallowed over a lump. This was a bad sign, a very bad sign. “What now?”
Raize moved his gaze my way and spoke softly, surprising me. “Now we make them change their mind.”
I swallowed again. That’s what I was scared of. “It’s going to get bloody.”
“Yes. It will.” Raize turned around. “Take everything back to the truck. We need a new spot.”
Cavers came in with the plastic. He didn’t look at me as he knelt and got to work, rolling the body into it. When he carried it outside, I started cleaning. So many dead bodies, so many shootings. I knew there was an effect on me. Damage. Trauma. But I swept all of it under a rug, and everything on top was numb. I went in search of something to clean the blood up as I let my feelings drain away—from my brain to my toes. I felt frozen on the inside, but that’s how you got through this life. It was that or lose your soul. I was freezing my soul.
But back to work.
We didn’t need to leave a record of what happened here, though I had a feeling a blacklight would make every inch of this house glow like a fireworks display.
After I was done, I helped carry all our things back outside. Raize was at the truck, putting everything in its place around the body. It took some packing skill.
When Jake returned, Raize told him to go inside and wipe anything down that we might’ve touched. After he started, I remembered I never actually went to the bathroom.
Damn.
10
Carrie
Our next base of operations was the opposite of what we’d left.
Raize found a house on a real estate website. He made a call and arranged to tour the place with a local real estate agent. I can relay this with accuracy because I was the one touring the place with him. He said I wouldn’t scare the lady away. Jake would’ve flirted, maybe, and Cavers definitely would’ve scared her. I think Raize had wanted to have Jake and me pose as a couple for the tour, but since he needed to be the one to sign any papers, it had to be him.
He was annoyed the whole time. And the real estate lady had tried flirting with him. That annoyed him even more. Not me. I found it just as entertaining as the divorced lady pack from the airport.
Then, while the real estate lady waited in another room, the sequence of calls went as follows:
Raize to a guy.
That guy must’ve called someone else.
That someone else called Raize.
Raize briefed him on what happened using coded words. Apparently Raize had been getting set up in his hunting treestand when a pigeon wouldn’t leave him alone. The pigeon kept finding him, and so he’d had to shoot the pigeon. Yes, the pigeon was dead.
Then whoever was on the phone with Raize hung up.
He waited, turning to stare at me.
Raize had been staring at me more and more, but I didn’t find it creepy. That was also surprising, but I was going with it.
Anything that didn’t make me numb was a good thing, or so I thought.
Then his phone rang again, and the mask slid over his face.
I hadn’t been seeing the mask lately when it was just me and him, but he now moved toward the room where the real estate agent was waiting.
He placed the phone on the counter between us and hit the speaker button.
The real estate lady—Claudia—leaned forward, an eager smile on her face. “Hello! Who am I speaking to? This is Claudia Ronald.”
“Hello, Ms. Ronald.”
I tensed, recognizing Bronski’s voice.
A hand clamped down on my hip, and Raize pulled me to his side. He was anchoring me, keeping me in place.
I wanted to run.
I couldn’t run.
That voice slithered out of the phone again. “We need you to draw up papers on behalf of the house’s owner. They’ll be accepting a rental offer from my colleague who’s standing in front of you.”
Shit, shit, shit.
My skin crawled. Ice lined my throat.
Claudia had no idea what was happening here. Her head tilted to the side, and she leaned closer to the phone.. “I’m confused, sir,” she drawled. “My clients aren’t looking for renters. They’re selling their house, and I have to tell you that this house will sell. It’s drawing a lot of attention from potential buyers.”
“No, Ms. Ronald.”
Sick. I was going to be sick.
“This is what’s going to happen, because you’re going to give my colleague your client’s information. He’s going to send some men to visit with your client, and we will all come to an agreement.”
“What—”
Raize pulled out his gun, putting it on the counter.
Claudia’s eyes went wide, and she froze.
I understood the feeling.
Blood drained from her face. “I…”
She couldn’t talk. She couldn’t—she was wavering on her feet.
I shot forward. “She’s going down.”
I caught her and eased her to the floor as Bronksi said, “Is that my Brooke?”
Raize picked up the phone. “We’ll handle it from here.”
Bronski made a hissing sound. “We’ll send the transfer now.”
Raize ended the call, studying me a moment before he knelt and dug out Claudia’s phone. He swiped the screen, used her print to unlock it, and then worked his way through her information.
I shifted back, ignoring the storm in my body. “You’ll need to wait for her to wake up.”
He ignored me, still scrolling, and then he sent a text.
“What are you doing?” I rose to my feet.
Her phone buzzed back, and he read the screen before lifting his head to me. “I didn’t know we’d have to go through Bronski today.”
I didn’t say anything. That was his apology.
A lump formed in my throat, but as with everything else, I ignored it and jerked my head in a nod.
He showed me the screen. “She keeps her clients under the house numbers. The client is coming here now for a meet. Call the guys. Tell them to get ready.”
I didn’t want to do this. I’d never been active in this role, but I knew what would happen.
The client would come here. Raize would question him, get the information he needed. Jake and Cavers would be sent to find the client’s loved ones and take pictures. The pictures would come back, and the client would be told to rent to us—at what would probably be a cheap price—and the client’s loved ones wouldn’t get killed. Say a word to literally anyone, and the loved ones would be killed.
I hated this life.
I hated it.
I hated myself so much right now.
And twenty minutes later, the client walked in, saw Claudia tied and gagged, and it began. This time, though, the client folded immediately. Raize still got the information he needed because we’d need collateral to hold over both Claudia and the client, but instead of Ja
ke and Cavers having to go and be creepers, they helped us carry everything inside this giant house.
I chose the room in the far corner, the one that had a balcony, and I stayed in it the rest of the night.
There was a slight knock, and my door eased open.
I knew who’d be standing there.
I was starting to sense his presence, or his lack of presence—the complete absence of anything human about him. Smells. Sounds. He was a ghost, just in a body.
“Why did you choose this life?” Raize asked.
I sat in the corner, since there was no furniture, and I could see out the window. But no one could see me since the room was dark. It looked so peaceful out there. We were in a normal neighborhood. Not normal. We were in an affluent neighborhood. This was a five-thousand-square-foot house, with a pool in the backyard. This should’ve been someone’s dream home. It could’ve been mine, in another life.
Those neighbors out there were probably bankers. They might’ve golfed and wined—because wining could be an event. No. Champagne. Those people probably champagned for a hobby. And now we were right next to them.
Raize wanted to go somewhere the Estrada Cartel wouldn’t find right away, and once they did, they might wait a bit before deciding to make another move. These neighbors were our camouflage.
He’d kept the light off, so he was just a shadow standing among other shadows.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I did my research. I knew who you were, what you could do, before I won you in that game. It’s why I went to that game.”
I’d never thought about it, but I realized he hadn’t gone to another poker game since that night.
“Why?” None of that made sense. Why seek me out?
“A girl whose gut is always right? You’re a weapon in living form in this life. You’re more reliable than an actual psychic and less work than a lie detector. You save time from torture. But I researched where you came from, and I got nothing. The first mention of you was that Bronksi had bought a new blonde from Korkov. Korkov brings girls from Russia to use here. Or they trick junkies into working for them. You were neither Russian nor a junkie. Korkov isn’t into randomly kidnapping American girls, so that made me think you made the decision. Why?”
I couldn’t answer that. No one could ever know.
“You’ve got an attitude about what I did to get this house, but no one died in this business deal,” he continued. “The real estate agent and the client are both alive. If they keep their mouths shut, they’ll remain alive.”
“And if they talk?” I shot out, my teeth grating against each other.
“They die. They know the score.”
I shook my head. “No one should know the score.”
He was quiet, and I felt him take a step back. “The cartels are here. They’re operating in the Valley. Anyone who lives here, knows the score.” He moved back again, his shadow separating from the others. “Jake picked up pizza. Your body needs to eat. If you’re going to do whatever you’re in this life to do, you need energy, no matter how much you hate living this life.”
Then he was gone.
I felt his absence as much as I felt his presence. I didn’t like that either.
My stomach growled, and I pushed up to my feet because he was right. I couldn’t find my sister if I was dead, and that’s what I’d be if I wasn’t useful anymore. Like Jake had said, I’d hitched my wagon to Raize, and I had to see it through, no matter where our path was heading.
Fuck him, though, just because.
Fuck him.
11
Carrie
A loud thud sounded, and I gasped, rolling over and jumping up at the same time.
It took a second to get my bearings. I was disoriented.
I’d fallen asleep on the floor—no blanket, nothing but me. I looked at the door. It was open. Cavers stood there, bending over to grab a bag from the floor. He looked over and grimaced. “Sorry.” He lifted it, pausing to look at me again. “Since you’re awake, the boss wants you downstairs.”
Well.
I “needed to be useful”— Raize’s exact words—so, ignoring the fact that my body so very much did not like sleeping on the floor, I moved into the bathroom. A quick piss, followed by a quick wash-up, and I felt a little… Nope. I didn’t feel refreshed at all. I wasn’t sure I would ever again, but still, I headed downstairs.
Jake was in the kitchen, making coffee with a coffee machine that he must’ve bought and brought along. He lifted his chin in greeting. “You want some?” He gestured to a pizza box on the counter. “There’s a few slices left.”
I ignored the offer of food and pointed to the coffee. “We have mugs for that?”
“Yep.” He reached behind him. “I mean, we have Styrofoam cups. Best I could do.” He glanced toward Raize. “Maybe we could stop and get actual mugs today?”
Raize stood at the table, studying a bunch of papers that were spread out. He looked up. “Get what you need.” He started to go back to the papers, but his eyes narrowed on me. “You need coffee, and you need to eat.”
I opened my mouth to protest.
He growled, “I don’t give a fuck what you’re about to say. Your body needs food. Eat.”
And my mouth closed.
Jake smirked, dropping two slices onto a couple napkins for me. “You want these heated up?”
I glared, taking the pizza and the coffee he’d poured for me, and went over to sit at the table. Raize moved the papers over, giving me some space, and as I started eating, I looked over at what he was studying. It was a map of the Valley and the Mexican border. He had marked some points with scribbles going over the border.
My mouth dried because I knew I needed to ask, but I didn’t want to know. Damn. “What is this?”
I could feel his gaze as a shiver went down my spine. I stuffed some pizza into my mouth and chewed, not tasting a damn thing.
“We’re down here to make a connect. These are some options for us to do that.”
Cavers came into the kitchen, dumping the bag he’d had upstairs onto the counter, along with three others. He started pulling out rope, zip ties, duct tape, and a bunch of other items. He left the guns inside, and I glimpsed a few thick bundles of cash.
“These look okay?”
Raize looked up. His eyes were cool, taking in everything Cavers showcased as he moved over to inspect the bags. He didn’t answer, but his lips pressed tight and his jaw moved around, like he was chewing on something. Eventually he sighed and nodded. “Get it ready.”
Cavers put everything back in, zipped up the bags, and hoisted all three of them on his back. He took them outside, and a second later, we heard the garage open.
Jake seemed stunned. “You’re going to let him take off with that stuff alone?”
Raize lifted his eyebrows.
As if remembering his place, Jake flushed and lowered his arm. “I mean… Never mind. What do you want me to do today, boss?”
A different glint showed in Raize’s eyes. It was one I’d never seen before.
“I need you to follow him,” he said after a moment.
Jake looked up. “You serious?”
He nodded. “Don’t let him see you. Take pics, and record what you think I’d need to know about.”
Jake’s face clouded over, but he grabbed his gun, his phone, and the other set of keys. He was out the door almost immediately.
I looked back, and was startled to find Raize had been watching me the whole time.
He showed no emotion, but he seemed to be inspecting me. “What are your thoughts about that?”
I frowned. “About Jake or Cavers?”
“All of it. Any of it.”
I shifted back a step. A weird churning had started in my gut. “Why are you asking?”
“I’m curious.”
“My gut doesn’t work like that. You need to ask a yes or no question.”
He moved closer. “I’m not asking for that.
I had my setup all done and put together in Philly. It’s different here. We’re the ones creating a need, one the Estrada Cartel doesn’t think they have. I have to create that need and reinforce it to them. I trust you the most in our group, and I am asking your opinion. What are your thoughts about what we’re doing here?”
Jesus. I did not want to have this conversation. The churning in my stomach became twisting, but with knives. Twist, slice, twist, slice.
“I don’t know what you’re doing, so I can’t have an opinion.”
Raize moved another step closer, his voice growing softer. “Then ask what you need to know.”
A lump formed in my throat.
It was that easy now? When it never had been? We were told to jump, so we jumped. We were never allowed to have a thought or an opinion. I answered Raize’s questions on command. Now he wanted me to think for him? To be an active participant where people would die?
I knew what I needed to say. “Why are you changing the rules? You never asked before.”
His eyes narrowed. “New situation. New rules. Now stop stalling and tell me.”
I raised my chin and rolled my shoulders back. “I hate when you kill people.”
His nostrils flared, but he didn’t move back. His voice was still soft. “More.”
Okay. More, then. “I don’t understand why we have Cavers here. You don’t want him, so why is he here?”
He stared at me, like he always did, but this time, his eyes were thoughtful. Considering.
I didn’t know what he was considering…
“I worked for the Morales Cartel before I left them for the Estrada Cartel,” he began.
I frowned. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“You can’t—not usually. I was a special case.”
I remembered Jake telling me how Raize had his come-up. I was so not asking what had made him a special case.
“When Bronski made his move to get you back, Carloni saw his chance. He’s been wanting to use my connection to the cartels for the last three years. I’ve been putting him off. You were there. You know a condition of me keeping you is him using me down here. He’s got no in down here without me, and he knows it. The cartels also know it. They sent Macca for me as a nice fuck off.”