Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
PJ
Ignoring Brennan’s directive to stay in the car, Ravi and I approach the canning factory on foot.
“Is it just me, or is there a whole lot more security than there was before?”
“How would I know? I wasn’t here before,” Ravi whispers.
“Talking to myself.” But seriously, there were, like, a couple of guys with guns who frankly looked bored out of their minds the night I came here with Fallon. Now, there’s at least a dozen guys.
Lights flood from every window and door. Somewhere in the distance, machinery beeps and hums. I could swear I smell burning oil.
We catch up with Brennan and his crew, who are closer than Fallon and I ever got to the main building. Everyone’s clustered behind some sort of electrical shed so they’re not visible from the factory itself.
“Thought I fucking told you two to stay in the car,” Brennan growls.
Ravi’s the one who answers. “Honestly, did you think that was going to happen?”
Brennan scowls, adjusting the grip on his gun. “I had hope.” Then he rubs at the skin above his right eyelid. I think it might be twitching.
“We can’t stay here long, boss. They’ve got a couple guys walking the perimeter. One of ’em will be back this way before too long.” Jalen’s like a buzzing fly, moving from one place to another. He scans the area, goes back to checking his weapons, and then scans the area some more.
“Okay, here’s the deal.” Brennan checks the clip in his gun and screws on a suppressor.
“I managed to get some intel on the factory layout. The main floor’s where the equipment is located.
Or was, at least. Then from the pictures it looks like there are two more levels going up around the edges of the building.
Administrative offices and whatnot. There could be people shooting from above, so keep an eye out.
Might not be a lot of places for us to hide. ”
“It would be good if we could draw people out,” Jalen agrees.
“We need a distraction,” Ravi says. “I’ll do it.” And then he starts taking off his clothes.
“Little man, what the fuck are you doing?” Brennan is clearly regretting the decision to let us tag along.
“We need a distraction to draw out the bad guys,” Ravi explains. Slowly, as if we’re all simple. Then he shucks his pants like it’s no big deal.
I’m beginning to think he might have an actual death wish.
“What are you planning to do, go streaking?” Oh shit. I think that really is what he’s planning to do.
“That’s fucking suicide,” Brennan mutters.
“It’s really hard to get a good aim on someone when they’re running,” Ravi says, almost breathless. “And I’m pretty fast.”
Once he’s stripped down to nothing but a pair of briefs covered in anime characters—which I did not need to see, by the way—he gives us all a wide grin. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fun.”
Then he takes off, screaming, before the rest of us are prepared to react.
“Fuck.” Brennan raises his gun, stepping out from behind the shed. “That kid is certifiable. Good thing he’s going to make me a lot of fucking money.”
Then he shrugs and starts shooting. Without a weapon that fires projectiles, I’m left looking for an alternate plan. Until I see what must have been one of the guys checking the perimeter running toward the building, and another running out the large main doors.
Everyone’s too focused on Brennan and his guys (who are following the guys who are following Ravi), so it’s an easy enough thing to smack the one in last place with my baseball bat as he passes me.
With a sickening crunch, I connect with the back of his head. The vibration shakes my arms more than I expected. It’s painful, but the guy is on the ground.
The one right ahead of him spins and trains his gun on me, but I’m already mid-swing again when he does. I miss his face and get his arm. His gun clatters to the pavement beneath his feet, and when he goes to grab it, I hit him in the head too.
I don’t know if either of them is still alive, but at least they’re out. With the entrance to the factory now unguarded, someone needs to go in.
Once I’m in, it’s all I can do not to lose my lunch.
The smell is overwhelming. Old oil. Stale urine. Fear.
Long-defunct factory equipment climbs up through the center of the building, reaching as high as the second floor in some places. I can almost see a time in the past when the belts and machines were manned by people.
The real disturbing part is all the open spaces on the main floor, which are filled with dirty and disheveled human beings, fearfully clustered together and bound with zip ties.
There’s movement out of the corner of my eye. I spin with my bat raised and ready to swing, but this guy’s not the enemy.
No, this guy’s not the enemy at all.
I stare into the eyes of my best friend, my brother, barely able to believe what I’m seeing. There’s blood on his face. He’s too thin. His clothes are torn, and those are also covered in blood. There are marks around his wrists, as if he’d been tied up too.
In spite of it all he’s got the same cocky stance. The same “I’m pretty and I know it” glimmer in his eye.
“Evans?”
“Fuck, PJ, what the fuck are you doing here?”
My relief is cut off like a record scratch. He doesn’t seem at all happy to see me.
“I’ve been looking for you for months, man.”
He whips his head around as the crackles and pops of gunfire sound in the distance.
“We have to get out of here,” I tell him. “My boss is trying to light this place up.”
I grab for his hand, but his skin is slick with blood, and he pulls away just as fast.
“Not yet.” Evans turns and runs toward the back of the building.
Behind a towering conveyor belt-type thing, there’s another freaking group of people huddled. Jesus, and I thought Evans looked bad. They’re all young, like, teenager young, or maybe around Ravi’s age. It’s a horrific mix of dead eyes and terrified stares.
“We have to get them out of here,” Evans murmurs and grabs the first one’s hands, working at the zip ties. “Not sure what’s going on out there, but I’ll take the distraction.”
“Wait.” I pull out my knife and hand it over to make the job easier. “What the hell is going on here? Have you been here this entire time?”
“Not here here, but yeah. Sort of. Remember when I was looking to make a bunch of cash so we could get started on our shop?”
“You think I don’t fucking remember when you announced that you wanted to fuck rich dudes for money, walked out the door, and never came home? Jolene and I haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep since.”
At the mention of his bird’s name, a slight smile passes across his face. “Jojo’s okay?”
“I mean, she calls me a fuckface or tells me to fuck off at least seven times a day, so I assume so.”
“Right. Good.” He sobers. “Well, that guy who propositioned me when I was waiting tables, Eric? I ran into him again a couple of days later. I think actually he might have been following me, but I never figured it out for sure.”
“You don’t mean Eric Leslie?”
Evan’s head snaps up. “Yeah. He told me he’d make me richer than Brennan Doyle ever could, and then I wound up here. How do you know him?”
“I don’t, but my boyfriend does.” Ex. Whatever. I can pretend for now.
Evans finally cuts the zip ties off the first kid and moves on to the second.
“Well, he said he’d pay me to spend the week with him.
I figured I’d text later to tell you, but his security guys took my phone.
By the time I’d been here a few days, I got clued in to his business, and I realized he wasn’t going to let me go. ”
Until my lungs expand in a desperate attempt to fill, I don’t realize I’ve been holding my breath. “Evans, shit. I wish I’d known.”
He’s got two people released and he’s working on a third. Since we’ve only got one knife, I look around for anything else I can use.
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” he says. “Once I knew what was going on, I made the decision to get on Eric’s good side.
Convinced him he needed me. I figured if I could stay useful to him, I could find a way to help some of these people.
Get evidence and then get to the police.
At the least, I hoped I could help some escape. ”
He makes it through another zip tie and moves on. The untied people are restless, not sure if they should wait or run.
“I didn’t expect to be here this long, but he did an excellent job of keeping tabs on me,” Evans explains.
“I couldn’t even let you know where I was without risking us both.
God, Peej, so many times I spotted you when I was out running errands for him, and I wanted to say something. But it would’ve put you in danger.”
Goddammit. “I would have handled the risk, Evans. I would’ve done anything to help you. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. The night I saw you outside of that flower shop, I almost said something. Wanted to let you know I was okay. Or mostly okay, since you’d fucking stabbed me. But you don’t know Eric like I do. He doesn’t have any kind of conscience.”
I stabbed him? “You’re the one who tried to kill Fallon?”
“It’s not like I wanted to. Eric had me following him. He’s had a real hate-on for the dude since we met. Something about some money that was supposed to be his. Guy likes to play with his food before he eats it, though. Gets off on the mind-fuck.”
Evans rubs absently at his arm. That’s when I realize they’re covered in dozens of scars. Jesus, and he’s been sleeping with this guy? Acting like his boyfriend? After everything Fallon’s told me about him, it gives me the shivers.
“It makes sense,” I manage. “Fallon was married to Eric’s sister. She tried to kill him. I’ve gotten the impression a lot of Fallon’s money came from her family, so that’s probably what he meant.”
Shit. Fallon needs to know about this. I fumble with my phone, hitting dial on Fallon’s number. It goes to voicemail.
“Oh fuck.” In the middle of cutting a zip tie, Evans seems to forget his task. “That’s who that is?” He grabs my wrist, smearing more blood on my arm. “PJ, he’s going to kill him.”
I try to dial Fallon again. “I know he’s been threatening him. It’s why we’re here. To take Eric down.”
Well, it’s definitely my highest priority. I look around, surprised the slimy weasel hasn’t popped his head up in response to all the noise.
Maybe he’s outside. Maybe Brennan’s picked him off by now. It’s not ideal, but in the end I’ll be happy he’s dead.
“No, PJ.” Evans’s eyes are wide. “I mean, he’s going now. To the guy’s house. Tonight. He left here a little bit before you showed up. That’s why I’m trying to cut these people loose while he’s gone. Before they get shipped out.”
No. No, no, no. That can’t be right. Fallon can’t be alone in his house with an unknown psycho headed his way while I’m all the way on the other side of town.
My insides go cold. “When? When did he leave?”
Evans winces. “I don’t know. An hour?” He gestures to his face. “I was a little bit messed up, so I wasn’t watching the time. But, PJ, if you know how to get to him, you need to get the fuck out of here.”
Shit. My attention bounces between Evans, these people being kept prisoner, and the door. I’ve finally found my best friend again. I can’t just leave him. But I have to get to Fallon. I have to.
I can’t save everyone.
“I have to go,” I agree.
Evans gestures to his bleeding face. “You do. You see this? I pissed him off, so he smashed my face into a desk. And, PJ, I think he actually kind of likes me.”
More gunfire. “Brennan’s out there,” I tell Evans. “He can help you. Tell them who you are and where I went, okay?”
“Got it. And, PJ? Love you, Brother.”
I call a hasty “You too!” over my shoulder as I race for the door.
Luckily Brennan left the keys in his SUV. He’ll probably murder me when he realizes I took it, but it’s my only option. If I can get to Fallon, it’s worth it.
Anything’s worth it for him.
I speed through the East End, through downtown, and out to the coast in a blur of lights and honking horns. I’m still easily a block away when I smell smoke.
Then I see something that has me fighting panic.
Bright light rising in the darkness. Smoke. Fire.
It’s Fallon’s house. I push the gas pedal to the floor, my lungs too frozen to screen.
Fallon’s house is burning.