Chapter 45 Aedan
AEDAN
I was going crazy when she walked in the door. I’d gotten home a little while before, expecting her to be there, only to find the apartment empty. As soon as I saw her ashen face, I didn’t have to ask if something was wrong. I only needed to know what.
She slumped down on the couch. I could see the concrete dust on her face and knew she’d been to The Pit. I could see the lines her tears had cut through it and my insides tightened down into a cold, hard knot.
I took her hands and, between sobs, she told me.
I thought I’d felt anger before. I thought the red rage that descended on me during a fight was anger, or my frustration at how Rick had used me was anger.
But I was wrong. You have to have someone in your life you care about more than yourself.
Only when someone threatens that person can you really, truly know anger.
I told Sylvie that everything was going to be okay. I made her soup and cuddled her up in some blankets and turned on the TV. And then I called Charlie.
Charlie’s job is to process the guys the patrol officers drag in, which means he knows everything that’s happening locally and he’s got access to the police computers. Exactly what I needed right now...except I’d long since used up all my favors with him.
I met Charlie back when I was fighting, in the days before Rick had corrupted me too much.
One of Charlie’s cousins was just starting out as a fighter and I gave him some tips.
Charlie and I had hung out together but, as I’d become Rick’s muscle, the friendship had become more and more strained.
He’d told me a thousand times to get out.
..and then, suddenly, it was too late. I killed Travere and quit fighting.
When the rumors went around about a guy dying, most of the cops hadn’t known where to start looking.
..but Charlie did. He came to me, having figured out pretty much the whole thing, and demanded I testify against Rick.
I managed to make a deal with him: he’d keep quiet about what he knew and, in return, I’d talk his cousin out of fighting.
His cousin was following in my footsteps, maybe six months away from becoming Rick’s next attack dog.
I persuaded him to quit the scene and get a legit job instead, and Charlie and I agreed things were square.
But the other part of the deal was that I’d stay the hell away from fighting.
Something I was only too happy to comply with. ..until Sylvie came along.
Now, I was going to have to tell Charlie the truth. Except, him being him, I barely needed to. He’d known something was up as soon as he’d seen me in the diner.
“You’re in deep with Rick again, aren’t you?” he said as soon as he heard my voice.
I looked through to the living room, where Sylvie was staring at the TV. I could tell she wasn’t really seeing it. “Charlie, I need to find someone.”
“We had a deal, big guy. You said you’d stay away from that piece of shit. Or find some way to bring him down.”
Fat chance of that. Rick was too smart to be caught red-handed and we both knew it. But I’d sworn, after Travere, that I’d try. “I swear, if there’s ever a way, you can put the cuffs on him personally. But right now, I need your help.”
“Have you got any idea how much trouble I could get in, giving you information? Especially if whoever the fuck you’re looking for winds up dead?”
“This isn’t about me. It’s about Sylvie. There’s a big guy, name of Lowell. Just got out a few weeks ago. Assault and...rape.” My voice shredded on the last word.
Immediately, Charlie’s tone changed. “He did something to Sylvie?”
“He’s going to.”
I heard a flurry of keystrokes. “Got him.” Charlie paused. “Aedan, let me get him picked up. Got my buddy Ryan out there in a car tonight and it’s not far from his beat. He’d enjoy taking down a scumbag like this, especially if he resists.”
That was tempting, but Rick and his sleazy lawyer might get Lowell off the hook. Besides, I wasn’t in the mood for justice. I was in the mood for good old-fashioned revenge. “I’ll owe you one, Charlie. Please, just give me an address.”