Judgment Road (Torpedo Ink #1)

by Christine Feehan

  Reaper went straight into the man, blurring fast, one, two, three seconds and he was stepping back. Jiff stood absolutely still, shock and horror on his face. Reaper’s blade had sliced him up the middle, sliced open his belly and twisted through his heart in one continuous stroke. Reaper didn’t wait for the enforcer’s brain to acknowledge death. He stepped into Anya, facing the Diamondbacks, sweeping her behind him with one arm.

  “You okay, baby?” he asked without looking at her. He was already feeling in a murderous rage. He wanted to carve a few of the Diamondbacks up. They’d come with their show of force, threatened Anya and then tried to act as if they should help with the president’s wife.

  “Reaper.” Czar’s voice cautioned him. “Plank gave you the go-ahead. Anya’s okay. Take her into the other room and clean that up. It’s a knife wound. Infections are the worst.”

  Plank kicked the body. Blood pooled on the floor around and under it. It was going to take a hell of a lot to clean that shit up. Reaper didn’t do as Czar commanded. Alena pulled Anya to her, circled her shoulders with her arm and took a step toward the back. The Diamondback road captain was blocking her way.

  “Nice moves,” he said softly. Admiringly. “You got a name?”

  Alena’s chin went up. “Alena. Sometimes my brothers call me Torch.”

  “I’m Pierce.”

  “She’s bleeding, Pierce,” Alena said.

  “You got a man?”

  She didn’t answer for a long minute and then she shook her head.

  He stepped out of the way slowly. “Be back this way sometime soon.” He turned, caught Reaper’s eyes, shrugged and stayed where he was.

  “We’ve got work to do,” Plank said. “We need that girl to talk us through the building.”

  “I’ve got my girl on it,” Code said. He wasn’t about to give up the name she went by on the Internet, not to the Diamondbacks. “She’s hacking into security while I’m working on getting the entire layout of the building and parking garage.”

  “I want this piece of shit out of my sight. Buried deep. Hell, feed his ass to the sharks if you want, just get him out of here,” Plank said. “He’s gone, and as far as Sylvia has to know, those fuckers who took her killed him. You understand?” He looked around at his brothers. “She doesn’t ever know her brother betrayed her.”

  TWENTY

  The Marin Ghost Club was a small little building sandwiched between two other buildings right on the edge of the water. The views were beautiful, and a long deck allowed those in the club to spill outside when it was too hot inside. The club was immensely popular with the wealthy, celebrities often visiting. Just as in San Francisco, the cars were assessed along with clothes and jewels, the valet radioing the managers of the club to let them know of potential players for the casino.

  Lana and Alena had already been given the VIP card from the San Francisco managers, and they were recognized. It had taken them exactly four and half minutes to be approached by the manager of the Marin Ghost Club, and another seven before he offered them the card that would get them into the casino. The manager made it very clear they were welcomed back. They stayed another half hour, flirting and laughing with him. Alena danced with him twice.

  Keys and Pierce entered, each man dressed in a suit worth well over two thousand dollars. Pierce glanced at Alena as they found a table. “You always have your women do your dirty work for you?” he asked Keys.

  Keys shrugged, gave his order to the waitress and looked across the table at the Diamondback enforcer. No one had bought his road captain patch. “First, Alena is a fully patched member of the club. Both Lana and Alena grew up with us. They have a full vote in everything we choose to do, like running this little errand.”

  “You’re still pissed because Plank insisted I come along.”

  “This is what we do. We count on one another. You’re an unknown, and that could get one of us killed.”

  “I can hold my end up. You have any idea how difficult it was for Plank to turn this job over to you in the first place? Don’t worry about whether or not I can take care of business.”

  Keys didn’t say anything for a long time, but watched as Pierce stared across the room at Alena laughing up at the manager. “You did hear me when I said she was a fully patched member of Torpedo Ink, right?”

  Pierce shrugged. “I heard you. You do understand that I’m a fully patched member of the Diamondbacks, right?” That was pulling rank. Blatant pulling rank.

  “Exactly,” Keys said, not in the least disturbed by the reminder. He tilted his head and gave another female manager his megawatt smile as she approached their table. He was happy when Pierce did the same.

  The woman made it clear she was all over Keys, and he asked her if she had time for a dance. Pierce waited for the music to start and then he sauntered across the club to Lana and Alena’s table, bending close to be heard above the nightclub DJ and the pounding beat he provided.

  “Dance with me.” It wasn’t a request. He knew he was pulling rank a second time. His club held jurisdiction over theirs. He wanted to make that very clear to them.

  Alena tilted her head to look up at him, her eyes searching his. With a small, rather haughty nod that made him want to smile, she stood, and he didn’t hesitate, taking her into his arms. She felt as good as she looked. She had curves. The kind he liked. Her full breasts pressed against his chest as he whirled her deeper into the shadows. His hands slid down her back, following the curve to that sweet, round ass he’d been thinking about since he’d first laid eyes on her.

  “You shouldn’t have come with us.”

  It wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but he’d take it. Her eyes were on his face, all blue. A deep, ice-blue. Gorgeous. “Where the hell did you come from?”

  “Russia.” She knew what he meant, but she deliberately misunderstood him.

  She made him want to smile. He hadn’t felt like smiling in a very long time. His hands curved over her ass, pulled her closer into his body. Fit her to him. She fit perfectly.

  “Russia’s loss,” he murmured, his mouth against her ear. His teeth closed over that little lobe and bit down.

  She didn’t try to move away, her hips swaying into his rhythm. “Seriously, Pierce, we do this kind of thing all the time. We’re good at it. You could get one of us killed.”

  He didn’t like her thinking that. “I spent my share of time in the SEALs, baby, I think I can keep everyone alive. I don’t make mistakes.”

  “Then why are you dancing with me?”

  Pierce knew she was right. He shouldn’t risk it, not with the stakes so high. Keys had been right as well. He couldn’t be interested in a fully patched member of another club. “Your club accepts female members?”

  “Obviously.”

  The tone of her voice dripped with haughtiness, and it made him smile. She was perfect. Everything he’d been looking for, but she wore another club’s patch. “You ever think of ditching your club?”

  “Never.”

  That was firm. He knew it was a waste of time. She was used to being heard, having a vote, knowing what the club was doing and participating. She wasn’t the type of woman to be happy in a relationship with a man who wouldn’t give her that.

  “We’d be good together.” He persisted, knowing she was lost to him.

  “I know. Chemistry is a bitch, isn’t it?” She smiled up at him.

  The song was ending and he’d have to let her go. He wanted to kiss those perfect lips, but they were working and he’d pushed his luck as far as it could go. In any case, tasting paradise and walking away wasn’t his idea of smart. He walked her back to her table, noting that slight little limp she had and wondering why it turned him on and made him feel protective at the same time. He left her there and made his way back to Keys.

  “Manager told me about their casino. It’s not located here, just like we thought. The casino is in the building the corporation running the clubs owns. It’s located about seven miles from her
e, just like Anya said. Another drink and we can go. I want to wait until Lana and Alena are safely out of here.”

  Pierce was happy Keys didn’t say anything about his dancing with Alena. Technically, he was there to oversee the rescue—or kill them all. Those were his orders. Things went south, he was to put a bullet in each of their heads. He didn’t think that was going to be as easy as Plank had made it sound. In fact, watching them work together the night before was an eye-opener. Torpedo Ink wasn’t an average club. They might be small, but they were lethal. He was certain Plank recognized it in Reaper, but unsure if he’d noticed it in the others.

  “The girls are making their move now,” Keys reported.

  Pierce was very aware of Alena standing with Lana, both shaking their heads when two men approached to ask them to dance. They appeared to be two carefree women moving across the dance floor toward the door, bent on having a good time at the casino.

  He didn’t like that Alena was involved in any way in this business, but he had to get his head in the game. There were a lot of lives at stake.

  * * *

  Reaper stared up the side of the building. It was a strange, square tower rising up four stories where the rest of the building was only two, plus the parking garage. The two women, dressed in their slinky dresses, dripping diamonds and rubies, walked right up to the front door, completely confident in their spike heels. Both waved a card at the doorman, smiling at him, Alena tossing her platinum hair over her shoulders, all flirty.

  They’re in, he reported.

  Having the time of our lives, Lana said.

  Reaper could see them through the glass making their way to the elevator where the guard there looked at their card for a second inspection. Alena had tripped slightly on the carpet just past the doorman. She bent to check her heel, running her hands down one silky leg. The doorman looked at her, not to the front. Lana flirted outrageously with the guard at the elevator, distracting him while Mechanic cruised right in, disrupting all cameras with the energy radiating from his body. He wore an elegant suit and continued across the floor without pausing to aid Alena as she stood up slowly.

  Mechanic avoided the elevators. He went directly to the first door to the left of the elevators, opened it and disappeared inside. In position.

  Lana and Alena entered the elevator, rode up to the second floor where their card was checked a third time. They were let through the double doors to the much larger casino. It was in full swing. And crowded. The Ghosts were making money. The two wandered around as if looking for the right game to play.

  We’re in. Cameras everywhere. Can you take them down from there, Mechanic?

  I can shut down the entire building. Mechanic was matter-of-fact. We can’t tip them off. Play a little. Have fun.

  Reaper watched as Keys and Pierce presented their card to the doorman. Keys was the number-one player they needed inside. His gifts held the key to their success, which was how he’d gotten his road name. Reaper detested that it was Pierce with him. Keys needed backup he could count on. They’d argued long into the night and most of the next day, but Plank had insisted Pierce accompany them into the club and then into the building where they were positive Sylvia, Plank’s wife, was being held.

  “Nice building,” Keys commented to the doorman. His voice softened. He looked directly into the man’s eyes. “I’ve put up a few, but this design in incredible. Any chance I could look around on this floor before going up?”

  The doorman hesitated. Couldn’t look away. He shrugged. “Knock yourself out. It’s all offices down here. They’ve all gone home for the night.” He pointed to a security guard standing at the end of the hall, and the man jogged to him. “Show them around the floor.”

  The guard nodded. Clearly, he’d been bored, and showing two wealthy strangers in dark suits around was better than standing there trying not to fall asleep.

  Keys walked slowly, making a show of looking up the walls to the ceiling every few feet while Pierce engaged the guard in small talk. They made the entire circuit of the lower floor before the guard escorted them to the elevator.

  Keys stepped inside. She’s not in the parking garage or the lower floor. She won’t be on the casino floor, but I’ll make the circuit just to be safe. I’ll have to get up to the third floor.

  He and Pierce circled the outer rim of the gaming tables. They spotted Lana at the card table and Alena at the slot machines. Both appeared to be winning small pots, nothing too big yet. They couldn’t draw undue attention until—and if—they needed the distraction.

  She’s not on the second floor. I need to get up to the third.

  Reaper and Absinthe approached the building. Absinthe smiled at the doorman and showed him a map as if lost. The two talked for a moment, and then the doorman nodded several times, took the map and left the building, going straight to his car. Absinthe could plant ideas as well as extract information.

  Now, Mechanic. Start shutting things down, Czar ordered from his vantage point across the street. He was up high, running the mission like he normally did, Preacher stretched out with his rifle, ready to protect his crew from a distance.

  The lights in the building flickered. Came back on. A few seconds later they flickered a second time and then dimmed. Cameras off, Mechanic reported. I’ll take out the elevators after you’re up to the third floor, Keys.

  Copy that. Keys said and sat down at a slot machine next to the elevator.

  “What the hell are you people doing?” Pierce demanded. He sat at the machine next to Keys. “I thought we were looking for Sylvia, not playing games.”

  The dimming of the lights hadn’t slowed down those in the casino. Alena was moving to the craps table, and Lana was sitting in on a high-stakes card game.

  “Be patient. An operation like this takes time. We’re getting into position and spreading out, looking for her. If you’re having too hard a time, you can wait outside.”

  Pierce glared at him. “I can’t see that you’re doing much beside wandering around,” he said. “You might clue me in.”

  Keys sighed. “I know she’s not on the lower floor, the parking garage or here on this floor. Mechanic is messing with the lights and shutting down the cameras a few at a time so they think the glitch is in the wiring. Absinthe and Reaper will be taking the elevator with us to the third floor. We’re waiting for them.”

  “Every door on the first floor was closed. How do you know she isn’t down there?”

  Keys shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s what we do. We … sense … things.”

  “You did this in Russia?”

  “We were schooled in Russia, trained. Since we were children.”

  Pierce studied his face for a long time. Then he finally nodded. “What’s next?”

  “They’re on the way up now.” Keys rose causally, collected his money and sauntered toward the elevator. Pierce kept pace with him.

  The doors opened and Keys and Pierce stepped inside. A roar went up in the casino, Alena’s laughter contagious. A crowd rushed to the tables where she was winning throw after throw. The guard turned his head toward the sound of the crowd and the elevator doors closed, taking them up not down. The arrow on the outside of the door simply didn’t light up, nor did the numbers above the elevator.

  Reaper regarded the two men. “Mechanic’s keeping the pressure on. Lights, cameras, things moving on and offline. We have to hurry though. Someone’s bound to call it in soon and we can’t take the chance that anyone holding the woman gets nervous.”

  “I can sweep the third floor fast. Just watch my back, I won’t be scanning for trouble.”

  “I’ve got you,” Reaper assured him. He didn’t look at Pierce. He knew why the man was there. He’d been in Pierce’s position all his life. He was there to kill them all if things went bad. Savage usually guarded Czar if Reaper didn’t, but Ice and Storm were outside keeping all escape routes open and guarding their president. Savage was tracking Pierce, his entire focus on t
aking him out if the man made a move against any club member. Pierce hadn’t spotted him, not with Reaper so close.

  The doors opened, and when Pierce went to step out, Keys held him back, shaking his head. Absinthe stepped out while Reaper kept the doors open. A security guard turned toward them in surprise and Absinthe spoke to him very quietly. The man handed over his gun and pointed toward a door. Absinthe walked him to the door, spent a few moments there and then closed the door, leaving the guard inside.

  Keys stepped out and started down the hallway, doing just what he’d done when he’d been on the first floor, looking at each closed door, his gaze going from floor to ceiling. It took time to clear the floor, but he shook his head and they were back in the elevator.

  No luck on the third floor. We’re in the elevator. Lana, you’re up for the distraction. Mechanic, we’re headed to the last floor, Keys reported in.

  I’ve got you. Cameras are off. No lights. The lights up there are so dim, they’ll be lucky to see you step out, Mechanic assured.

  Czar, Alena won a shit-ton of money. Do we get to keep it?

  What do you want it for? There was suspicion in Czar’s voice.

  Lana’s laughter was a bright spot in their grim world. We’re getting you and Blythe another child for your birthday, Czar. You need another little boy running around giving you fits. And I can’t wait to see Blythe’s face.

  You can’t buy children, Czar said, relief pouring into his voice.

  There was silence. Not one of the members of Torpedo Ink addressed that. Reaper pressed his lips together. Trust Lana to bring it up when they were running a mission.

  Lana? Suspicion was back. The rest of you are in on this. What the hell is going on?

  No one spoke for another few seconds so Reaper stepped up. An Internet sale of a young boy. Code stumbled on it. We bid on him. Can’t track him. Code and his friend are on it, but so far, the signal is bouncing all over Europe and the United States. We want to get the winning bid, get the kid free and shut them down.

  Czar growled, letting them all know he was going to kill them when they got home.