Chapter 38
C assie
Darkness surrounded me, the engine of Shade’s car almost silent in our stakeout. Ahead, our subject stormed out of the warehouse and crossed the cobbled street, his phone to his ear and the neon-pink light illuminating one ugly scowl.
Piers Roache, ladies and gentleman. Tonight’s entertainment.
Shade waited for Piers to go out of sight then pulled out in the electric vehicle. All the better for stalking our prey.
“Manny refused him entry.”
I curled my lip. “Bold of him to assume he could get into our club. Do ye think he’s calling the mayor?”
“Almost certainly.”
“What if he comes looking for him?”
“Mayor Makepeace is deep in a three-girl show. No phones. He won’t know for at least thirty minutes that his buddy is out on his arse.”
Thirty minutes. Our window of opportunity.
He handed me his phone, open on a tracking screen with a green blip on the move. I hadn’t known that he’d stuck Piers with a tracker until now, but I appreciated the forethought.
“Why do ye want to kill?” The enforcer kept his gaze on the street.
“Piers or in general?”
“The latter.”
“I imagine the same reasons ye do.”
“An impulse?”
“A bone-deep need to remove bad people from the planet.”
He tapped the steering wheel. “When I was a kid, I knew there was something different about me, but it was the actions of others that brought it out. Ma had a boyfriend who put cigarettes out on my back for fun. It was terrifying and painful but also the point of my realising that I wanted to kill him and couldn’t stop it. It broke or maybe released something in my head. When I take a life now, I see the pain and fear I inflict as righting wrongs of all the suffering the bastard in question caused.”
I considered his words and inclined my head. “You’re a check and balance of the universe. Love that. Mine’s similar. There was an event that happened to me when I was six. Social workers dragged me kicking and screaming from my family. The cops had Sin on the ground so he couldn’t come after me. My other brothers and my sisters-in-law were held back, and the fear on their faces was agonising. I will never forget the feeling and how it paired to the truth I was told years later that it was our father’s doing. He hurt so many. It’s the audacity that gets me. The arrogance.”
“That was your trigger. Someone crossing the line and getting away with it,” Shade observed.
I took a breath. “I want to walk in with pretty nails and cute shoes and drive fear into the hearts of people who hurt others. I want them to know what I am and realise there are consequences to the things they did. That consequence is me.”
He shot me an expression of undisguised admiration. “Fuck, yeah. I need to see that in action. I was going to say it’s like looking in the mirror, but I don’t think I’d suit your shoes.”
He took a corner, merging into traffic. Piers was still in sight further up the road. An abuser, forcing other people out of his way on his furious march down the pavement.
A bus obscured my vision, so I focused back on Shade.
For a beat, his mirror comment replayed in my mind. The enforcer had dark hair and blue eyes. He was Scottish, too.
Just like me and my brothers. McInver’s kids.
I squinted at him. “Do ye know who your daddy is?”
“Aye, some deadbeat who fucked my mother then left her in the lurch. Why do ye ask?”
“Oh, no reason, other than ye could easily slot into the lineup of my family. There’s a big gap between Jamieson and me, and we’ve often wondered if another sibling would pop up one day.” I gestured between us. “The psychopath element fits, as well.”
He made an off sound. “Neither of us are psychopaths. I looked the word up once. It fits those who can kill without remorse, but that’s it. I see myself more as someone who has trained for the role. Where is Piers now?”
I switched my gaze to the phone. “Moving fast up River Street. Must be in a taxi.”
Shade indicated out of the street and onto an intercept course. “Next question. Who do ye want to kill?”
Gripping my seat, I told him my predator-hunter idea. How I’d get anonymous tip-offs to find my prey.
When I was done, he pursed his lips. “Your plan is too broad. You’ll fuck around and waste time. Pick a specialism and you’ll advance faster. Give the work of investigating reports to someone else.”
I blinked. “Thanks for the career advice. I’ll get myself an admin person. I guess for ye the work of sorting has been done already as they are ex-cons. How do I pick from my list?”
“Who do ye hate the most?”
I didn’t even need to consider my answer. “Men in power, like my father. Okay, that was easy. I’ll prioritise the wealthy.”
A muscle ticked in Shade’s jaw. “The men I take out are rarely rich arseholes. Even if prosecuted, those types don’t go to jail. They frequent the same clubs as the judges. They have friends in the same circles.”
“Ye want in on my plan. Maybe I’ll let ye come along as muscle if Riordan is busy.” I checked my nails, hiding a smile.
My phone buzzed. I answered the call. “Cassiopeia’s house of pain. How may I hurt ye today?”
On the other end of the line, Tyler gave a snort of amusement. “Got a phone number for you. Your Uncle Patrick who’s Cassandra’s older brother. He runs a scaffolding company and is a minor league dealer. Fair warning, I ran a quick background check, and if you’re trying to find a friendly family member, I don’t think it’s going to be him.”
I sighed. “Lay it on me.”
“His first wife accused him of domestic violence, but he got off the charge. He has two convictions for brawling at football matches and several warnings.”
“A violent dealer. Awesome. Can’t wait for the family reunion.”
I thanked him and got off the line, staring down at the follow-up text Tyler sent with Uncle Patrick’s phone number. He’d know more about his sister than most others. Maybe he even missed her and regretted what their father did. He might even know how she ended up dead.
Shade let me brood in silence while we tracked Piers’ taxi.
“He’s heading for the mayor’s house.”
I lifted my head and took in our surroundings. We’d left the tall buildings and concrete streets of central Deadwater and entered a leafy suburb.
Last time I’d come here had been in a reckless pursuit of Riordan. We’d stolen the mayor’s painting then biked away into the moonlight.
My heart squeezed. We’d woken in the late afternoon with no time to linger in bed. He was heading out into the city with my brother while I had plans with Shade.
Not for a minute had I stopped thinking about him. Or what he’d said.
I hadn’t messaged him, though.
At midnight, which was closing in fast, it was my birthday, and he’d threatened to say words that could operate our self-destruct. I didn’t want that. I couldn’t stand the thought of his face no longer fascinating me. Or his arms or his heart. Of him fading back to being just another fad I’d got over.
On my phone, I tabbed over to his tracker. Earlier, he and Struan had been at Town Hall, then another office, and a lock-up facility. My eyes widened now when his tracker pinged on the screen.
We stopped at traffic lights, and I held up my phone to Shade. “Look where Rio and Struan are.”
He gave a low whistle. “Party time at the mayor’s house. I’ll message them to expect company.”
He sent a fast text while I got a sudden burst of nerves I didn’t know how to quell.
Piers would be joining them in minutes with us close behind. I had bloodlust, man lust, and both needed to go according to plan.