by Nico Rosso
They reached the supermarket and stepped into the parking lot like an ordinary couple buying groceries for the family. The other shoppers had no idea that he’d been building cages in vans, because if they had, they’d have been pointing and howling at the monster he’d become.
But he and Stephanie cruised easily into the produce section, their cart leading the way. She asked casually, “Did you give Thom that bruise?”
“He and Hector kept talking when they should’ve shut up. They started swinging when they should’ve known better.”
“You alright?” Actual concern showed in her eyes and it threw him further off balance.
“Nothing a steak won’t fix.” He stretched his chest until the bruise caught.
“Good. You have to be careful with them.”
“Those little brats have to be careful with me.” He collected onions and peppers while she wandered an aisle away. Was she just building his trust to get him to lower his guard?
She approached him with a question in her eyes and he braced himself. “Allergies? Preferences?” She dropped a bagged head of lettuce in the cart.
“No uncooked mushrooms,” he told her. She couldn’t have wanted to get him alone to talk about salads.
“Me, neither.” She wrinkled her nose. “Too squeaky.” Then she was gone again, gathering vegetables. He pressed on, finding more of what he needed for a simple meal. When she returned with more food, the inquisitive look remained on her face. “When did you start wrenching?”
“Eight or nine years old.” This story couldn’t come back to burn him if Olesk found out. Arash’s friendship with Marcos started in high school. “We had a neighbor in the apartment complex who was a mechanic for the public bus. I’d hang out with him after school while he was massaging his Camaro.”
“Your parents weren’t your gateway?” Her attention remained on him instead of the shopping.
There hadn’t been any shame in his profession from them, but he could never talk shop with his father. “They were lawyers in Iran before they fled, but my dad wound up with restaurant and delivery work. My mom was a secretary for these Persian real estate guys. They both worked a ton so we could get by.” He and Stephanie reached the spice aisle and he threw some jars in the cart.
“Are they still around?”
He couldn’t let too much information wind up hurting his folks. “Yeah, they’re good,” was all he’d say.
She stopped walking and her face grew serious. It felt like the silence before an earthquake. She spoke in a quiet voice. “You don’t belong in Olesk’s gang.”
A chill shot down to his bones. He knew they hadn’t been followed on the road to the market, but someone could already be waiting for him here. There was one exit in the front, but he might be able to get into the service areas, then out through the loading dock. Sickening acid burned with the thought that all of this with Stephanie, the kiss, the need to get him alone, had all been a setup to find him out. Then kill him.
She stood so calm. Was this how it came? Without a blink from her. But he wasn’t ready to tear open his shirt and give her his heart to stab.
“You’re just as new as me. You don’t get to make that call.” He shifted the cart that was between them.
She’d picked the perfect place to confront him. With the public watching, they couldn’t get too loud and he couldn’t get physical defending himself until he was absolutely sure she was coming at him. Her demeanor remained cool. Anyone watching would think they were just a couple with a domestic disagreement. But he knew this was a minefield of life or death. She held his gaze calmly. “I don’t belong, either.”
“You’re smart. You knew what you were getting into.” He wanted so much to believe her, but that was what she’d been using against him all along.
“I knew exactly what I was getting into.” She came around to his side of the cart but kept her hands on the edge where he could see them. “But I don’t think you did.”
It didn’t come out as a threat, but he still watched over her shoulder for anyone else gunning for him. Everything seemed ordinary. All of that could change in a second. He angled so he could hold her off with one arm while reaching for his knife with his other hand if he had to. “You’ve got me all figured out.”
“I don’t.” She assessed his posture and took a step back, hands spread in a truce. “I can’t figure out what you’re doing with Olesk.”
This day had played out in agonies, and it wasn’t over. Not long ago, he’d thought she was gone forever, then this woman was wrapped around him, getting as free as they could on the motorcycle. And now she was one step away from signing his death sentence. “Same as you.” How far would this go? “It’s green and shaped like money.”
“I think you’re lying.” So steady, like a scalpel over his heart. He probably wouldn’t feel it when she came in for the kill. More emotion slipped into her voice. “There isn’t enough cash in the world to clear your conscience from those cages you built.”
Conscience. The same word Olesk had used. The same impulse that had gotten Marcos killed. It might just get Arash killed. Tonight. At the hands of the woman he wanted to trust. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“You’re capable of caring.” She stepped forward again, warmth in her eyes. “More than anyone in Olesk’s gang.”
“Including you?” He hadn’t been able to account for her ethic before and now he was completely twisted without a compass.
Her voice dropped. “I’m not in Olesk’s gang.” She slid closer. “Do you know about the Seventh Syndicate?”
Those killers wouldn’t hesitate to assassinate someone in public. Every face in the crowd was suddenly a menace, coming to get him. Including Stephanie. How could she be part of that criminal organization? They were the worst of the worst. “I do.” He spoke through clenched teeth, prepared for the bullet through his flesh and the fight to get out.
“They’re the client. I was driving one of them around all day.” She curled her hand into a fist. “They’re the ones you built the cage for.” His mind spun to keep up with all the transitions she steered him through. Her eyes blazed. “The gig is human trafficking. They’re collecting boys and girls and selling them. Homeless. Runaways. Asylum seekers. People the system is failing to protect. I’m here to stop it. And I don’t want to hurt you when I do.”
He moved so close he only had to whisper. “You’re a cop?”
“God, no.” The wry smile he’d gotten to know returned to her lips for a second, then was gone. She subtlety checked around them, then said, “I’m part of a very unofficial organization. We move in when the law can’t. We’re called Frontier Justice.”
“Never heard of it.” He couldn’t figure out if this bizarre new information was part of an ongoing test.
“It’s new.” She tipped her head from side to side and corrected, “It’s old. Started over a hundred and fifty years ago by my ancestor and others out West. Immigrants and women and former slaves and anyone who the law wouldn’t protect. We stepped in then, and we’re doing it again.”
“You think you can take on the Seventh?” She seemed so confident with this truth, but then again, she’d convinced Olesk she was a car thief.
“We already have.” A few more people moved into the produce area of the store and she pushed the cart away, Arash at her side. “Did you hear about a shootout at an apple orchard on the Monterey Bay? Or one at a mansion down in San Jose? That was us, running the Seventh off.”
The shooting in San Jose had made the news, but they’d only said it was related to organized crime. No mention of vigilante groups riding out of the Old West. “But not completely off.” Not if they were the ones behind the big gig Olesk was prepping for.
“That’ll take time.” She stopped them midway down an empty aisle. “It’ll take operations like the one I’m on now.”
“You’re taking a big risk telling me.” It was starting to make sense, but maybe it all fit too well, like a perfect fabrication.
“You’re worth it.” The electric connection between them crackled again. “I see you. Your heart, your mind. A man who helps a stranger with her car in a parking lot isn’t supposed to build cages for human trafficking. You’re going to get hurt with Olesk’s gang, and you don’t deserve it. You don’t belong with them.”
They were still alone in the aisle. He moved to her and voiced words he hadn’t said to anyone else. “I’m with them to kill them.”
A stillness descended. She stared at him, into him, lips parted with shock. “Explain.”
“At least I can surprise you, too.” He smiled. Lifting the lies allowed fresh blood to flow through him.
A small laugh bubbled up in her. “You always do.” Her eyes remained sharp, searching him.
Arash discovered the words. “I had a friend who ran with the STR for a minute. Then he found out what the next gig was all about. He wanted to get out. He called me. They murdered him on the highway.”
“I’m sorry.” Real emotion showed on her face, and he saw that his new knowledge of her didn’t change her that much.
“Thank you.” He was hit with the urge to reach forward and touch her arm, but there was still too much to sort. “But you should be sorry for Olesk and the STR. They’re the ones going down in flames.”
“We can help each other.” A clever smile crossed her lips and shined dark in her eyes.
His first instinct to mistrust battled against all the trust she’d just given him. Her life was in his hands as much as his was in hers. Either could out the other to Olesk, and then it would all be over. He’d already grown to think of her as his only tentative ally in this whole mess. And now it made sense why. “I can see that.” But what her and her organization wanted was still hazy. “But you can’t stop me from taking Olesk.”
“He’s yours,” she said. “I’m here for the Seventh Syndicate.” Her mouth turned down when she said their name. “There are Frontier Justice people in the police, the FBI. We can use those resources now, and when the time comes, their authority can lock these bastards up.”
“If there’s anything left of them.”
“Then we can help each other.”
“What you told me about learning the cars, about private school and all that, was it all true?” The electric charge snapped between them. Trying to understand Stephanie was like falling through an endless maze.
“All true.” She nodded. “The only thing I lied about to you was why I was in this gang.”
“When you told me to kiss you?” His heart beat faster. He wanted to believe her, but he held himself back from bringing his hands to her waist and drawing her to him.
She glanced at his mouth, then gazed in his eyes. “All true.”
“When you pushed me away?” There was no map with her.
“That’s when I thought you were a criminal.” She reached forward and took his hand in hers. A steady current moved through him with the touch. Stronger than before. She wasn’t part of the gang. She was on his side.
“I’m a mechanic.” With a vow to a dead friend.
Her hold of him grew stronger. He pulled her toward him. They met, chest to chest, and wrapped their arms around each other. The fear and danger he’d been living in hadn’t gone away. But knowing she was there with him, a woman as capable as she was, made the most dire situation seem possible. He could live through this. And he had to, in order to discover what this electricity was when he was so close to Stephanie.
She tilted her face to his and he took her mouth with a kiss. It felt as if they were both sighing relief into each other. The lies were gone, and the truth made them stronger together. Her lips slid against his. He opened his mouth and she met him with the same hunger.
A footstep into the aisle broke them apart. The two of them smiled sheepishly at an older white woman who pushed her cart past and pretended not to look at them. But he didn’t feel sheepish. He felt bold, because what he had with Stephanie was powerful enough to take down Olesk and anyone around him.
Stephanie arranged the edges of her hair and pulled out a cell phone from her jacket. It was different from the one he’d seen her with. “You a big football fan?” he asked. The phone’s well-worn case had a large team logo on it.
She pushed the cart away from the other shopper with her elbows while unlocking the phone. “Stole it from a fan who wanted a lap dance in a parking lot this evening.”
“What?” Anger fired through his muscles.
Her voice remained low. “I had to steal it. It’s the only way I can get word out to my team without leaving a trail.”
“I don’t care about you stealing. What about the guy who was hassling you?”
“Him and two others.” She waved it off.
“Are you kidding?” He’d known it was going to be trouble when Olesk took her off that morning. The thought of three sons of bitches coming at her nearly blinded him with rage. “Are you okay?”
“I am.” She moved the cart to another aisle and stopped. “Thank you. Really.” Warmth shimmered in the depth of her eyes. “Barely a scratch.” She slid her hand down Arash’s arm. “And the guy who gave me this phone is going to be at least six weeks in a cast.”
“That’s not bad enough.” He knew she could handle herself, and hated that she had to.
She squeezed his forearm, expression brightening. “His wrist will probably need pins.”
“That’s better.” But he still wanted to release his own anger on those guys.
“And I got a phone out of it.” She swiped over the screen and opened the web browser. “I’m going to contact my team and catch them up.”
And suddenly he was less alone in this darkness than he ever thought. “Okay. Look bored. I’ll go get the beer.” She nodded and he headed up the aisle. Glancing back before turning into the rest of the store, he saw she’d taken on the perfect relaxed posture of a woman on her phone without a concern about the world around her. Everyone in the store believed it. Except him. They were both living on the outside. Lying to the world. Lying to Olesk.
He returned with the beer to find her another aisle over, shopping casually. The phone had been put away. She smiled when he approached. It was real, for him and not for show. He knew it because the same surprise bloomed in his chest when he saw her.
They continued shopping, talking only about the food as thousands of questions raced through him. As they selected cooking pots and pans he picked the first question. “Did you really steal that Mercedes?”
“The whole process was legit.” A small and wicked smile shined like a knife. “But it was my car.”
“You’re bad.” He knew he’d never be able to keep up with the webs she wove.
“I haven’t always been good.” The smile faded.
“Neither have I,” he confessed.
They fell silent among the people in line for the register. As they edged closer to the conveyor belt a hot rod magazine cover caught their attention. Talking about paint finishes and carburetor modifications kept them occupied. But it didn’t bring him back to the real world. There was no real world he recognized anymore. Not when they paid for the groceries with cash blood money from Olesk’s gang. Not when, as soon as they got outside the supermarket, Stephanie disabled the stolen cell phone, twisted it until it cracked and threw it in the trash.
Not when she leaned into his body as they approached the minivan and whispered, “It might be bugged.”
He nodded, his cheek against her temple. This was real. The only trust in this deadly landscape was between them. He never counted on someone helping him, but Stephanie was way beyond anything he could’ve imagined. They had people to protect and vengeance to pay. And he would fight like hell for her.
Chapter Thirteen
The dark of night was hers now. Stephanie had risked it all with Arash, confronting him the way she had, and the gamble had paid off with a bigger reward than she’d ever imagined. She had an ally in the fight. A partner driving her through the black hills on the return to the compound. That space approached with less foreboding. She had entered into this mission wrapped in secrets. She brought more with her now. Arash made her stronger.
For a minute at the supermarket, she thought it would all blow up in her face. Of course he wouldn’t confess right away to her. She hadn’t been completely forthcoming herself. But once their trust extended and met in the middle like a bridge, they were able to cross.
She watched him now, driving the disjointed minivan through the night. He focused forward, jaw set. So much made sense now. She’d been right; he didn’t fit. But his reason caught her completely off guard. His purpose and dedication to his fallen friend illuminated some of the depths she’d seen in him. She wanted to learn more, but the car could be listening, and they were fast approaching the compound.
To communicate, she extended her hand toward him. He didn’t hesitate to reach out and lace his fingers through hers. They’d been keeping secrets and hiding truths, and all through it, this was real. The touch burned with a steady warmth.
And it brought its own complications. Her initial hope in confronting him was to get him out of the gang so he wouldn’t get caught up in the firestorm she and Frontier Justice were planning. But Arash had his own mission, promised with blood, and she could see he wouldn’t quit until it was complete. Which meant her stakes just went up. Because while it was amazing to know he had her back, she also knew that she would be devastated if anything happened to Arash.
He let go of her hand and steered them off the main road. The lights of Olesk’s house turned the cars and motorcycles out front into hulking silhouettes. Sleeping monsters a moment away from waking and killing.
Beer bottles clinked in their cases as the minivan rocked over the uneven dirt of the driveway. Ellie could probably hear that sound from three hundred yards away during a hailstorm. She was out the front door before Arash had shut the engine down. Ellie threw the minivan’s side door back and hefted a stack of two cases of beers. A knowing smile grew when she watched Arash and Stephanie stand close to collect more of the groceries. Stephanie met her gaze with a smile of her own. There were a lot of buried secrets, some explosive enough to kill, but Stephanie didn’t have to pretend this was anything other than it was.
