by Stasia Black
“You think I’m a fool? That I’m just going to give up my bargaining chips?” He gave an ugly laugh.
Cora ground her teeth together. They were people, not bargaining chips.
“If you don’t send them out, how do I even know you have them? I’m not going to stand out here exposed like this for long. Either you take the deal or I walk.” Cora channeled Marcus and made her voice ice.
There was some shuffling on the other end of the phone, then AJ’s voice again. “Fine. I’ll send out one. As a show of good faith.” His voice was mocking. “But I don’t release the other one until you come in.”
Cora’s heart hammered. It wasn’t a good deal. Cora wanted both girls safe and out of that house before she stepped in. Who knew what would happen when the SWAT team stormed the house? Bullets might fly. Cora would be expecting it but whoever was left inside wouldn’t.
But Cora knew it was all she’d get out of AJ.
“Send her out,” she commanded, “and have the second girl ready to send right when I come in.” She hung up the phone before he could reply and stood, back straight, shoulders out, staring down the front door.
Nothing happened.
For long, long minutes, nothing happened.
Shit. Oh shit, what if he called her bluff? What if she’d miscalculated and—
The door opened and Anna stumbled out.
Cora hurried forward. Anna rushed to meet her with big unsteady steps and frantic eyes.
“Cora, what are you doing—”
but Cora just shook her head. Anna looked terrible. Her eye was so swollen and bloodied and her clothes were ripped and—
Cora couldn’t think about all that it meant. She just grabbed Anna by the forearms so she’d look her in the eye. “There’s a car around the corner. Over there.” Cora gestured with her eyes and Anna’s gaze followed. “Get in and tell Olivia to drive. Don’t look back.”
Anna was shaking her head, fat tears falling down her cheeks. “Cora, you can’t go in there. You can’t—”
Cora dropped Anna’s arms and ordered, “Go,” in her harshest voice.
Then she turned back to the house and strode straight for the door. Behind her, she heard Anna’s footsteps running away. Good girl.
AJ met Cora at the door. His potbelly was barely contained by the sweat-stained wife beater undershirt he had on.
“Where’s Iris?” Cora demanded. “The deal was for both of them.”
The mobster smirked. “Iris is going to need a little help getting out of bed.” He stuck his cigar in his mouth and spoke around it. “She’s…not well. Come on in.” He moved back from the door to make space for her.
Cora took a deep breath and then wished she hadn’t—AJ’s cigar plus the inside of the house altogether smelled rancid and turned her stomach. But still, she stepped into the house, turning in a 360 as she did so to give the cops a view of the place after she was in. She didn’t immediately see anything incriminating but she was only standing in the foyer.
“Check her,” AJ said and two guys came forward.
She gritted her teeth as the two meat-handed thugs frisked her, lingering far longer than was necessary between her thighs and squeezing as they brushed down her chest.
“That’s enough.” She yanked back when the shorter, squat one went for another pass. “I don’t have anything on me.” She went to slide her phone into her pocket but AJ shook his head at her.
“Ah ah,” he said. “Hand it over.”
Cora’s jaw locked but she handed the phone to him, eyes tracking it as he slid it into the front pocket of his black slacks.
“Now, where’s Iris?”
AJ smiled. “Like I said, she’s indisposed at the moment.”
Cora stepped forward but the two thugs grabbed her by her arms. She fought against them. “Where is she?”
Because she’d just had a terrible thought. AJ trafficked in women. What if he wasn’t using Iris for leverage against The Orphan at all? What if the reason he wasn’t producing her was because she wasn’t here? He’d considered Iris his girl and she tried to get away, to get out, by marrying Chris. Just how angry had that made him?
“I swear, if you’ve done something to her or shipped her off somewhere—”
“So dramatic,” AJ laughed. “You want to see her, fine.”
He motioned the men holding Cora to lead her upstairs. The squat one kept hold of her as the other released her. Squatty dragged her up the stairs but he needn’t have bothered. Maybe it was foolish to hurry deeper into this filthy den but she needed to see Iris with her own two eyes. After everything, she needed to see that the girl was okay.
And Pete should still be listening. They’d agreed on a safe word. No matter what, if Cora mentioned the Fates, his team was supposed to come in guns with blazing.
It stank even worse upstairs but when they passed one of the bedrooms, Cora looked inside and saw a skinny man with greasy hair hunched over a computer that was connected to several screens. Whatever was on that hard drive could be useful to Pete. Cora made sure to pause with her button camera pointed in the man’s direction before Squatty yanked her forward again.
Now she just needed to find Iris and get them both the hell out of here.
“Do you know what the little birdies have been talking about all month?” AJ’s voice startled Cora, it came from so close behind her. Cora stepped forward to get away from him, continuing down the hallway and looking in each room she passed.
AJ went on as if she was an active participant in the conversation.
“The shipment. A very special shipment. One of a kind.”
Cora forced herself not to react.
“And my guys, we caught a few of them birdies yesterday, locked ‘em in a cage and made ‘em sing.” A short pause. His man had grabbed hold of her and was holding her still while footsteps sounded on the grimy hardwood behind her, no doubt AJ huffing up the stairs. “And you wanna know what they said?”
AJ came around her and spoke, his foul breath right in her face. “They said the delivery was going down tonight.”
Cora jerked back from his oily face and bad breath. She glared him down icily. “Where’s Iris? How long have you had her?”
To her surprise, AJ answered. “Since The Orphan’s little hissy fit that nearly cost me the concert deal.”
Cora just stared at him. “You wouldn’t have been out the money.”
“You heard Marcus. I’d lose access. Access to Elysium, access to his home, access to his whole little world.”
“Why do you hate him so much?”
“He took everything from me.” AJ stopped at a door and pushed it open. Dim light spilled out into the hall.
Cora held her sleeve in front of her face to block the smell as she entered the room. It must have once been a child’s room, painted a cheery yellow.
Now the walls were faded and stained, covered in shadows cast by a small lamp by a bed. Trash had collected in the corners of the room. The room seemed cold, and empty, except for a young woman lying on a thin mattress.
“Iris,” Cora breathed as she ran over to her. The woman had shadows under her eyes and lank, dirty hair. Her high classic cheekbones now looked skeletal and her beautiful skin had turned grey and sallow. Her eyes fluttered open, then closed again weakly.
“Oh gods.” Cora sank beside the bed to feel the woman’s forehead. It was cold to the touch. She checked Iris’s pulse next, noting the fresh track marks on the woman’s arm.
Cora turned accusing eyes to AJ. “What did you do to her?”
“Gave her a little hit.” He shrugged. “Then a little more. After that, she did it to herself.”
Cora noted the restraints hanging off the bed. They’d tied her down and forced the poison into her veins. Cora felt sick to her stomach. Had they even fed her? “We need to get her out of here. She could be dying.”
“First you deliver.”
Cora looked up in confusion but saw him holding out her phone.
“Call him,” AJ ordered.
Well past fear, she felt surprisingly calm. “The Fates curse you for what you’ve done,” she spat. This evil bastard would rot for all his sins. He’d admitted on tape to kidnapping Iris and Cora felt sure the computer would give even more evidence against him. Plus Anna’s testimony.
Any second the SWAT team would come breaking down the door.
“Oh, on the contrary. I think the Fates are smiling on me. After all, they brought you to my door. And you are going to lead me straight to your husband and the cargo ship full of product that’s going to shift the tide of this war.”
Cora glared at him, letting all of her hatred shine through. Just you wait. You’ll get everything that’s coming to you.
Any minute now.
Any minute…
Cora glanced around and listened hard.
Silence.
What the hell was taking them so long? Did Pete not hear her? Or was the mic not working? They’d checked and rechecked it. She fought the rising panic clawing up her throat
But only AJ’s chuckle filled the silence. “What, nothing to say for once? That’s fine.”
He reached over and grabbed her hand, wrenching her forefinger to cover the fingerprint lock that unlocked her phone. “All I really need you to do is scream.”
AJ pulled the phone back and search through her contacts once it was unlocked. He pushed Marcus’s phone number and it dialed.
No! It was never supposed to go this far. No matter what had happened last night, that shipment meant everything to Marcus—
Marcus didn’t pick up though and it went to voicemail. Cora felt a jolt of emotion go through her as she heard Marcus’s gravelly voice start, “This is Marcus Ubeli—”
AJ hung up and dialed again impatiently. It went to voicemail and he beeped past the voice message.
“Ubeli. Call me now,” he intoned, looking at Cora. “I have something you want.” He hung up, still looking at her. “You’re an idiot, you know? Giving yourself up for this druggie.”
Then he slammed the door on his way out and left Cora standing beside the bed.
“The Fates help us,” she whispered, and then said it louder, over and over, “Fates, help us. Please, Fates, we need you now,” as she crouched to check on Iris.
When Cora touched her clammy skin, Iris opened cracked lips and whimpered.
“Iris, shh. Chris sent me. We’re going to get you out.” She squeezed the woman’s hand gently. “I’m going to get you out.”
“C-Chris?” Iris rasped out, crusted and unfocused eyes dragging down to meet Cora’s.
Cora nodded even as tears squeezed out of her own eyes. “Yes. Chris loves you. He sent me to help you. We’re going to get you out of here.”
Behind her, the door knob turned; she jumped but it was only AJ coming back.
He held the phone out. Marcus’s voice came from far away.
“Cora. Cora! Are you ok?”
Cora couldn’t help but feel a surge of hope at hearing his voice even though she knew it meant she’d screwed up everything so terribly. For whatever reason, the SWAT team wasn’t coming. “Marcus, I’m here. I’m ok,” Cora barely answered before AJ put the phone back to his ear.
“Proof of life, as requested. We’ll meet you at the docks. I know Waters is delivering the shipment tonight. Tell your men to sit tight. My own will take over the heavy lifting. The drugs for your wife, that’s the deal.”
Cora heard her husband’s voice raised in anger just before AJ bellowed, “I’m in charge here.” He pulled out a gun. With a shriek, Cora ducked her head as he pointed it towards the bed and fired.
What had he—? Her head snapped up and she looked at Iris.
“No!” Cora sobbed. “No.”
Blood soaked slowly through Iris’s thin shirt. Cora pressed her hands to Iris’s chest, moaning. “Please, no.”
“One hour, capisce? No tricks.” AJ shut the door hard enough to make the lamp rattle.
Cora almost didn’t hear him. She pressed down as the blood ran faster, watching Iris’s breathing slow.
The beautiful girl choked once and was still. Her eyes were glassy, staring just like Ashley’s. Lifeless.
“I’m so sorry,” Cora whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
AJ’s thugs came for her a few minutes later, pulling her bodily up from the floor. They marched her to the door. One of them stopped to take a picture of the dead woman. He followed Cora and his fellow thug into the hall, cackling. “Sent it to The Orphan. Let’s see how well he plays now, the little prick.”
Cora let out an animal, guttural cry of fury. How could they be so callous? Her hair had come undone and hung messily over her face. She pushed it back, then realized her hands were sticky with blood from the wrists down, and all she was doing was smearing Iris’s blood around her temples.
“Stop dawdling,” AJ barked.
He’d put on a shirt and coat like he was a civilized man but Cora knew better now. He was a monster. He glanced once more at her phone, then dropped it into his coat pocket.
“We’ve got a date with the docks. Time to make a trade.”
Twenty-Five
The docks looked like a black extension of the street until AJ’s thugs pulled Cora out of the car. Then she could see the pier drop off into the water, a pit of blackness. She shivered in the chilly night air, wearing nothing but jeans and a soft sweater, now spattered with blood. One of the thugs kept his grip tight on her arm as they walked forward.
Cora felt…blank. The whole drive here she’d tried to think of what she’d say to Marcus, how she’d try to explain it. But then all she could see was Iris’s face. Her eyes and that second when the life went out of them. Cora had watched her go. One second she was there and the next she was just…gone.
It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t fair. Good was supposed to win in the end. Even Marcus, eventually, he loved her. At least he had before he’d known what she’d done.
“See, what’d I tell you,” AJ said to his driver, a tall man with a gold earring. “They’re using a smaller ship to bring in the goods. Nothing fancy. Waters always was smart.”
Cora let them lead her down the sidewalk, into a warehouse where a bunch of crates were piled on a vast stretch of concrete floor.
Three men waited for them in the moonlight, three to match AJ’s three. Cora’s chest clenched. Marcus, Sharo, and another Shade. AJ approached them confidently.
The thug who held Cora twisted her arm up behind her as he jammed the gun into her back and she couldn’t help whimpering.
Even in the moonlight she could see the cold fury in Marcus’s face.
Oh, Marcus. Forgive me.
“Let me check this out first,” AJ said. He nodded to Gold Earring guy, who took out a crowbar and headed for a crate. After prying it open the man held up a nondescript bottle. “Metamorphoses Spa,” the thug read, then looked up at his leader, confused. “It’s hair gunk.”
“Give it here,” AJ ordered. He unscrewed the cap, and shook out a small white pill. He held it up, sniffed it. “Pure,” he said with triumphant satisfaction. “The Brothers are going to love this.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Marcus ordered from the shadows.
“Oh, no, Ubeli. You don’t get to make demands anymore.” AJ waved a hand and Cora was pushed forward, forced to walk to AJ so he could hook her under his arm. His other hand raised the gun to her temple.
“You know why I only shot up the front of that restaurant even though I knew you were in the back? Because I want to see the look on Ivan Titan’s face when I tell him Marcus Ubeli’s legs are cut from under him, he’s got no goods, and his own men are turning on him.”
AJ’s gold tooth flashed as he grinned. “What are your guys going to do when the shipment’s gone and they ain’t got nothing to push, no way of getting paid? We’ll sell it back to them in Metropolis. And Waters, what’s he going to think?”
“Hand over my wife.” The vein
in Marcus’s temple pulsed; Cora could see it from twelve feet away.
“Let me tell you how this goes,” AJ continued as if Marcus hadn’t spoken. “You get out of here, all of your men, all of you. Then I turn the girl loose and you leave, forever. This is mine.”
Cora couldn’t stop her trembling anymore. AJ wrapped his arm tighter around her body and rammed the gun into the side of her head. She kept her eyes on Marcus, letting her body go limp. She became a ragdoll. A weak thing. A victim.
But while everyone was watching Sharo and her husband, Cora’s fingers slipped between the folds of AJ’s coat and found his pocket.
And her phone.
“Stand down,” AJ was saying. “I’m not a patient man.”
Jerking suddenly in his arms, Cora reached up and stuck the edge of her phone—along with the Wasp that Olivia had attached all those weeks ago—right into AJ’s neck.
The voltage hit him a second later, jolting through him with enough force to knock him back. He bellowed in surprise and pain, stumbling backwards and almost falling to the pavement.
Cora staggered too, letting the phone drop. She’d barely regained her feet before someone hit her and brought her down to the concrete, cradling her body against his.
“I got you,” Sharo rumbled, and spread his large body over hers. She cringed as she heard bullets flying past them.
Then they were both up and Sharo was running, carrying her out of the warehouse and into the cold night.
Cora couldn’t see anything, could barely hear anything, but she clung to Sharo’s shoulders. Then they were in an alleyway and the sound of bullets seemed farther away.
A black car pulled in front of them and the door opened. Sharo ducked inside, sliding Cora in before him.
Sharo barely had tucked his feet into the car before he barked to the driver. “Go.”
“Wait! Marcus—” Cora shrieked, before she was thrown back into the seat by the car’s sudden acceleration. It pulled out of the alley and around to the front of the warehouse, where the Shades were fighting AJ’s men.
A dark figure burst out of the warehouse and Sharo threw open the door. Marcus. He dove into the car and the driver screeched off from the curb, letting the door slam shut on its own.
