5. Guesses in the Dark
Chapter five
Guesses in the Dark
Lei
Dima’s shirt still bore the bloodstains of Barbara’s death, dried and cracked on his sleeves. It was a grim reminder of what had gone down tonight.
His hands were tucked into his pockets but I could feel the haunting tension rolling off him in waves.
I swallowed. “Dima. . .I’m sorry. I liked Barbara Whiskers.”
“He didn’t have to kill her.”
“He didn’t.”
“I want him dead, Lei.”
“I know.”
“Can you get the job done?”
“I can.”
“You say that but people keep dying.”
“I will bring you his head.”
“You won’t need to bring it. I will be at the feast and this fucking battle.”
“You will not. This is an East matter—”
“It turned into a Diamond Syndicate matter when he took a Rowe Street Mob family member and then killed my cat—an absolute member of Flower Mafia.”
“Dima. . .he could use you against me.”
“He already did.” Dima leaned his head to the side. “In fact. . .I’m surprised Rose and I are still alive.”
“What?”
“Leo’s keeping me was clearly to force you to let Moni go.”
I pursed my lips.
“I’m surprised you didn’t let me die.”
I shivered.
“I know you must have wanted to for just. . .a second. . .or two.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.” Dima took his hand out of his pocket and ran it through his hair. “You’re a better man than me.”
“Meaning?”
“For Rose. . .I might’ve. . .”
I swallowed.
“Basically, I was scared on that carousel.”
“Even if I wanted to do it, Moni wouldn’t have let me.”
“That I hoped for too.” For a moment, Dima stood there in silence as if lost in thought.
When he finally spoke, his voice sounded shaky. “Lei. . .do you think Barbara Whiskers is in heaven with Viktor, Romeo, and Chanel?”
I blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift.
The question was so simple yet loaded with deeper layers I hadn’t expected from Dima, at least not tonight. But then again, Dima had always been like that, complex in ways most never understood.
“Is that stupid for me to ask?” There was something behind his eyes, a kind of uncertainty that seemed so uncharacteristic for him. “She was just a cat, but. . .”
I took a deep breath, not really knowing what to say at first. I wasn’t used to these conversations. Hell, none of us were, but Dima had a way of focusing on things others might overlook.
I cleared my throat. “I think. . . well, maybe she is with Viktor. If heaven’s out there, why wouldn’t she be?”
“I didn’t want to lose her.”
“I know.”
His gaze shifted to somewhere past me, perhaps on the stairs behind me. “I’m tired of losing people that I love.”
I could see him struggling, the flood of emotions he rarely let out threatening to overwhelm him.
For someone like Dima, who thrived on control and logic, feelings were messy, unpredictable, and something he couldn’t always prepare for.
Dima ran his fingers through his hair. “I shouldn’t have brought Rose or Barbara here tonight.”
“Don’t do that. You held it together this evening. You kept Rose safe. She’s still here.”
Dima didn’t respond immediately but I could see the gears turning in his mind, the way he was trying to reconcile what had happened.
He put his view on me. “Duck gave me the monks that helped your father keep us on that carousel.”
“They’re yours to deal with.”
“You do understand what will happen with them?”
“I can imagine.”
His expression hardened and went ice-cold. “I’m going to torture them until they pray for death and then. . .I’m going to torture them some more.”
His words hung in the air like smoke from a smelly cigar, choking and inescapable.
A cold chill sliced through me.
“You need us more than you think. I will be at the feast tomorrow night with three of my trusted men. Banks and Marcelo will be there too. I will make sure they limit their men to three also.”
“No guns or other weapons.”
“I’ll respect that.”
“Stay quiet and at the back tables. The closer you are to my father’s table, the more you’re someone he can kill, just to get my head out of the game.”
“You said he wants to die—”
“He wants me to kill him. That’s a very different thing.”
“Barbara liked to hunt things. She would spend a good hour, preying on them. And once she got them, she played with them, clawing and rolling them around until the very end.”
I watched him.
“In that sense, Leo is like a cat, enjoying the hunt, loving the mental games.”
We stood there in silence for a while, both of us absorbing the chaos of the night, the weight of everything that had gone wrong.
Finally, Dima shifted again. “You have no idea where he is now?”
“No, but. . .something hit my mind when Banks and I was arguing earlier.”
“What?”
“On one end, it would be really genius if my father kept Moni right in the East but I don’t think he did that. He wants to teach her some lesson.”
“What lesson?”
“I think he’s going to try and initiate her into the Four Aces.”
“What?” Dima widened his eyes. “How?”
“You think she’s going to have to fight people?”
“No, but. . .” I let out an exasperated breath. “She’ll have to show strength in a way that the East sees her as powerful.”
“The East respects blood.”
I gritted my teeth.
Dima frowned. “But whose blood will Moni be spilling?”
“That I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“It’s been hard to think in these past moments.”
“Everyone’s gone. It’s just you and me now. Take that time to look into your mind. Who’s in the East that could be important enough for the East to be impressed with Moni killing them?”
“Right now, it’s everyone heading to the Palace or in there.”
“The top people.” Dima nodded. “Your aunts. Chen. Duck. Others within your inner circle.”
“Yeah. . .” I thought back to that argument with Banks and that same off flicker hit again. “Wait a minute.”
“Yeah?”
“My sister’s men are here.”
“How many?”
“A small army.”
“Army and small typically don’t go together.”
“A hundred of her best men.”
“Where are they?”
“Mount Utopia. That was what had flickered in my head when Banks brought up my harming his men there. Because. . .”
“What, Lei?”
“I kind of wished I had just stayed there with Moni, training. I thought to myself really fast how all of this could have been avoided if we had stayed.”
“Why did you leave Mount Utopia?”
“My father sent Yan under the guise of talking to me but she was really there to take Chanel’s body. Moni told me later that he confessed to doing so because he wanted my mind off of Chanel, but now. . .”
Dima put his hands in his pockets. “You think it was more than that?”
“He had my Uncle Song tell me go up to Mount Utopia to train and then he takes Chanel away which triggers me to leave Mount Utopia, next thing you know I’m in the Palace and I just. . .get this overwhelming feeling to have Moni there with me.”
“Then, you introduce her to the East.”
“And more events occur where she is at the forefront. She does a big speech, me too. And there’s the tea ceremony.”
“And the cookout. While Leo probably didn’t anticipate it, I doubt your father would have let it happen if he didn’t want to.”
“I think he always planned to get Moni the night before the battle.”
“I think so too.”
“And he surely planned for the tea ceremony and the speeches.”
“O-kay.”
“So. . .why have my uncle tell me to go to Mount Utopia? It wasn’t to get out of Glory. He was done with that town.”
Dima nodded. “And if he wanted you in the East then he would have never had Song say anything about Mount Utopia.”
“Exactly.” My hands shook. “Now I’m thinking the battle will be there tomorrow.”
“I wondered where it would be. Leo respects history and tradition. This will be a battle of the Mountain Masters. . .where else would they battle but on a mountain.”
“Goddamn it. I’m going to need men to go there.”
“Leo would be prepared for that. Do the moves that you think he will assume, being in the Palace, training, etc.” Dima touched my chest. “Let me call our people to get satellite viewing on Mount Utopia and perhaps even some drones over there.”
“He can’t know that anyone is monitoring.”
“He won’t.”
“Yan’s men are there.” I rubbed my forehead.
“If Moni killed one of them, would she be seen as powerful?”
“It would need to be more than one and filmed. There would have to be clear proof.”
“That sounds tricky, Lei. Your father is insane, but how would he get her to do that all before the battle.” Dima sighed. “What if he has her kill Song and some of his men?”
“I can’t see that angle. I think he likes the fact that Duck cares for Moni. His affection provides more protection. If Moni killed my uncle, Duck would be devastated.”
Dima quirked his brows. “Duck cares for Moni?”
“He had a crush on her. I ended it, but. . .I know there’s still feelings there. He’s just chosen not to pursue them.”
Dima blinked. “Then, I agree. Song wouldn’t be her target.”
“I’m not even sure if Yan’s men would be the people my father would want Moni to kill. I just know that. . .”
“Leo may want her to kill somebody?”
“Yes.”
“Could it be. . .anyone from the Diamond Syndicate?”
“Yes.” I tensed. “Rose and you should stay at the Palace tonight.”
“I already sent her back to the North—”
“Then, bring her back.”
Dima deepened his frown. “I don’t trust the East after what happened with Barbara Whiskers.”
“I understand but you would be the perfect person for my father to have Moni kill. Let’s do our best to shut down any opportunities that we can. I swear to God nothing will happen to you two. Please, trust me on this.”
“Alright then,” Dima conceded. “I’ll do that.”
A shadow of unease passed between us.
I sighed. “Then, as soon as you have eyes on Mount Utopia, let me know. I could be completely wrong and the battle is somewhere else.”
“Regardless, we need to find them even if we may not be able to take her away from him.”
Tension gathered in my shoulders.
“Until then. . .” Dima studied me. “Go to your room, Mountain Master. Take a shower, drink some tea to calm yourself. I’ll have information before you head to bed.”
“I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
“We can’t risk that. Everything is depending on your winning this battle,” Dima pointed at me. “Because if you don’t win. . .no one will be safe.”