by Natasha Deen
“But—”
“Get out of here. And take Amanda with you.” Clem sounded disgusted.
Not half as disgusted as I was. I had been so blinded by my trust in Clem, I had never even considered how well the description of the ringleader fit my onetime friend.
“I’ll deal with her.” Clem grabbed my arm. He turned to me. “I told you,” he said angrily. “I told you to stay out of it. That there was nothing but heartache here.”
“You? The whole time it’s been you running the fight ring?” I tried to wrench myself from his grip, but the effects of the drug left me sluggish. “How could you?”
“It’s a living.” He gripped my arm tighter, hauled me a couple of steps, then swore. “He doped you?”
“Didn’t want her trying anything.” Jimmy paused mid-stride.
“Why are you still here?” Clem demanded.
“Because you’re talking to me,” Jimmy answered. “You said she was smart. It’s not that high a dose. It would have worn off by the time the bell rang.”
“She’s useless to fight tonight,” Clem mumbled.
“So? Send in the blond one,” Jimmy shot back. “Maya or Mariah—whatever her name is.”
“She’s injured.”
“So? She can still fight,” Jimmy said.
“She’s a crowd favorite, you moron. We can’t risk losing her. Take Madison or Emily.” Clem gestured to Amanda and me. “Tomorrow these two both go in the ring. Tonight—” a torturous pause “—leave them alone.” Then he turned back to me. “I told you to forget about Amanda. Told you that you’d only bring trouble on yourself,” he said, hauling me back toward the kennel. “You should have listened to me.” He shoved me inside and slammed the door shut. “Enjoy the rest,” he said. “It’ll be the last time you ever sleep here.”
EIGHTEEN
I spent the next hour so freaked out it felt like my stomach was trying to eat itself.
“Change of plans,” said Jimmy as he hauled me out of the cage and handed me over to two goons. “Clem wants you.”
I glanced over at Amanda’s kennel. Still empty. “Where’s Amanda?”
“Never ask a question you don’t want the answer to.”
“Thanks for the lesson, Captain Obvious,” I snapped back. “You gonna answer or not?”
“Clem took care of her.”
“What does that mean?” Even as I asked, I dreaded the answer.
He laughed. “You’re smart, kitten. What do you think it means?”
“I think it means I’ll be the last thing you and Clem ever see.”
“You going to kill us?” He sounded amused.
“That’s too good for you. But by the end of the night I’m going to blind you, break you and leave you both for the cops.” I kicked and twisted, but my hands were still zip-tied in front of me. Plus it was a fight of me against two mouth-breathers. He and his goons hog-tied me, but they didn’t cover my head. So when they carried me out, I had a chance to see where we were. Port of Vancouver, with a clear view of Canada Place. Not that seeing any of it mattered. For sure they were going to move the ship.
We drove in silence to an industrial park, where they hauled me out and dragged me into a trailer. After they tossed me on a couch, they left.
I heard a familiar voice. “Sit there and be quiet.” Behind a desk was Clem, staring at a bank of TVS. “This’ll be over in an hour, and then we can talk. I don’t have time to explain anything to you.”
“I don’t need your explanations. Don’t want them either.” I sat at the edge of one of the cushions, glad his back was to me. Stuff always gets dropped in a couch. All I had to do was root around for something sharp that could get me free of my bonds.
“I know what you’re doing,” he said, his back still to me. “Forget it. I vacuumed the room, the couches and cushions. You won’t even find dust mites in there.”
“Thanks for the chitchat. It’s so hard to sit in silence while kids are bashing each other’s brains out for your amusement,” I said. “How about some more small talk to keep me occupied while you finish killing a couple of them?”
Clem chuckled. “That’s one of the things I like best about you, kid. That mouth.”
“What did you like best about Amanda? Hope you told her something nice before you murdered her. It’s so sad to die without a kind word.”
“Relax, kid, it’ll be over soon.”
“What did you do to my friend?”
“All in good—what was that?” Clem jumped up as the television screens lit up. He screamed for his gang. In the distance, I heard the chaos erupting.
I smiled as I heard the shouts of men identifying themselves as cops. “I think that’s the sound of retribution coming your way.”
He wasn’t listening though.
Good. Clem was so focused on the screens and directing his band of scummy men, so dismissive of me as a threat, that he didn’t hear me as I crept up behind him. Didn’t hear as I grabbed the lamp off his desk and smoked him in the head with it. He gave a soft groan and sank in his chair. I grabbed a pair of scissors from his desk and cut myself free. I turned to his motionless figure, the scissors still in my hands, my promise to Jimmy ringing in my ears. Tightening my grip, I moved closer.
NINETEEN
Keeping the scissors at the ready in case he woke up, I took a few seconds to go through the desk drawers, searching for zip ties. I found some and tied Clem’s hands together—and none too soon. He groaned awake just as I heard the satisfying zip of the tie locking his feet into place.
“What are you doing?”
I ignored his question, unplugged an extension cord and proceeded to tie his legs to the desk.
“Look, kid, you don’t understand what’s going on—”
“Keep talking. This lamp is still in one piece. Want me to use it again?”
“You’re going to regret this.”
“Doubt it.” I grabbed the laptop sitting on the desk, figuring Bentley would help me extract the evidence I needed.
“It’s on OneDrive,” he said. “Nothing’s on there that can incriminate me.”
“We’ll see.”
“No we won’t.” Clem sighed. “Untie me and we’ll talk this through.”
In the background, the pop, pop of weapons and the screams of the good and the bad filled the air.
And I smelled fire.
“Hope your ’80s dance moves won’t fail you,” I said. “’Cause you’ll have to do some crazy break dancing to get out of here.” I stepped around him, laptop in hand. Suddenly the door crashed open.
“Kid!” yelled Clem.
Several black-dressed SWAT cops streamed through the entrance. I didn’t know whose side they were on—not really. They could be good guys. Or they could be on Clem and Jimmy’s roster, pretending to be good guys.
I had a plan. There wasn’t a cop out there I trusted, but there was one person I did.
Raven.
And she was dating the son of a cop. That officer had proven he wasn’t all bad. After all, he’d helped Raven out of her mess and made sure the bad guys in the car-theft gang were taken down. He was the only one I’d turn the computer over to. But if these SWAT guys got me, who knew where I or the computer would end up?
Holding the laptop close to my chest, I dropped to my knees, bowed my head and started screaming, “Help! Help me! I’m so scared! They’ve held me hostage for days!”
They took the bait. As the team screamed at me to get out of the way and zeroed in on Clem, I raced out the door.
TWENTY
Outside the trailer, everything was in chaos. I figured Bentley had used his skills to find me and had then called in the rest of the team. The problem was how to find them without being spotted.
From the red and blue lights of the cop cars tossing color into the night, I could tell the roads were blocked. Which meant my only option was to find a quiet spot in the dark, avoid the K9 unit and wait for morning. It was a cold night, but years of sleeping on the stree
ts meant I could handle getting a little chilled. I ducked low and headed to a bank of trees. Spotted one with some low-hanging branches. Perfect for climbing. I got myself situated, then watched as the commotion slowly cleared. The night went quiet.
Until I heard the crack of branches under me.
A white spotlight blinded me. I squinted, hoping I could outtalk whatever keener cop had stayed late.
Then I heard Clem’s voice. “You can come down, or I can shoot you down. Your choice, kid.”
TWENTY-ONE
I opted to climb down. Figured I could stall him until I saw another chance to get away.
“Wondering how I got out of that mess back there?”
“No,” I said as I dropped to the ground. “Not even a little bit.” Which was not true at all. It was driving me crazy.
“Liar.”
“Back atcha, baby,” I said.
That made him laugh. “I like you, kid. I really do.”
“Does that mean I’m going to live through the night?”
“Your choice.” He held out his hand.
I handed over the laptop. “Now what?”
“We go someplace nice and quiet, where we can talk.”
Oh man. Everyone knows being moved from one location to another means you’re likely to end up dead.
“Don’t worry,” Clem said as a black SUV pulled up. “You’ll have some company.”
The windows rolled down.
Jace.
There went any plans of escape.
Jace had enough cuts and bruises on his face to tell me he’d gone more than twelve rounds with someone. Knowing him, a few someones.
“Come on, kid,” said Clem. “I think you and I are beyond childish threats.” He waved in Jace’s direction. “I don’t need to tell you what happens if you don’t get in the car.”
I could tell that Jace was in a lot of pain by the way he struggled to open the door.
I climbed in.
TWENTY-TWO
“Isn’t this better?” Clem asked, climbing into the front passenger seat. “Warmer, more comfortable—”
“But still with the risk of wild animals preying on me,” I said. I turned to Jace. “He do that to you?”
Jace shook his head, then winced.
“Even if I wanted to fight him,” said Clem, “I couldn’t. Your buddy here was so busy throwing bodies, I spent most of my time doing a duck and cover.” He tapped the driver on the shoulder, and the SUV started up again. “The child lock’s on, so don’t bother,” he added.
With Jace beside me, too injured to do much of anything, there was no way I could—or would—attempt escape.
“Now what?” I hoped I was still sounding cocky, although I could feel the hope draining out of me.
“Your team messed up the operation,” Clem said over his shoulder.
“Well, I’d apologize for messing up your evening,” I said, “but I’ve never been much of a liar.”
Clem shot an amused look at Jace. “She doesn’t get it.” He turned his grin on me. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or flattered.”
“Better explain it to her,” Jace answered. “Her words sound light, but I know this chick. In two seconds she’ll do some Superwoman laser-gaze thing or go all Hulk. In fact, it’s Jo. She’ll probably do both.”
What the heck was going on? I stared at Jace as he leaned back and closed his eyes.
“If you’re going to throw fists,” Jace said to me, “aim properly. And Clem, pass me some ice.”
Wait a second. My bad guy and Jace were buddies?
“Don’t got any,” Clem answered. “Hang tight. We’ll be in the city soon.”
Crap. Those two sounded too cozy for my comfort, but I couldn’t believe Jace would ever side with someone who abused kids.
“You look confused, Jo,” said Clem. “Let me help.”
“Let me guess—”
“I can talk, or you can run your mouth. What’s your choice?”
“I’ll give you two minutes.” I folded my arms. “And you’re already at a minute thirty.” I stared out the front windshield so I couldn’t see Jace. What if I was wrong and Clem had somehow turned him? I couldn’t bear to look over at my teammate and see the betrayal in his eyes.
“Then I’ll talk fast. Three months and one day after September 11, 2001, Canada and America signed the Smart Border Declaration. The intention was to share more information, to cooperate and ensure the safety of both countries.”
“Not that I’m not loving the poli-sci lesson, but where are you—”
“This led to the Integrated Border Enforcement Teams,” Clem continued, “and that’s basically why I’m here.”
“Still not following.”
“The gist is this. American law enforcement works with Canadian agencies,” he said. “And I’m one of the team members.”
“You’re working with the Americans?”
“I am one of the Americans. FBI. We have intercountry cooperation when it comes to terrorism. And Jimmy Dushku and his gang’s slimy fingers are in a lot of bad things. Weapons, human trafficking, drugs. There’s evidence to suggest he’s funneling the money to terrorist organizations.” He scowled at the windshield. “Jimmy’s just the kind of bad guy I like to toss down deep, dark holes.”
“I’m totally confused,” I said, grateful my trust hadn’t been betrayed but still reeling from it all. “If you’re on the side of the angels, why the stone wall with helping me? You told me to stay away—”
“’Cause you’re a loose cannon,” he said, his fingers reaching up to touch the growing lump on his head. “Nothing personal, kid, but we both know your situation.” Clem turned to face forward but twisted the rearview mirror to catch my reflection. “You and your team are already hiding out from the Canadians. You want to add the Americans to it as well?”
“Good point,” I said.
“Besides, I couldn’t have you putting yourself in Jimmy’s cross hairs.”
“Because he was dangerous?”
“Because you’d end him, and then where would I have been? I’ve got a pension to think about.” His grin warmed his words. “Can’t have some outlaw kid doing my team’s job. Besides, if anything had happened to you, who would share those Wagon Wheels with me?”
“Everything he’s saying is true,” Jace said, though his eyes remained closed. “Bentley sorted through and verified all of it.”
“Bentley’s how you found me?”
“He put some kind of tracker on you when he hugged you goodbye.”
“Sneaky. But I like it.” I kept my tone light, but the truth was, all of this was like getting dumped in wet cement. Then having someone tell me to swim. “I still wish you’d told me all of this,” I said to Clem. “I know how to keep a secret.”
“I know, kid, but I’d already lost one of you—”
“Amanda.”
He sighed. “I tried to warn her off Jimmy, but that girl and bad choices go together like fire and smoke. Once she hooked up with him, I knew what would happen. And I couldn’t do anything to stop it.” He turned to face me. “I tried to keep her as safe as I could. I promise you that.”
“Thanks,” I said, feeling a little lighter but still struggling to wrap my head around everything. “Where is she now?”
“In a safe place,” said Clem. “Away from Jimmy. Once I got her out of there, I explained everything.”
That was all I needed to hear.
“Amanda knows you’re safe,” added Jace. “Raven too. She told Bentley to tell you that she’s found a way in.”
More bad guys needing our attention. Bring it on. But first I needed to know how this campaign was going to end.
“I can’t believe you were an undercover spy the entire time I knew you,” I said to Clem.
“Like I always say…” Clem grinned and pointed at himself. “Veteran.” Then he pointed at me. “Rookie.”
“Yeah, whatever,” I said, not quite able to hide my own smile. “Wh
at happens now?”
“You want the details, or you just want assurances that Jimmy will be eating through a straw for a long time?”
“How big’s the straw?”
“Tiny.”
“How much is a long time?”
“He’ll forget what solid food feels like.”
I settled back into my seat and sighed. “That’s good enough for me.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to my co-authors, Judith and Sigmund, for the good times—the Retribution world is a lot of fun to play in! Also, an infinite amount of gratitude to my editor, Tanya Trafford, whose suggestions amplified Jo’s story, and to the entire Orca crew for their hard work and support on my projects.
NATASHA DEEN moved to Canada as a child to escape the racial and political violence of Guyana, in South America. Her books include Burned from Orca’s Retribution series, Sleight of Hand and Across the Floor. Natasha lives in Edmonton, Alberta, with her family. For more information, visit www.natashadeen.com.
