Rough Hard Fierce, Chicago Underground 1-3 (Rough Hard Fierce)

by Skye Warren

  Colin pulled us all along somehow. I couldn’t quite see yet, at least not beyond a few feet, and followed him blindly. He slowed, and Shelly dropped to the ground. I fell beside her again, my muscles like jelly, while Colin put his hands on his knees and head down.

  Staring up at the sky, I saw only black.

  My breaths rattled in my chest as I heaved on the ground, but it seemed that Colin was recovered. “Get up,” he said. “You need to get out of here.”

  “Me?” I asked. “You’re not coming with us?” I was mostly offended that he’d let me leave like this, though in truth I probably couldn’t drive as I was.

  “No,” he said. “Take Bailey and leave.”

  He’d put something in my hand. It was the envelope of money from Andrew, the same fucking envelope of money. It felt different, lighter. Not that I should care about such a thing as some missing money, but I was struck dumb by the whole experience, and I looked inside. The thick wad of hundreds seemed to have grown even thicker.

  I looked up at Colin. He towered over me, chest heaving, eyes flashing.

  “You still think I did this,” I whispered.

  “I don’t care,” he said, the acid in his voice burning me anew. “It’s not safe for you. Just go.”

  “Did you do this?” I stood and listed to the side, where he caught me. “Did you leave me in there to die?”

  “Then why would I get you out?”

  “I don’t know,” I asked, my voice breaking in fits and starts, like the worst case of puberty. “A change of heart, maybe?”

  “I didn’t know it would be you,” he said, looking me straight in the eye. “When I called home and that neighbor picked up, I came here.” So he hadn’t meant to kill me, not exactly. It was a test, one I’d failed. Not for the reasons he thought, though. I’d come for him.

  “Colin,” I said. “You have to believe me. I didn’t do it. I didn’t tell the cops about this—”

  “Don’t.” He looked offended.

  “I’m not lying! That money wasn’t from them. They were together—it was just a coincidence. They came around a couple times, but I just gave them a fake address.”

  “Philip said someone broke into his study.”

  I had to tell the truth. He’d know it if I lied. Besides, not telling Colin the truth was what had gotten me into this in the first place. I had to trust him. I’d trust him to keep me safe with the truth. If he wasn’t what I thought, I was fucked anyway. “I did that. I went into his study. The cops said they’d arrest me or take Bailey away if I didn’t help them. So I found out about this drop, but I didn’t tell the cop, I swear. And they were going to tell you about—well, I met with Andrew. That’s where I got the money. I wanted to ask him to leave Bailey and me alone, and he did. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just didn’t want to fuck it up, but that’s the truth. That’s the whole fucking truth. I swear it, okay?”

  He said nothing.

  “I swear it on Bailey’s life.”

  I implored him with my eyes, hoping I didn’t look quite as out of my mind as I felt. It would also have helped if I could have made out his face, but my vision was still fuzzy for anything more than a foot away.

  “Do you believe me?” My voice cracked.

  Colin’s harsh breath sawed through the night. “Yes.”

  “Forgive me?” I whispered.

  He nodded shortly.

  “How kind of him.” I heard Philip’s voice and looked over to see his leaning form against a concrete wall. “But that’s only fair, considering he was keeping secrets for far longer.”

  Chapter Five

  “Shut the fuck up,” Colin growled.

  “I told you to tell her yourself,” Philip said, his tone bloated with pleasant inevitability.

  “Another word and I’ll quit,” Colin said. “Don’t test me.”

  Even though I knew it was in Philip’s best interest to stir up trouble between us, I couldn’t help but ask, “What are you talking about?”

  Philip smiled, the cat got the cream. “Didn’t you ever wonder how you ended up with him that night? A man so ready to take on your baggage, almost as if he’d already known.”

  Colin’s low, rumbling response reminded me of a dog I’d once seen chained to the front of a broken-down house. It sounded like fear.

  “Colin?” I asked.

  “Ignore him,” Colin ground out.

  “I don’t understand,” I whispered, waiting for him to say Philip was crazy, that he was wrong, but Colin just stood there, glaring impotent wrath at his brother.

  “I own that club,” Philip said, then nodded at whatever he saw on my face. “One night we hear there’s a disturbance out in the alley.” He shrugged. “Some people having sex.”

  My breath caught. Suddenly I wished I’d listened to Colin, who vibrated with anger but made no move to stop Philip. Why should he? I’d asked for it.

  I didn’t want to hear my shame described in cool, clipped tones, but Philip continued inexorably. “Normally I don’t care what people do, but I discourage public displays of prostitution. I don’t need the cops breathing down my neck. My bouncer’s tied up, and Colin was visiting to talk about business, so I send him out. He comes back, says it’s not a problem, but next thing I know, he’s looking through receipts and spending every Saturday night at the club. It wasn’t hard to figure out he had a little crush.”

  A small sob escaped me, cementing my humiliation.

  “Your lover’s drama is fascinating,” Philip continued, “but if you didn’t tell the cop, then who did?”

  Shelly staggered up like a baby doe, ready to take responsibility for giving information to the police about Philip. He would kill her.

  I stepped in front of her. “Why did you pay Tony Yates to fuck me?”

  “What?” Colin and Shelly asked at the same time.

  Philip strolled forward. “So you admit to snooping in my study.”

  Colin inched in front of me. We were like a line of dominoes: Philip, Colin, me, and Shelly. The only question was who’d fall first.

  “What are you talking about?” Colin asked me without turning.

  “Tell him,” I said to Philip.

  “You’d protect her?” Philip asked Colin, his disdain clear. “Even knowing she betrayed you?”

  “What is she talking about?” Colin asked him.

  Philip’s face came into focus as my vision cleared, lined with fury. “She’s just some girl you picked up at the bar, nothing but a little slut, and you wanted to throw away thousands of dollars for her.”

  “That was my call,” Colin said.

  “Bullshit,” Philip said. “I’m the head of this family, and she was taking you for a ride. She wanted it. It’s not like he had to go to her house to do it. Just wait for her to come back around the club, slumming for another fuck—”

  Colin slammed his fist into Philip’s gut. Philip bent over and then fell sideways to the ground, making gasping noises that rivaled our own when we’d emerged.

  Colin picked Philip up off the ground and slammed him down onto his knee. Colin dragged him up again and waited while he caught his breath.

  “Fight back,” Colin said, shaking him.

  “Colin, no.” I reached out but didn’t touch.

  “Let them,” Shelly said. “It’s long overdue.”

  Philip threw a punch at his head. Colin blocked it, but Philip grabbed him around the neck and swung them both to the ground.

  A blast from the warehouse sprayed light down on us like fireworks. Between my shock and the tremors on the ground, I wobbled on my feet.

  That was enough to knock the brothers apart, thank God. Colin rolled to a stand, breathing hard. Philip, battered and disheveled, lounged on the ground like he’d just sat down for a picnic. Fucking Philip, with his clipped, almost accented words, even though I knew he was from here, and his fancy clothes and house. He thought he had power, but he was just a fucking poser. True power was Colin protecting me. Colin b
elieving in me, seeing me fuck a guy in an alley and thinking I was worth more than my dirty actions.

  When my ears stopped ringing from the boom, I heard sirens.

  “If they didn’t know where we were before,” Philip said, “they do now. Let’s wrap this up, shall we?”

  “Fuck you,” Colin spat.

  Philip affected a bored look, but I wasn’t fooled. His eyes shot daggers at me. Mine shot them right back. The man had just tried to kill me. I wasn’t inclined to be polite anymore.

  “Fine,” he said. “I’d hate for the cops to catch us with our pants down, so to speak. We can fight over the bitch later.”

  Colin growled at Philip’s reference to me, looking almost ready to pounce.

  “Guys,” Shelly said in a singsong voice. “I think we have bigger problems.”

  I looked at her, and then I saw them. Surrounding us were three thugs and the cop, my own personal nightmare come true. No one had weapons drawn, but these weren’t the sort to bring a knife to a gunfight. This was what I’d come here to avert—Colin caught, Colin endangered—but here we were.

  Because of me, Colin was here. Because of me, we were all fucked. The story of my life.

  Philip stood and brushed himself off, then gave an ironic bow to Shaw. “Hello, Detective.”

  Clearly no introductions were necessary.

  “You’re under arrest,” Shaw said with a smirk. “You have the right to remain silent. Should I go on? I know you’ve heard it before.”

  “If you’re going to arrest me, then by all means, continue.” Philip shrugged, the picture of a man unconcerned. “But I think we both know that’s not what’s going to happen.”

  “I might,” Shaw murmured. “I just might. Or maybe one of your whores.” He eyed Shelly.

  “I don’t share,” Philip said.

  “That’s not what she says,” Shaw taunted. It was a schoolyard insult, but somehow it rang true. “She’s been talking to the cops.”

  Philip’s facade paused in a freeze-frame; then he turned slowly to Shelly, who shrank from him.

  “You,” he said incredulously. Every muscle tensed as I watched him for the rage that would come. An asshole like him wouldn’t take well to one of his own betraying him, but oddly he looked more confused than furious. Hurt, almost.

  Shelly put her hands up like she was apologizing for forgetting to pick up milk at the damn grocery store. She actually took a step toward him. I wanted to shout at her to get away, but it caught in my throat. Why wasn’t she afraid of him?

  “I’m sorry, Philip.” Her mouth tightened as she looked Shaw over. “It wasn’t him, though.”

  Shaw flicked his gaze to me, and his eyes hardened. “No, someone gave me some misinformation. I figured that out soon enough. It was my partner, but I’m afraid he’s been unavoidably detained at the moment.” He sighed with exaggerated forbearance. “I’ll have to clean up this mess by myself.”

  “What do you want?” Philip said as if bored. “More money? How trite.”

  Shaw’s forehead ridged in anger. He couldn’t act even half as cool as Philip. I had to give Philip credit for that much. He played his part well, even when he was outgunned.

  “I already have a friend with deep pockets,” Shaw said. “Turns out you aren’t that popular. Dimitri Golastov wants you dead.”

  Philip snorted. “A street dealer who pretends he’s playing in the big leagues. Buying up cops with his daddy’s money.”

  Shaw looked briefly disconcerted, but only for a moment. “Yeah, well, there’s a lot of it, and cash rules the street. He’s got all the players in place. Now all he needs to do is knock out the competition.”

  “You’re the one who’s been fucking with the shipments,” Colin said.

  Shaw shrugged. “When I could find them, and assuming I could keep my snotty little partner away. I knew it would only be a matter of time before you came to one of these drops yourself.” He nodded toward one of his men. “Put the girls in the car. We’ll deal with these two here.”

  When one of the men made a move toward me, Colin stepped between us. “I don’t think so.”

  “Let’s do them all,” one of the men said.

  Shaw’s eyes slid to me, then down my body. “I’d hoped for a little more time with you, but I don’t want this to get messy.” His gaze lingered on my breasts. I resisted the urge to cover them with my hands. Then he nodded to the one who’d spoken. “Do it.”

  An efficient one, he was, because he lifted his gun and aimed it straight at Philip’s chest. The money shot.

  The bang sounded just as Shelly flew in front of him. Even before they’d collapsed in a heap, Colin had knocked down the guy nearest us. He pushed me down. My cheek hit the concrete with an alarming crack. Dazed, I heard more gunshots, but all I could think of was Shelly. What the hell had she been thinking to do that, any of it? God, let her be okay.

  I looked up to see the first shooter fall back. The sirens whined closer. Shaw took off at a sprint in the opposite direction. Once he’d lost his goons, he was toothless. Colin took off after him.

  Philip was crouched over Shelly. He would hurt her. Hit her, choke her; there were a million ways a man’s body could hurt a woman’s. He could do it because he wanted to, because he paid her, and most definitely because she’d betrayed him.

  Ignoring the throbbing in my head, I crawled over to them. And then stopped in horror.

  Shelly lay flat on the ground, a circle of blood spreading across her stomach. Her eyes blinked wide in her face, her skin pale under a layer of soot.

  “Don’t move.” Philip pulled off his jacket and pushed it into the wound. “We’ll get you to the hospital. You’ll be fine.”

  She tried to sit up.

  “No,” he said, pushing her gently down. “Stay still.” He wasn’t hurting her; he was helping her.

  A shudder ran through her, and then she lay still. He looked up at me, eyes bewildered. “I don’t know what to do,” he said.

  I shook my head. I didn’t either, and terror gripped me. This was Shelly.

  She smiled faintly up at me, ever on display. “Ouch.”

  My laugh came out watery. “I don’t understand. Did they threaten you? Why did you do it?”

  She blinked in slow motion. “Worse than that. I broke the rules. I fell for…”

  I looked at Philip and then back at her. It didn’t make sense. If she’d fallen for Philip, why would she betray him?

  “Not him,” she said, her breaths coming faster.

  I looked at Philip. He looked as confused as I was. Then who?

  Shelly squeezed her eyes shut as another shudder racked her body.

  “Shh,” he soothed, tucking a hair back from her face. “Just rest. It’s okay.”

  A car pulled to a screeching halt, dousing us in red-and-blue lights. A door slammed, but neither Philip nor I moved from Shelly’s side. I hadn’t expected this kind of self-sacrifice from Philip, to give himself up just to see that Shelly was okay. He seemed to be in shock.

  I hadn’t realized he’d actually cared, but he’d definitely been shocked and hurt when he’d realized she’d betrayed him. He looked devastated now that she was injured. He cared about her, but she’d fallen for someone else.

  The cop didn’t tell us to put our hands up or read us our rights. He didn’t even acknowledge us except to shove us out of his way to Shelly.

  He bent over her and ran his hands along her arms, frantically checking for more injuries. Shelly’s eyes were still closed, but I felt her tacit acknowledgment of him.

  “The ambulance is on its way,” he told her in a gruff voice that I recognized. His name I remembered well—Detective Lucas Cameron. It had been on the card he’d given me.

  “Doesn’t even hurt,” she murmured.

  “That’s not good,” he said, clasping her hand between his. “Stay with me.”

  “I’m here.”

  They spoke quietly, intimately. Lover’s voices. I felt like a voyeur
watching them. I looked again at Philip, whose ass was planted on the concrete. He looked like he’d just been steamrolled. I could almost feel bad for him. Almost.

  Oh, she’d gotten him good. Moving in with him, pretending to like him, getting him to care for her. Meanwhile she’d just been pumping him for information to feed to this guy. Except she did like Philip. I hadn’t misread that. She’d taken a bullet for him.

  More cops arrived. They went through the formalities, questioning both of us, and arresting me in relation to the explosion. Philip, who’d only arrived later, was allowed to go. Yeah, that stung like a motherfucker. I knew what my sins were, but I hadn’t done anything wrong here. Definitely nothing illegal, but somehow I ended up in the backseat of a car with flashing lights. Philip, with his money and his arrogance, got to walk away.

  I’d been playing a game without knowing the rules. I hadn’t even seen the board. Meanwhile Philip was arranging shit, and Shelly was turning on him, none of which I had any clue about, and Colin. Colin had been playing the middle, trying to appease both Philip and me, more fool him.

  I rested my face against the cool window of the police cruiser. I hoped Colin was okay, at least, wherever he was. I made excuses for why he didn’t come back, ones that didn’t involve him getting injured or him abandoning me. After all, it didn’t make much sense for a criminal to walk into a cop’s nest. He couldn’t have known they’d let Philip go, and besides, if Colin had shown up, they might have done something different. Police were dangerous because they were an unknown quantity. They could be working for the moral superiority or taking kickbacks or just trying to get a paycheck. At least the bad guys had a clear objective.

  I understood why he’d gone, but it still hurt. With Shelly sent off in the ambulance and Colin off to parts unknown, I was completely alone. It must have started raining, because a droplet wove down the glass and pooled at the bottom. One, then another. I’d watched them just like this when I rode in my dad’s truck. They never went in a straight path. That would have made the most sense, straight down. Instead they turned and curved and angled, taking a long, circuitous route to the end. It would be scary, I thought, to be that drop. To know she was going down, but not know how or when it would happen.