Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Colm
Ibarely make it to the parking lot when a suspicious amount of noise seeps out of the strip club door, and the guards outside start to move. Fuck. There’s no way this isn’t Fallow’s fault.
The plan was supposed to be simple, but I knew he couldn’t make it through without a little bloodshed. I can’t decide if I should trust him and wait like he asked or go back in and help. Being apart for this single hour has been strange. Like my body doesn’t want to work right.
I’ve always been deeply independent, just like Fallow, but right now I’m fucking aching for him. The thought of losing him when I just found something I didn’t know I needed is too much.
After a few seconds of hesitation, I turn on my heel to run back, but by the time I do, the chaos has stopped. No gunfire, no screaming. Then several men in suits bust out of the front door on such a mission that they don’t even notice me, running towards a car.
When Fallow wanders out behind them with his hands spread wide and a smile on his face, I finally breathe. I’m pretty sure I just aged a decade waiting for him.
“You look happy,” I say when he makes his way over to me. “Do we need to be fleeing the scene? I heard a lot of noise.”
Fallow’s grin widens, but he seems to think about it for a second before he nods.
“Yeah, actually, we should go. They’re not going to be pleased with my handiwork. Plus, we need to follow my new friends. Quick quick.”
I didn’t know Fallow knew how to make friends. Only obedient companions or murder victims. But he can explain it to me in the car.
Once we’re on the road, trailing behind the other car, he gives me the rundown on what happened. It sounds like these guys are the best connection to Ellery we’ve found yet, and as long as we stay close, and potentially help them with their manhunt, they’ll lead us to Ellery at last.
“So, one of their guys was taken, and we’re going to get him back?”
“Yep. Bane. He seems to belong to the sexy Russian one, because he’s fucking gagging to get on the road.”
“Sexy?” I ask, despite my better judgement.
Fallow doesn’t owe me anything. This situation has been one of convenience, and he’s never said a damn thing to tell me it’s going to last longer than it has to. Even if he does let me kiss him now.
“Not as sexy as you, sugar tits,” he says with an eye roll.
It’s teasing, but it still makes me smile.
“We’ll help them, we’ll get to Ellery, problem solved. Road trip complete.”
The words ‘road trip complete’ hit me harder than I’d like to admit.
It seems like every second I’m getting a new reminder that this might be the end of my time with Fallow.
He’s probably going to want to stay with Ellery, after spending such a long time hunting for them.
Lord knows what Murphy is going to say about all this.
“Colm?”
“Eh?” I ask, realizing he’s been talking to me and I wasn’t answering.
“Did you meet the dancer? Did you get any information? Do we need to go back so I can kill her for sucking your dick? I’m dying over here and you’re not even giving me crumbs.”
“Sorry,” I say, shaking myself out of my weird malaise.
“Yeah. Candace. I forgot her name until I was talking to her, but her name is Candace. I got her in a room for a lap dance, and I was pretty sure there were no cameras in there, so I just asked her straight up. Fuck knows what they’re using those rooms for with that much soundproofing and that little security, but I don’t like it. ”
“Well, what did she say?”
I blow out a breath, taking another turn to follow the other car.
“She was definitely taken against her will. And fuck, Fallow. What she described was pretty intense. We’re talking cattle cars of people being carried around the country.
Girls and women who you wouldn’t normally consider the most vulnerable populations still being taken.
A much higher emphasis on looks than on picking someone no one will care about, like the organization doesn’t have anything to fear.
It’s bad. These people are hardcore, even by organized crime standards. ”
“Yikes,” he says, staring out the window with a solemn expression. “Did you get her out.”
I shake my head.
“I offered, but she didn’t want to come. She said they’d track her down again and kill her for it. I pushed harder, but eventually she ran away into a staff only area and I couldn’t get her back without causing a scene.”
We’re both silent for a while, thinking about where we go from here.
“This is a big deal,” I continue. “If we’re going to stop this organization, we’re going to have to do it all at once.
Planned and organized. We still don’t even know the extent of who these people are, and if we pick at them a little at a time, it’ll only cause them to tighten up.
As much as it feels shitty to leave them there, I’m pretty sure we’d both die if we tried to save them alone.
I really need to call Murphy and let him know, so he can make a decision about this.
This seems like a thing that needs to go all the way to the top. ”
“Yeah,” he says, still quiet. “I think you might be right.”
FALLOW
Colm pulls over a little behind the guys we’re following. As soon as I move to get out, he starts to follow, but I stop him.
I stop him with a hand on his chest, which makes him pause as his breath speeds up a little.
Nothing about my particular rules for physical contact has ever been a manipulation.
They existed because I wanted them to. But I have to admit, the most delightful, unexpected side effect is that it only takes the smallest touch to get Colm blushing and breathless like a schoolboy with a crush.
It’s delicious. If I could inject this feeling directly into my veins, I would.
“Wait here for me. You need to talk to Murphy and your men anyway. Wait in the car in case we need to make a hasty exit and sort out a plan for this trafficking situation in the meantime. I’m just going in to support the fellas.
It shouldn’t take long, and if it turns into a bloodbath I’ll run back out. Deal?”
“I don’t like this,” he says, clearly understanding he’s already lost this fight.
“Kiss me. Kiss me before I run bravely into battle.”
The corner of his mouth turns up, but he still looks worried.
“This is a raid on some kind of stash house with a bunch of other mafia bros. You’re not exactly storming the beaches at Normandy.”
“Ooh, it sounds like someone’s been watching Grandpa documentaries. I’m in. As soon as I get back in the car, you’ll have to teach me about the beaches at Normandy.”
I already know about them, obviously. But I love how much pleasure Colm seems to take in learning things despite having no urgent need to, and how he even has to hide it from his men.
He does it for the love of the game. I could turn into a pool of melted butter right here in this passenger seat listening to him explain WWII history to me, I’ve no doubt.
Colm hesitates again, but then leans forward and kisses me like I wanted.
It’s brief and chaste, but sends shivers up my spine all the same.
I keep waiting for the disgust or discomfort to settle in, but it never does.
I don’t know if it’s literally just him that can do this to me, or if he happens to be the only person I’ve been around long enough to actually build up a tolerance to, but I don’t really care.
I’m not trying to repeat the experiment any time soon.
I’m still exploring the results of this one.
The others are still sitting in the car, probably arguing about something, but I don’t want to lose their trail, so I need to get moving. And I want to help them find Bane. They’re all kind of cute, in a criminal way. I want to be part of the fun.
“Wait for me,” I say, breaking off the kiss.
“Be safe.”
Colm holds my gaze, still looking stressed, so I have to be the one to get out of the car because otherwise he’ll keep me there forever.
As soon as I’m on the move though I feel absolutely psyched to cause a little carnage. My adrenaline starts to flow, and I picture what might be waiting for us inside the house.
I’m nearly bouncing on the balls of my feet when I approach the car and knock on their window.
Casey—the tall one—rolls it down, looking confused as if we hadn’t literally discussed me coming to help them.
It’s possible they’re all a little slow.
Especially considering they’re still in the car, not inside causing carnage.
“What are we waiting for? I thought this was urgent.”
The angry Russian gets out of the car with the same intense expression he wore earlier, and I get a little thrill as I realize some nasty shit is about to go down. He looks through the trunk for a minute and pulls out a wicked looking knife before making an abrupt beeline for the house.
“Oh shit. There he goes. He’s fast, isn’t he,” I say, watching him move very gracefully for someone so tall.
When a man answers the door for him, this guy shoves the knife right in his neck. I’m a little jealous, because that’s normally my move, but it’s always nice to see someone fully committed to their skill set.
Someone swears behind me, but I’m too excited to pay attention.
We move inside, and my own knife is in my hand, but the Russian takes out the next guard seamlessly with a double tap to the heart and thigh.
“Damn, he’s good,” I say, feeling an intense surge of jealousy.
I’m not sure I’ve ever stabbed someone directly in the heart. I need to get one of those fancy fucking knives he’s carrying.
Another man appears to the side, and this time, I’m fastest. My butterfly knife sinks neatly into his temple, and I get to enjoy watching him sputter and paw at it for a few seconds before I put him out of his misery and drop him to the ground.
That’s more like it.
The rest of the guys are sweeping through the house, while my new hero is still on his mission, looking through one room after another to find his Bane. It occurs to me that I really, really like that name. It’s even better than Fallow. Once again, I’m a little jealous.
Oh, god. If I keep hanging about with Colm, is he going to expect me to tell him more personal things? I don’t think I could ever face telling him my real name. I’m enjoying this whole intimacy thing for the first time, but nobody gets to know my name except Murphy, Ellery, and me.
Angry man has found a room, and based on the sounds, we’ve finally gotten to Bane. It takes too long for me and the others to catch up to him, caught up with the remaining guards in the house. Just as I get to the doorway, a gunshot goes off.
Inside is a bloodbath. I’m not sure how many people are in here, but I see a woman slumped on the floor and the evidence of some messy, major knife wounds.
A startlingly pale and blood-soaked man is tied to a chair, looking significantly worse than when I first found Colm, on the edge of consciousness.
He moans out, “Georgiy,” before passing out.
The angry Russian man—Georgiy, I assume—clearly caught that bullet. He’s conscious, but as soon as Bane’s eyes close he starts to lose it.
This is so much more high drama than I expected.
At first, I was just along for the ride, but now I feel committed.
I look at Kit and his friends, resolved to help with the cleanup for this situation any way I can.
I just hope they have a medical connection, because Bane and Georgiy both look like they’re going to need it.