CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CASH
Slamming the car into gear, I hit the gas, peeling away with a squeal of tires. I made sure to speed past the Gods’ car on my way out so they knew we were on the move. Everything had happened so fast. My mind still spun.
The woman in the back seat with Daire shrieked, an ear splitting sound that made me crazy. Daire fought to subdue her. He pressed the gun to her temple, telling her to shut the fuck up before he blew her brains all over the place.
“I’ll do anything,” she begged. “Please, don’t kill me.”
Holding her by the throat, Daire pinned her on the seat beneath him. “Great. You can start by telling us everything you know about the dark web operation. Who’s in charge?”
She gave a strangled sound as he choked her too tight. “I don’t know.”
“Bullshit,” Daire snarled. “You were back there. You’re part of this. Tell me what you fucking know. I will fucking kill you, bitch.”
She began to cry in large, heaving sobs as she struggled to get enough air to produce them. I kept a close eye on the rearview mirror, making sure that nobody had followed us. Havoc’s Lexus was a few cars behind. Otherwise, we were good.
Blaze cradled Clover in the seat next to me. She was completely passed out. It made me sick that we’d drugged her, although I didn’t think we had much of a choice in the moment. She was panicking. She would have blown everything.
We managed to plant a camera for the Sinners. On our way out, I’d placed one by the rear door as well. It was the best we could do. I doubted they would enjoy our use of violence. However, there had been no other way.
“I help obtain the footage,” cried the woman in the back. “I was hired through an anonymous ad on the dark web. I’ve never met the person in charge. I swear.”
“Who’s JD? Give me something or you’re dead.” Daire dragged the woman up by the hair, giving her a shake. He kept the gun pressed to her forehead.
He made it difficult to keep my attention on the road ahead. My gaze kept darting to the rearview mirror, to the commotion taking place in the back. I didn’t even know where I was going. I just kept driving.
“JD is the person in charge. Nobody knows who he is or if it’s even a man. He only communicates with us through messages. I’ve never met him. I don’t have any information about him at all.” The woman sniffled and cried. Tears streamed down her face.
Daire remained unmoved. “That’s not good enough. If you don’t give me something, I have no reason to keep you alive.”
“Why would you even get involved in something like that?” Blaze turned enough in his seat to hit her with an accusing glare.
She pressed her lips tight together, shaking her head. “I don’t know.”
Lies. Clearly, she enjoyed her job. Nobody got involved with dark web snuff content just for the money. She was no better than anybody else involved.
“There must be something you know.” Daire tried again to get something from her. “Try again.”
She wailed and blubbered, crying hard harder as she begged and pleaded for her life. This was useless. We weren’t going to get anything out of her. She didn’t know shit. If she did, she was quite literally taking it to the grave.
“Take a left up ahead,” Daire said. “Head down that alley behind the sports bar.”
While I did as he instructed, Daire wrapped both hands tight around the woman’s throat and squeezed the life out of her. He didn’t bother making a mess by using the gun. A hands-on approach made for a clean kill. She clawed his hands and arms, even taking a swing at his face. It was useless. His grip tightened, her face turning red before her eyes rolled back in her head.
Blaze nudged me. “Eyes on the road, dude.”
I caught myself as I was about to run a red light. Easing to a stop, I cracked my window open to get some fresh air. This had been a hell of a night.
The woman was dead by the time we reached the alley. I slowed down without stopping completely and Daire shoved her out of the back. As we headed for home, Daire made a call to the Gods to let them know our current status. They could also head home. The job was done.
Blaze carried Clover inside when we got back to the house. I felt like utter shit about what we’d done to her. From the look on Daire’s face, he wasn’t feeling too great about it either.
Blaze laid her gently on the couch, taking care to prop her head on the arm. “She’s going to hate us for this.”
“What choice did we have? Someone give me a line of blow. Cash, you’re always holding. Hand it over.” Rubbing both hands over his face, Daire released a heavy sigh that shook his shoulders.
He was right. I was always holding. A quick trip up to my bedroom and I was back with a small baggie filled with white powder. I tossed it on the counter in front of him.
“Save me some,” I said, opting for weed instead. I needed something more chill right then. My pulse still pounded. I felt too wired.
“We might’ve gone too far this time. Especially after what Brady did to her.” Blaze cast a worried glance at Clover’s unconscious form.
“How else were we supposed to keep her from freaking out and blowing the whole thing?” Right there on the kitchen counter, Daire cut up thin lines of coke with his credit card. “She would have gotten us all killed. She might be pissed but she’s alive.”
I sat on the armchair across from the couch, watching Clover’s chest rise and fall with each breath. There was no arguing that logic. We did what we had to in the moment to ensure we all left alive.
“Maybe Clover isn’t cut out for this shit after all,” I said, taking a large toke of my joint. “She’s been forced into it over and over. That doesn’t mean it isn’t breaking her down. Going forward, I think we need to keep her out of it.”
Blaze nodded. Standing next to the couch, he gently pushed the hair off Clover’s forehead. “Agreed. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to her. She’s been through enough.”
I knew what he meant. He was afraid to lose her. We all were. We’d grown to love the colorful little pixie. Clover was a rainbow in our storm. She made everything better. Now we needed to do right by her and protect her. From the world outside the door. Even from ourselves.
Daire sniffed a line of coke and sighed. He fell back onto a stool at the island, staring out the window into the darkened backyard. “She deserves better than us.”
“But you’ll never let her go, will you?” I had to ask.
The thought had crossed my mind several times that maybe Clover would be better off without us. We brought too much danger and uncertainty to her world. And yet, I was too selfish to let myself go on without her.
“Fuck no.” Daire said what we were all thinking.
Even Blaze who silently watched Clover in her passed out state. Instead of addressing the subject, he said, “I’m going to take that laptop to the Sinners. The sooner it’s out of our possession, the better.”
“Don’t go unarmed,” Daire called after him as he left the room. “Watch your back.”
Sucking back one more large toke, I stubbed out my joint and rose. “I’ll go with him. Safety in numbers and all that.”
I followed Blaze out to the car, eager to have this night be over. The Sinners better consider our debt paid in full. Otherwise, we were going to have a problem.