Chapter 24
Chapter twenty-four
Mac
Leaving E with his father feels like a physical ache. Almost everything in me wants to storm back into the brownstone and to kill everyone but the man wearing my collar. Thankfully, I think rationally enough to remember I came here to save Di.
Calling a car service I know to be reliable and fast, I walk two blocks to the address I gave right as a black towncar pulls up. Giving the driver the address, I will it to be accurate.
Thomas Miller is a criminal and a pathological liar.
He might have lied. Though I hope he understands I will hunt him down if Di isn’t at the location he gave me.
I’m also aware he may be setting a trap.
I don’t have a gun, but I know how to defend myself.
If they come at me with bullets, I can handle it.
That situation will end with the weapon turned on Miller’s henchmen.
Checking my phone as we head over the Brooklyn Bridge with its stone towers, I open the app I haven’t had much use for since I downloaded it a week ago.
E doesn’t know it, but his collar has a GPS tracker embedded in the titanium.
He’s been by my side over the course of our three day excursion. Letting him leave the room without me is much easier when I know he won’t get far, but I sense that he misses my assistance in the bathroom. When I get him back, I’ll be happy to keep him in my sight at all times.
Might move Di into the casita, because I hate how easily she was taken. It’s built into a hill, so I could dig out more to add a secure server room for her. Then E can move into the main house with me.
Decision made, I tune in to the driver exiting south of the major piers to an area of warehouses. He’s an older man with a thick mustache who I will tip well for minding his business on this middle of the night jaunt.
“You sure you want to be dropped off out here?” He asks, looking at me in the rearview mirror, since the partition is down.
There is a Sikh Guru painting tucked into the dash, so I formulate a plan. I worked with many Sikh men on an assignment in India, and know they are helpful and kind people. I decide to play on his sense of decency and service.
“Yes, this is good, thank you.” I toggle off the dot showing E still at his father’s to check the address on my phone. “My friend got lost on a late-night walk and I want to get her inside as soon as possible. I’ll pay double if you wait here.”
My guess is rewarded when he nods and frowns. “People should not jog in the city so late at night. I will wait so she can be safe.”
“Good man. We’ll head to the address on my account when I have her.”
Leaving the car, I wonder if he’ll see the news in a few days and recognize me.
If he’ll connect Di and I in New York with his role in her rescue.
I’ll eventually do a segment on my show about how my assistant was found safe and sound.
Then I can have talks about the scourge of human trafficking and how it unfairly hurts women of color at a higher rate.
But these are thoughts for after Di is rescued and E is back with me.
Slinking along a large brick building, I don’t see any movement. There are large spotlights illuminating the sidewalk every fifty feet or so, more for security than as streetlights. This area isn’t meant for pedestrians. Especially not when it’s still a couple hours to dawn.
Checking the map, I stop at the corner across from the address Miller gave me.
I clock two men smoking at a side door, talking in voices too low to carry.
One is gesticulating wildly, while the other looks half asleep, leaning on the wall.
When the first guy turns away, I use the opportunity to jog over and slip behind a car.
“Booker said the boss wants us to kill the woman and whoever comes after her,” the first guy spits out. “What the fuck have we been wasting our time for. Going across the whole damn country to nab her. Booker only asked her a few questions and bounced. So tired of babysitting duty.”
A shiver runs over me at his words, and I can finally see their faces. These are the two men caught on Di’s security camera. I will relish taking them off the face of this earth as soon as possible.
“You don’t want to get caught talking like that,” the quieter guy grumbles, taking a drag before tossing the butt on the ground. “The boss doesn’t hesitate to forcibly relocate us or make his guys disappear.”
“We don’t even know who the boss is,” the loud guy practically yells. “And he’s got us kidnapping and murdering for him. You should take care of the woman, she kicked me.”
“Fucking baby,” quiet guy curses and stands off the wall. He takes a gun from the other guy’s waistband, and I can see the silencer. “Booker said we’ve got to see if she’ll talk first.”
“Not happening,” the loud guy scoffs, butting his cigarette on the building wall. “Don’t let me know if you need help.”
“Whatever,” the second guy opens the door and goes inside.
From their conversation, I’ve learned a lot. There are likely only two of them, making my job easier. They only have one gun between them, at least with the silencer. And Di has a few minutes left.
She is usually capable of defending herself, but bound, gagged, and tired from her ordeal, my assistant is a sitting duck. I have to hope she keeps that guy talking long enough for me to get inside.
When in the Philippines for a long assignment, I studied their martial art called Kali.
The teachers focused on self-defence, but I graduated to weapons after a few months of proving myself.
I learned how to snap a man’s neck, but it takes incredible force and just the right angle.
I don’t have a stick, or time for a slow death, but I do have a knife.
Opening the blade, I wait only a few seconds for my opportunity to strike.
When the loud guy turns to lean on the wall, pulling out a lighter before cupping his hand around a blunt, I almost roll my eyes at how easy this will be.
Pulling the hat I’m wearing lower in case of cameras, I move from behind the car.
Creeping up behind him in my rubber-soled shoes, he doesn’t hear me coming.
Without touching him, I reach my hand around the man to slice through his jugular vein.
He flails and I lift my leg to kick the back of his knee.
Blood is pouring out, and I make sure to stay behind him to avoid getting any on me.
Clutching at his neck, I realize I don’t even know his name, which is rare for my kills.
Leaning down to whisper in his ear, I pat his pockets for other weapons, finding a pocket knife. “If you touched a hair on her head, I’ll find your family and take my time with their deaths.”
Loud guy gurgles, his eyes widening, but no words come out. Guess he’s not so loud anymore.
Kicking between his shoulder blades, he falls to his face in the pool of his own blood on the dirty sidewalk. Opening his knife so I have two weapons, I use my elbow to open the unlocked door. I’m wearing gloves, and if I play this right, I can stage the scene to look like they killed each other.
The warehouse interior is dark, with an enclosed entry-way. Closing the door behind me with a resounding bang, I take the only path forward. There are empty offices that look years out of use, dust on every surface, before an arched opening leads to the bigger space.
“That you, Swansea?” Quiet guy can be loud too, it seems. I can’t see him yet, but I follow the sound of his voice to a room built at the back of the building where I see light. “Thought you didn’t want to get your hands dirty?”
Inching closer to the door, I wait just outside. When he doesn’t hear a response, the sound of feet shuffling closer reaches me. Before he even registers I’m here, I stab him in the gut, aiming for the gastric vein.
“What?” He stumbles before straightening, to take me in. Remembering he has a gun, he raises it towards me. “Who the fuck are you?”
Without wasting my time on a reply, I drop the knife I used on his friend and knock the gun from his grip. Hand-to-hand training is the Arnis side of Kali, and I easily send his gun clattering to the floor before he can get a shot off.
“Who I am doesn’t matter. Your friend is bleeding out on the sidewalk outside. You might want to go to him and call for back up.”
The guy rushes toward me and I sink his buddy’s knife into the other side of his gut. He’ll bleed out internally soon enough, but I’d rather he die next to Swansea. I’ll put the knives in their hands to set the scene and hide the evidence.
After he stumbles out of sight, I finally move to the door and take in the sight I’ve been hoping for since her alarm went off three days ago.
“Who’s there? Is it you, Mac?” Di’s eyes are covered and her wrists are chained to the wall. But she’s alive.
Kneeling beside her, I take off the blindfold and get out my lock-picking kit. “Yeah. It’s me.”
“I knew you’d find me,” she slurs before her head lolls to the side. I curse and work faster.
Di is alive, but I don’t know how much medical care she needs. I have to get us out of here and hope my driver doesn’t ask too many questions.