"That's terrible," Harper said. "Why don't the authorities stop it?"
"They try to," Alec said. "But it's just like here. Do you know how many immigrants come in this country and make way less than minimum wage? People turn a blind eye to it because they're just immigrants. No reason not to exploit them. If they complain, they'll be shipped back to their home countries and someone will just take their place."
Harper thought about the gardener her parents used. Was he an illegal immigrant? Were they paying him fare wages? She'd never given it much thought before, but now she wondered. She didn't think her parents would intentionally exploit someone just because they could, but what if they just hadn't thought about it? If someone offered to the work for cheaper than anyone else they would just accept it.
She glanced over at Brittney and saw the same thoughtful expression on her face. She felt a surge of affection for her best friend. They might have their differences, but in so many ways, they were alike.
The car they were following pulled into a large warehouse district. There was graffiti all over the buildings. The men got out of their car, and waved them down. The one who went by Zach -- because Harper knew the chances of them using their real names was as likely as Brittney and Harper using their real names -- pointed at an open warehouse door. Brittney pulled into it, parked, and opened her door. The four of them got out.
Zach and Sean approached them. "We're going to have to check your men again before we head inside. Security reasons. You understand."
Conner and Alec looked at Brittney, as though they were waiting for her permission. Harper had never seen either of them do that before. Then again, Brittney had been acting as their leader, and the two men were supposed to be their guards. Of course, they'd look for direction from her.
Brittney gave each of them a nod, then gestured for Sean to step up. He patted both men down, checked them for wires, and then gave the alright to Zach. Together, they made their way through the dusty warehouse to the a door in the back. They opened it, revealing a much larger, much cleaner room. There must have been at least fifty people inside, if not more. They were all armed.
"Uh..." Harper tried to catch Alec's eye. "Hey."
"What is it?" he whispered. The two of them lagged behind the others.
"This place is crawling with the supernatural," Harper said. "I see a lot of vampires, a lot of incubi, and a collection of other demons. There are some that look like fire. Others too..."
Alec nodded. "Keep an eye on them," he said. "Especially the ones that look like fire. They're very dangerous."
"What are you two whispering about?" Zach asked.
Harper flashed him a smile. "Just noting how busy you all are. I expected maybe ten men, twenty if you were really busy. But this many, in the middle of the night? It's a bit of a shock."
"We're a large organization," Zach said. "We make use of every hour, day and night."
Harper nodded. She glanced again at Alec, and then over at Conner and Brittney. She wanted to tell them what she saw but no way to do it without alerting Zach and Sean that they knew what was going on. She wondered if she could signal them somehow... then Sean stepped back beside her, putting a hand on the small of her back.
She almost flinched away, but she remembered what the detective had said. She needed to use her womanly charms. She flashed him a sly smile. He returned it, then winked.
"So," he whispered right next to her ear, "which one of these men is yours?"
"Neither," Harper said truthfully. "I'm a free agent. I try not to tie myself down to one person in particular."
"Maybe you'd like to tie yourself down to me," Sean said in what Harper assumed he believed was a sexy voice. He just sounded ridiculous, though. "I mean, a beautiful woman who knows how to do business... you don't see that very often. Forget these guys. Come work with me and Zach."
"My employer wouldn't like that very much," Harper said. "He's a very jealous man, and I don't think he'd like it very much if I quit working for him. He pays very well for my loyalty."
Sean shrugged. "Keep the offer in mind," he said. "The chances are, we'll go after your boss sooner or later. This city isn't big enough for both of us."
Harper only smiled. She saw Conner shooting them covert glances and she knew he was worried about what they were whispering about. She made a fake gun with her fingers and pointed it at him, pulling the imaginary trigger. Conner just stared at her. She sighed. There was no real way to let him know what was going on.
"You know," Sean said, "if you come work with us, we'll bring your partner on too. What's her name again?"
"Tricia."
"Tricia what?"
"Tricia Jones."
"And what was your last name?"
"Bane. Megan Bane."
"Beautiful name," he said. Harper had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she offered another one of her sly smiles and winked at him.
Zach turned to them. "Hurry up," he said. "Sean, stop flirting. We have a job to do."
He led them past all the men and women in the warehouse. Several of them stopped what they were doing to stare at them. Harper felt her skin crawl. She'd never seen such a large collection of supernatural creatures before, not even at the gym that she and Sarah used.
He took off a key he was wearing around his neck, and unlocked another door. "Go in there," he said. "I'll send someone in shortly."
Harper hesitated, but with Sean's hand on her back directing her inside, she had no real choice. The others followed, and Sean and Zach stepped back out. The door closed, and they all heard the loud click of it locking.
"Great," Harper said. "We're locked in. Listen guys, there's something you need to know. Trinity isn't a human gang. They may have humans working for them -- like Zach and Sean -- but the rest of them are supernatural. Vampires, incubi, fiery things... this whole works. We're surrounded by demons."
Brittney cursed.
"Well at least that explains why Eklund was so keen on allowing you guys to take the job," Conner said. "I was wondering why he would approve it when he knows you two aren't real FBI agents. He knew they were a demonic gang, and he wants us to clean them up."
Harper shook her head. "Impossible," she said. "There's over fifty of them in there. At least. We don't stand a chance against them, especially unarmed."
Conner opened his mouth, probably to argue, but Alec cut him off. "Harper's right. We can't afford to try fighting them tonight. There's too many and we're unprepared. We'll come back and take them out."
"Even the humans?" Brittney asked.
Alec hesitated. "I don't know," he finally said. "They've chosen to work with demons. Doesn't that make them just as bad? If we're going to take out Trinity, we have to eliminate all threats. That includes the humans they work with."
Conner shook his head. "Did you see what it did to Sarah when she killed those two humans? How much it hurt her? We kill demons. We don't kill humans, no matter how much they might deserve it. We proved that when Harper protected that asshole who killed his wife from Sarah's fury."
Harper considered this carefully. Before she could form an opinion, there was a commotion outside the door that distracted them.
"What do you mean, you brought them back here? You don't bring people back here without talking to me first! They could be cops."
"They're not cops," Sean said. "Trust me, if they're cops, they're really bad cops."
Brittney stuck her middle finger up at the door, and Harper had to resist the urge to laugh.
"That's not the point," the unfamiliar voice said. "The point is that you don't bring people back here without meeting them several times. You have to make sure they're not going to squeal on us. You've put this entire section of the organization in danger. Do you realize that?"
"Section?" Harper repeated. "You mean, this is only part of it?"
Nobody responded, and Conner held a finger up to his lips.
"I'm sorry," Sean said.
Z
ach's voice chimed in. "Right, I'm sorry too. We weren't thinking about that. We were just thinking that they'd make good partners if they could continue to supply us with things. We wanted you to meet them and give your opinion. That's all."
"Well you both screwed up," said the third man. "But I'm a forgiving man. If they aren't undercover cops, and they're not going to squeal on us, then I might think of letting you two continue to do our trades. But if they are, you're going to get rid of them. Understand?"
There was no response, and Harper assumed they were nodding.
"Now get out of here."
The door lock clicked and opened. There was a tall man standing there.
"So," he said, "I'm John. I've heard you guys brought us a good amount of weaponry. I appreciate that."
Brittney moved forward. "Is this how you usually treat guests? Locking them up in a tiny room?"
John gave her a small smile. "When we don't know them, sure. As you can tell, our operation is fairly large. We wouldn't want to risk you seeing something you shouldn't. That would be very unpleasant for everyone involved. Don't you agree?"
"Absolutely," Harper said quickly.
The others nodded.
"So, are you undercover police?"
"No," Brittney said.
"And how do I know I can trust your word on that?" John said. "An undercover cop would say the same thing."
"Check us out," Brittney said. "We're not carrying weapons, we're not carrying badges, and we're not wearing wires. We're not police. If we were, we would have arrested your men back at the drop and we certainly wouldn't have given you crates of weapons. Do you think the police would want you having that? Then there's the drugs we were promised."
John stared at her for a moment and Harper got the feeling that he was staring into her soul. She swallowed.
"I believe you," John said. "But I would be remiss to simply take your word for it." He took a gun from his belt, and aimed it at Conner. "So let me ask you again. Are you police?"
"Go ahead and shoot him," Brittney said. "There are plenty of bodyguards out there. We don't need him."
Harper opened her mouth but Alec shot her a look, and she quickly closed it. John thumbed back the hammer on his pistol, and clicked the safety off. "Alright."
He stepped forward and put the gun right to Conner's temple. Harper wanted to do something. Her mouth felt incredibly dry, and her heart was beating too fast in her chest.
"If you need to, do it," Brittney said.
John met her gaze and then slowly lowered the gun. "Just a little test," he said. "I wouldn't want to start our business relationship off by spilling blood."
"Are you the head of Trinity?" Harper asked.
John started laughing. He laughed for a full minute, and then shook his head. "Do you really think we'd let you meet Trinity's leader right away? No, no, no. I just work for him. And if you play your cards right, you can work with him too. Would you like that? Or are you happy with your current jobs? We have a very lucrative business, you know."
Brittney shrugged. "And betray our current employer? Are you wanting us to get killed?"
"We can take care of him," John said. "The two of you will simply disappear. He'll believe we killed you, and kept the weapons and the drugs for ourselves."
Brittney and Harper exchanged glances. Harper gave a small nod, and Brittney said.
"They're going to get their drugs. Give us a couple days to think it over, though. You'll have your answer the night after next. Should we meet back here?"
"No," John said. "This was a one-time adventure until I know I can trust you. You meet us in the same spot you did tonight, and we'll work it out from there."
Brittney nodded. "The four of us will be here."
"The four of you? You don't need to bring your henchmen."
"Actually we do," Brittney said. "We don't go anywhere without them. So you can have all of us or none of us."
John tilted his head. "I could shoot you all right now."
"And lose out on a great business relationship," Brittney said. "But that choice is yours."
John studied her for a moment and then turned to Harper. "You're awfully silent," he said. "Don't have anything to say?"
Harper shrugged a shoulder, trying to remain cool despite the fact that they could all end up dead at any time. There were too many of them to try and fight their way out.
"My partner does most of the talking," she said. "I like to sit back and observe."
"And what exactly have you observed?"
"That you're not going to kill us," Harper said. "If you were going to, you would have started out the conversation with four bullets in our heads. No, you're not going to kill us. You want to know more about us, and what we do. So you're going to let us go, and you're going to meet up with us again the day after tomorrow and we might join up with your little gang, and you'd be very happy with what we bring to the table."
"Well after a speech like that, you better have something good for us," John said. He stepped out of the room and called out, "Zach! Sean! Get these people out of here."
Zach and Sean stepped up to the room, both of them looking quite subdued in the presence of their superior.
"Come with us," Zach said.
They nodded and followed him back out of the warehouse. Harper used the chance to look around again, and try to get an accurate count of who all was there.
They got into their truck. Harper looked at the others.
"I hope you have a plan," Alec said. "We're going to have to bring them something of real value."
"Oh, yes," Harper said. "I have a plan. Come on, let's go home."
NINE
Once they'd retrieved Brittney's car, they headed back to Afterlife. On the way there, Harper texted Sarah and Chloe to let them know they were alright. Neither of them responded for several minutes. Harper assumed they must have gone to sleep. Then her phone rang. It was Sarah calling.
Harper answered with a "Hey."
"Hey, girl," Sarah said. "Stay away from Afterlife."
"What? Why?"
"It's not safe there," Sarah said. "Someone tried to burn down Alec's apartment. They could still be around there. We don't want to take any chances. Plus, there's really not a place to go back to. The whole club has been evacuated due to smoke damage."
"What?" Harper pressed her phone against her cheek. "You're kidding, right? This is some kind of joke?"
"What is it?" Alec asked, but Harper ignored him for now.
"I'm not kidding," Sarah said. "We'll have to meet somewhere else. Afterlife is closed until repairs can be done. Alec can't go into his apartment. It's wrecked. They're not even sure they'll be able to salvage the structural components so they can rebuild. He's going to have to move."
Harper glanced over at Alec. "Alright," she said. "Where should we meet then?"
There was silence on the phone for a moment, and then Sarah said, "Meet us at the Lucky Sevens Hotel. We've booked connecting rooms. We don't want whoever is trying to kill us to track us back to our houses."
"Right, see you there," Harper said, hanging up the phone. It was difficult for her to even wrap her hand around, but she said it in a calm, almost serene voice. "Someone lit a fire at Afterlife. Specifically, in your home. Sarah and Chloe were inside. They're alright, but your home isn't. There's a lot of damage -- you can't go home. We're going to go to the Lucky Sevens Hotel. Sarah and Chloe will meet us there."
The day was starting to feel like one long nightmare.
"They burnt down my apartment," Alec said coldly. "Now that's really going too far."
"Why can't we just all meet back at our house?" Brittney asked. "We're fairly new to Afterlife, and nobody should know that we've moved yet. The house would be safe enough. Then we don't have to stay in a hotel. Nobody likes staying in hotels."
Conner shook his head. "We can't go back to our houses," he said. "The chances are that John fellow has someone tailing us to see where we go. We don't wa
nt them to know where any of us live; especially you and Harper. We don't want them to know you're living together. Once they have that information, it won't take them long to put together who you are, and we definitely don't want them knowing that. Then they'll know you lied to them, and that's going to create a lot of problems that we just can't afford right now."
"So, to the hotel it is," Harper said. "Make a left turn up here, Brittney."
"I know," Brittney said. "I grew up in Vegas too, remember?"
Harper nodded and sat back, silently contemplating their current problems. They had goblins to track down, art to reclaim, a gang to trick, all while someone was trying to kill them. She had known these kind of things would happen when she joined Afterlife, but she still couldn't accept that someone other than a demon wanted them dead. She yawned and realized how tired she was.
Everyone was silent as they drove to the Lucky Sevens. Sarah and Chloe were waiting down in the lobby. They passed out room keys and then led the others to the suites they'd booked.
"You and Alec will be bunking together," Sarah said to Conner. "The four of us can share the other."
Everyone nodded, but they didn't go to their separate rooms. Instead, they all gathered in Alec and Conner's, sitting on the beds. Brittney ordered pizza, and they waited for it to arrive in mostly silence.
Finally, Alec broke the quiet to say, "Great. I'm going to have to find a new apartment until mine can get repaired."
"No, you can stay with me and Harper," Brittney said. "We have furniture being delivered today. You'll be staying in our guest room. It doesn't have a private bathroom but you'll make due."
Alec shook his head. "That's alright," he said. "I don't want to be an inconvenience. I'll just find a hotel to stay at instead. I have the money for it. It's really no problem."
"I mean it," Brittney said. "We're not going to let you stay in a hotel, Alec. Harper, back me up."
Harper glanced over at Alec. Part of the reason she'd left Alec's apartment to live with Brittney was to put some space between the two of them. That wasn't going to happen now, though.
Kinda Like Van Helsing (Afterlife Book 4) Page 8
