Chapter 33 Willow
WILLOW
We act on the new lead immediately, getting back in the car and heading out to the east side of Detroit where Gage told us to go.
When we reach the tattoo parlor, Malice pulls the car up to the curb as his brothers scan the street for any obvious threats.
Although it’s after hours, a group of people are clustered around outside the tattoo shop. One of them stands at least a head taller than the others, and Ransom nods in his direction.
“That must be Jonah.”
We get out and walk over, the three men once again keeping me between them, not taking any chances. The conversation the group was having dies as we near them, and they eye us warily.
“Can we help you?” one of them asks. “Do you have an appointment?”
She jerks her head in the direction of the tattoo parlor.
Malice ignores her and looks at the man we think is the Enigma leader.
“Jonah Kent?” he asks.
The tall man sizes us up for a second, looking extra hard at Malice. I can’t blame him for that. Malice can’t help but look intimidating on a good day, and after the week we’ve had, that aura of violence that surrounds him is stronger than ever.
“Yeah,” the man finally says. He’s got a gravelly voice, as if he’s been smoking his whole life. “Why d’you wanna know?”
He takes a drag from his cigarette and then blows the smoke in our direction carelessly. I can feel the guys shifting around me, not appreciating the disrespect.
Everyone is on edge, and the tension in the air climbs up another few notches. Jonah is on his guard, and the people with him are too. I have no doubt that they’re all armed, and if we make a wrong move, this could turn bad.
“What do you want?” Jonah asks, cocking his head to the side and narrowing his eyes.
There’s a beat, and then Malice gives a little. “We have a proposition for you.”
“Nah.” Jonah chuckles, arching an eyebrow. “Not looking for work. You’d have to have a hell of a good ask to get me to move from this spot.”
“It involves Olivia Stanton.”
As if those are the magic words, Jonah’s whole demeanor changes. He goes from slouching against the front of the building to standing up straight, eyes serious. He takes one final drag off his cigarette and then stamps it out on the sidewalk.
“Come with me,” he says.
He leads us into the tattoo parlor and then straight through to the back.
The back room here isn’t as nice as the one at Sin and Salvation, but the vibes are different too. There’s a lumpy couch with cracked leather shoved into a corner, and a scratched and scarred wooden desk against a wall.
None of us go for any of the furniture.
As soon as the door is closed, Jonah turns to stare at us. “What the hell do you want?” he asks again. “And what does it have to do with Olivia Stanton?”
“We’re trying to take her out,” Malice explains.
“Why?” Jonah demands. “You don’t just go after a bitch like her for shits and giggles. What’s your angle?”
Malice gives him the quick version of the story. “She’s after one of ours. She’s already sent people after us twice, and she’s not gonna stop until she gets what she wants.”
“And what is it she wants?” Jonah asks.
“Me, dead,” I tell him. “She knows she won’t get what she wants from me if I’m still alive, so.” I shrug.
Jonah listens intently, and I can see anger burning in his eyes. It’s definitely anger directed at Olivia, but I have no idea what the story is there. It doesn’t seem like a good idea to ask.
“We heard you have beef with Olivia,” Malice continues. “And we could use your help bringing her down.”
Jonah rubs at his face, looking tempted. It looks like he’s about to say something, but before he can, the door to the office opens and a girl who looks about my age comes walking in.
“Oh there you are,” she says, cutting into the conversation. “I was—”
She stops short when she sees us all standing there, glancing around.
We might be about the same age, but that’s where the similarities probably end. This girl is badass looking, with tattoos up and down both arms and teal colored hair. She moves like she owns the place, and there’s something protective in her gaze as she takes the four of us in.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
“Quinn, I told you to knock when I have people back here,” Jonah says.
The girl—Quinn—shrugs. “Didn’t know you had people back here. But you could cut this tension with a knife. What’s up?”
“It’s nothing,” he says, giving her a look.
It’s pretty clear from their similar facial features and the way they hold themselves that these two are related, probably father and daughter if I had to guess.
She gives him a look right back, folding her arms and not budging.
Jonah sighs. “They’re here looking for help taking down Olivia Stanton,” he grumbles.
Quinn’s eyes go wide at that. “The one who… ?”
Jonah just nods.
With that kind of reaction, I can’t help myself anymore. “I’m sorry if this is a weird question, but… what happened?” I ask. “What did Olivia do?”
They both glance at me, and Jonah’s expression goes hard.
At first, I think he’s going to refuse to answer, but then he starts speaking, his tone bitter.
“Olivia tried to blackmail me,” he says.
“Using my brother Casey as leverage. She had dirt on him, and she held it over his head. I didn’t want to do her bullshit, but I tried anyway.
When I couldn’t make it happen, she had my brother put in prison, and he died there. ”
The anger is clear in his voice, and this is definitely a personal grudge. One that’s not far off from the grudge we have against her.
I suck in a breath because yeah, I can relate very much to the anger of having Olivia hold people you care about over your head.
“She did something like that to us too,” I tell him.
“So we get it. And if we don’t stop her, she’ll probably kill me and then do it to other people so she can keep getting what she wants.
Nothing’s going to stop her because she doesn’t care about people’s lives.
All she cares about is getting what she wants. ”
Jonah nods, his hand curling into fists at his side. “She’s a bitch. She plays with people, treats them like chess pieces to be used, and then when she’s done, she just throws them away. Or leaves them somewhere to rot.”
“Help us stop her,” Vic says. “We can end this, but we need help.”
“Alright,” Jonah agrees finally. “Okay. I want nothing more than to see that cunt die for what she did to my family, so I’ll help you.”
“Thank you,” I breathe, relief surging through me.
“One thing, though. I’m not gonna bring my gang into this. They can provide support or work as a diversion, but I won’t volunteer them for the actual fight. It’s a personal thing for me, and I’m not putting them in danger for it.”
Quinn puts her hands on her hips, cutting in before we can say anything. “Except me. Of course you’ll let me help, even if you won’t ask anyone else to.”
Jonah turns to her, face already set in disapproving lines. “Quinn, no. You can’t be involved in this either.”
“Fucking hell, Dad. You need to start trusting me. I’ve trained. You’ve seen me in action. You know I can handle myself. I get that you want to protect me, but you have to cut the cord a little. Seriously. I’ve been asking for months for you to give me more responsibilities—”
“Going up against a woman with no morals and no problems killing anyone in her way isn’t the way to prove yourself, Quinn.”
She rolls her eyes. “No, according to you, the way to prove myself is to sit around doing nothing. I don’t need you to protect me all the time. I can handle myself.”
“I’m going to want to protect you forever,” Jonah shoots back. “Sorry. Just the way it is.”
The two of them face off, and it seems like this is an old argument. Jonah wants his daughter to be safe, and she just wants a chance to prove herself and to get to show that she can be a badass too.
“Dad—”
“You’re supposed to be working anyway,” he cuts in. “You’re needed out in the shop, so get to it.”
There’s a finality to his tone, and Quinn groans, rolling her eyes again. “Fine. But we’re not done talking about this,” she says and heads back out.
Once she’s gone, Malice leans forward, ready to get back to business.
“We can’t fuck around when it comes to Olivia,” he says. “We’ve gone up against her a few times before, and she always manages to come out on top. That can’t happen this time.”
“What do you know about her?” Jonah asks. “How well protected is she?”
Vic takes over then. “We have some information. Willow’s been inside her home and has seen her resources.
We know she has security, even though we don’t know how many people she has on hand.
We know that she’s trusting her station to make her untouchable.
That’s why we can’t just kill her in broad daylight or something. This has to be low profile.”
“We have proved that there are ways around that, though,” Ransom points out. “Her being well connected and influential doesn’t make her immortal.”
“No, but it means we have to be more careful than we would otherwise.”
Jonah paces a little, clearly deep in thought. “My men and I have done a few jobs like that. Tight security with a need to lie low and make sure we don’t get fucked over. We managed to isolate the mark and take them out that way.”
“That would be ideal,” Vic says. “Her main strength is her resources. At the end of the day, she couldn’t take us in a one on one fight, but she’d never let it get that close if she had the choice. Do you think we could do that here?”
“I have a few ideas. But first we’ll need to learn her schedule, her habits. It has to be air tight if we’re gonna manage to pull this off.”
Vic starts taking notes, and hope blooms in my chest as we hash out a plan. Olivia has treated everyone she meets like a pawn, and it’s finally coming around to bite her in the ass. It’s what she deserves after everything she’s done.
She’s hurt more people than just me.
And now the fact that she’s so heartless is going to be the thing that brings her down.