by Nico Rosso
The interior was a stark black rectangle of shadow compared to the bright day. Arash eased inside, his gut clenching and his awareness churning to take in any necessary details. The back wall of the barn was solid, but he might be able to break through it if he could get enough speed up in the car. There were high windows that had been painted over, if he had time to climb the metal shelving filled with shop tools and auto parts.
Arash brought the car to a stop and shared a quick look with Stephanie. He couldn’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses, but he sensed her caution. He gave her a small nod and she returned it. Grabbing his backpack, he slid from the car and stood to face out of the barn. Stephanie did the same on the other side of the car.
Olesk, Ellie and the two other men silhouetted against the bright, sere landscape. Their hands hung at their sides, but if any of them made a move, Arash was ready to charge across the dirt floor. The chances of taking the gang down on their own territory were less than zero. He would die trying.
“There’s food in the house.” Olesk’s casual, welcoming tone ripped at Arash’s last nerve.
“Food?” Arash stalked forward. The two men he didn’t know instantly puffed up for a fight. The Hispanic man was about his size; the white guy next to him, taller and leaner. If they didn’t pull any weapons, he’d be happy to blow off his steam taking them on. He barked out at Olesk, “How about a map, or a plan, or some information so we’re not hung out to dry with our asses on the line?”
Olesk cocked his head, relaxed. “You handled everything.” The other men balled their fists.
“A split second away from getting burned.” Arash ignored the other guys who glared at him and focused on Olesk. “You want me to do my job with less potential for disaster, I need more info as I go.” Olesk just shrugged, making Arash wish the two men would make a play so he could put his fist into someone’s face. “I come on here and deliver for you and you act like you don’t trust me. You think I’m going to rat?” It was probably a bad idea to come after the boss of the gang like this, but Arash had his pride and standards to protect. And if he played too easily into Olesk’s game, it might bring about more suspicion than the hard moves he was putting on now.
“Does he speak for you?” Olesk shifted his unblinking gaze deeper into the barn, to Stephanie.
Stephanie’s voice slid cool over Arash’s shoulder. “I always speak for myself.” He was glad she stood on her own. He didn’t need her to back him up and he definitely wasn’t going to drag her unwillingly into this conflict. She continued calmly, “Whether I’m driving or riding shotgun, knowledge is power.” Her even footsteps approached until he was able to see her in his peripheral vision. There was as much poise in her body as her words. “You loop me in, I do a better job.”
Ellie jutted her jaw and squinted with displeasure. Olesk kept it smooth and nodded. “Yeah, you got it. This one was a little tight and we were all scrambling.” He spoke to both Stephanie and Arash. “It isn’t always like that.” He tipped his head toward the house. “Your cash is inside. Hope you like frozen pizza.”
It wasn’t a straight-up apology, but it was good enough. Arash pulled his backpack onto his shoulder. “As long as you’ve got an oven.” He took a step to follow Olesk and Ellie, but the two men remained in their bar-fight posture in front of him. Ellie rolled her eyes.
Olesk huffed a small laugh. “Thom, Hector, meet Arash and Stephanie.”
The white man nodded when Olesk had announced “Thom.” This guy was a user. Restless, red-rimmed eyes. Arash had seen the same effects of crank on his friend before this gang had rubbed him out. Thom’s dirty blond hair was greasy, and his lips always seemed to be moving, like he was just about to say something.
Hector, who looked to be in his twenties and appeared to spend most of his time either in the gym or working on his sweep of hair, reluctantly tipped his head. “What’s up?” He took his time looking Stephanie up and down.
“You’re welcome.” She sauntered forward with a challenge.
That brought Thom’s brow down, revealing wrinkles on the fortysomething-year-old man. “For what, honey?”
She hesitated for a split second, as if holding herself back, then answered, “For running those cops off your tail.” With a bright smile, she stepped past Thom and Hector and into the sun.
Hector fired at her back, “In the car that we tuned.”
Arash scoffed, “The car with too much lag in second gear and a turbo booster spraying oil.” Thom’s wild gaze landed back on Arash. “Didn’t you smell it?”
Neither Thom nor Hector answered.
“I smelled it.” Stephanie nodded her head.
A loud laugh barked from Olesk. He wagged a finger at Arash and Stephanie. “Yeah, you’re STR. Definitely.” After putting his arm around Ellie’s hip, he headed to the house.
Thom and Hector deflated and fell into step. Arash and Stephanie moved along with them. Winter chill sliced into his neck above the collar of his jacket. It didn’t matter how high the sun was, it couldn’t chase this cold. Inside his chest, though, Arash was a furnace. Now that he was in with the gang, he would have to plot how to wipe them out. Somewhere on the highway, where he knew he was a better driver than any of them. Except maybe Stephanie. The last thing he wanted to do was to bring her down with the rest of them.
She shifted so she was walking next to Thom. Her smooth voice warned, “Call me honey one more time, and I take one of your kneecaps.”
“Sure,” Thom sneered.
She stopped walking and took off her sunglasses. He turned and she stared him dead in the eye, challenging through her teeth, “Do it.”
Her dare hung in the icy air. Arash and the others waited. Hector puffed up again. Olesk dropped his hand from Ellie’s waist and the two of them watched intently. If Thom bit back, and Stephanie had to fight him and anyone else, Arash could get to Hector before he got to her. After a long three seconds, Thom blinked and chewed his tongue and didn’t say anything. Stephanie put her sunglasses back on and breezed past him. Arash remained at her side, knowing that Hector and Thom stared hard from behind them.
He walked toward the house. Each step closer to payback. Along this path, Stephanie was the only one who’d shown him any trust. He’d just discovered that he was willing to throw down for her. But he couldn’t rely on the same from Stephanie once his true intent was known. At that moment, there would be nowhere safe for him. And the connection he was beginning to savor with Stephanie would be dead.
Chapter Six
Stephanie stood in the cold heart of Olesk’s crew and had to pretend that she belonged. Even if she could inform Frontier Justice of her location, it would take someone hours to arrive. Any trouble, she had to handle herself. Although it seemed from her confrontation with Thom that Arash had her back. He’d stood at the ready, hands flexed and face scowling. It had given her more of a flash of appreciative heat than she wanted to admit. But where would Arash’s loyalty come down when the battle lines were finally drawn?
She ignored the question. The time frame stretched out beyond her knowledge and she could only deal with surviving the here and now until she had more information. At least Olesk was loosening up. He’d shown Arash and Stephanie their rooms on the second floor of the sprawling house, then they’d all reconvened in the white-tiled open kitchen.
The oven ticked and clanged as it worked on a frozen pizza for Arash and Stephanie. Her stomach was ready for it, but her taste buds were hoping for more savory satisfaction than the thin disc would provide. The house was warm, comfortable enough, but she kept her jacket on to obscure the pistol she’d holstered at the small of her back as soon as she’d had a second alone in her new room.
Thom and Hector sat at a small table tucked into a bay window with a view of the dirt field and barns behind the house. Hector nursed a beer and Thom toyed with the condensation on a tall energy drink can as the
y murmured sporadically.
Arash stood on the opposite side of the dining area, with Olesk at a different window with the same view. They talked and pointed at various things in the back, but Stephanie didn’t feel shut out. She’d already proven her worth, and when something important was on, they’d come to her.
She pulled off a bottle of sparkling water and leaned against the counter as Ellie rummaged through the refrigerator next to her. With a slam, Ellie closed the door and twisted the cap off a bottle of beer with that perpetual judgy look on her face. Like she was wringing someone’s neck. Instead of skulking off to a dark corner in the barely decorated house like Stephanie expected her to do, Ellie sat back against the counter next to her and looked out of the kitchen and dining area.
She took a pull off her beer, then spoke low with her lips still near the bottle. “I wish you’d torn Thom a new one.”
“I still might, depending on his manners.” Stephanie checked her watch and saw there were still a few minutes left for the pizza.
Ellie smiled wistfully, then grew serious again. “Don’t worry about the information flow. Just a bit of initiation.” She toasted Stephanie’s water with her beer. “I got to move that Merc you brought in. You definitely passed the test.”
“Someone’s going to miss that car.” Part of her longed for the simplicity of taking that car along the coast down Highway 1 and through the Monterey Bay. Without danger, or pursuit. Or Arash confusing everything.
“I miss it after one drive.” Ellie drained half of her beer. “He’s legit?” She stared at Arash, who continued his conversation with Olesk.
“He doesn’t play it safe.” Which had turned out to be way too exciting. “But he gets the job done.”
“That’ll do.” Ellie set her empty bottle on the counter and retrieved a fresh one from the fridge. “We drive hard, we get paid.” She pulled a thick white envelope from her back pocket and handed it to Stephanie.
“Do you drive?” Stephanie thumbed over the stack of cash. All the blood money she collected from Olesk would go into making Frontier Justice stronger.
Ellie quirked her matte plum-colored lips into a wry smile. “Only on the left side of the road.” She leaned off the counter and walked away to Arash and Olesk. Pulling another envelope from her pocket, she toasted Arash with her beer. He answered with a tip of his head and took the envelope from her.
“You didn’t bring me a beer?” Olesk spoke a little too loudly and his voice echoed off the hard bare surfaces of the kitchen and dining room.
“Sorry, hon.” Ellie took a long pull from her bottle, not breaking eye contact with him.
Arash ducked the interaction and walked toward the kitchen area while glancing down at the cash in the envelope. If the eight thousand dollars impressed him, he didn’t show it. A shadow crossed his face for a moment, angry and dark. It was gone by the time he pocketed the money and reached Stephanie next to the stove. “How much longer on the pizza?”
“Does it matter?” She checked her watch.
“No.” He opened the oven and used a kitchen towel to pull the tray out. “Need to eat hot food.” Cheese bubbled and sauce spattered and it didn’t look as bad as she’d made it out to be. He put it on top of the stove, shut the oven and collected two paper plates from a stack on the island. “You guys have a pizza cutter?”
Thom laughed. “We’re not fancy like that.”
“It’s not fancy, it’s a freaking pizza cutter.” Arash tugged drawers open.
“Get a knife,” Hector called out.
Stephanie turned the oven off and pulled a cheap serrated knife from a knife block on the counter. Arash stopped his search and squared up with her, gaze flicking between the blade and her face. He balanced on the balls of his feet like a fight was coming and the darkness glimmered in his eyes again. “You know how to use that.”
“I can cook.”
“That’s not what I mean.” He glanced at the knife block, his hands empty, but open and ready.
She laid the knife down on the counter. “Did some courier work in the city.” Her father had never been so furious than when he’d learned that she’d convinced some of his runners to let her take over their routes collecting and delivering stacks of cash. “Didn’t lose a single package.” But her regular bank account had been frozen for two months and she’d had to rely on the online money market accounts she’d created for herself.
“No doubt.” He took up the knife, segmented the pizza and slid the slices onto the paper plates. There were open seats at the table with Thom and Hector, but Arash and Stephanie leaned against the island to eat.
Ellie sauntered back into the kitchen, collected two beers from the fridge and returned to Olesk. He clinked his bottle against hers and spoke to the room. “The plan so far—Hector and Thom are starting the van makeovers with the goods we got out of Sactown.” Stephanie chilled. Those vans were made for moving people. “Arash and Stephanie, you two break down the tuner that got you here.”
“How far down?” Arash asked between bites.
“All the way.” Olesk made a spiraling motion with his beer. “It’s a donor now. Without a trace.”
“Ready to get greasy with me?” Arash flicked her a look.
Her body responded to his wicked grin with a needy hunger, deep in her chest. It was impossible to shut down, no matter how much logic she threw at it.
Olesk sauntered through the dining area. “There are more local jobs coming, so settle in and don’t worry about hopping too quickly. I’ll let you know this time.” He saluted with his beer. “As soon as the tuner’s in parts and in boxes we’ll throw Arash and Steph at the van project.”
“Stephanie,” she corrected him. Ellie smiled to herself.
“Stephanie.” Olesk threw her name over his shoulder as he wandered into another part of the house with Ellie, probably one of the two living rooms with gigantic TVs.
Arash ate in silence. As soon as Stephanie took a bite of the warm food, she didn’t care how it tasted and just knew she needed the sustenance. Hector finished his beer, laid it on its side and tapped Thom on the shoulder. They wordlessly agreed to head out and stood together. Hector pointed toward a side door out of the dining area. “There are disposable coveralls in the mudroom.”
“All the tools are in the barn?” Stephanie asked.
“With power and a compressor.” Hector nodded. “You two come find us if things get too complicated under the hood.”
“Don’t forget,” Thom added with a watery smirk. “Righty tighty, lefty loosey.”
Arash mocked a smile, but his eyes remained hard and cold. Deadly with the darkness she still hadn’t figured out in him. Thom had no answer for the malice and hunched slightly as he exited to the rest of the house with Hector. Arash muttered, “Could break him like chicken bones.”
“Not your favorite?” She’d eaten all she could of the pizza and threw the crusts in the trash.
“He’s definitely not invited to my birthday party.” Arash pulled away from the island.
Her laugh echoed louder than she expected through the kitchen. The meanness in Arash’s smile disappeared when he looked at her. The warmth tugged too strongly at her. She tried to cut it off and walked to the side door Hector had indicated. But she still felt Arash with her, even though he was a few strides behind her and hadn’t pressed the moment any further.
Through the door was a mudroom with high cabinets over a washer and dryer, along with a utility sink draped with rags. Several bottles of bleach stood under the sink. The whole area was so sterile she knew it had been used to clean up very illegal messes. Arash’s face drained of any warmth, going blank as he opened the cabinets. He pulled down two pairs of Tyvek coveralls and handed one to Stephanie before opening a heavier door to the outside.
Cold air swept in on a dry breeze, and she didn’t know what was more inhospitabl
e, the winter chill of the high desert or the company of the heartless criminals within the house. She was the first outside and Arash closed the door behind them.
Hector might’ve puffed up and postured plenty against the new blood in the gang, but he hadn’t lied about the gear in the garage. She’d been too focused on what it meant to be on the compound to take stock of what tools and equipment were laid out for use. It was everything she’d need to turn any nut and bolt on a car.
“I’ve worked in pro garages with less tech.” Arash also checked it all out, hand hovering over the tools like he was sensing their auras.
“You don’t need tools. You just use your ear and your nose.” She pulled the coveralls over her clothes and rolled the cuffs and sleeves to fit.
He pulled his hair back into a ponytail and donned his own coveralls. “Tell me you smelled that faulty turbo charger, too.” The white material accentuated the wide plane of his chest and just how broad his shoulders were.
“Hell, yeah.” She found the switches for the overhead lights and turned them all on. “Like someone was frying doughnuts.”
He laughed and dragged a pair of ramps in front of the car. As he leaned down to line them up with the tires, she glimpsed the shape of his tight butt. She looked away and tried to reset her mind by calculating the proper order of disassembly. He tapped the hood. “Want to bring it up?”
She climbed into the car and turned the engine over. He motioned her forward, checking low as she eased up the ramps. His closed fist told her to stop and she set the brake and shut the car down.
He kicked a low rolling platform out from under a shelf and nudged it toward the front bumper. While he rummaged for tools, she got out and found a fluorescent work light among other flashlights and headlamps. The greenish glow took her back to the first nights under a car in the maintenance department of her friend’s father’s auto dealership. Arash took the light from her and lay down on the platform with an array of tools and an empty container for oil on his chest. The work light carved him in half, bright and black. She focused on the shadows to remind herself he wasn’t to be trusted.
