Chapter 35 Cord
TUESDAY MORNING DANTE calls me in for another job. His men were able to bust up a nest of Python operatives from the intel they got from Cosgrove, and they’ve been chasing strays ever since. Dante is pissed at how many of his own men are among them.
“I’ve still got men going missing,” he informs me when I get to the warehouse. He’s out on the floor going over supply demands with some of the dock guys. This whole Python thing has put a dent in business, which has him in a sour mood.
I try to keep the annoyance out of my voice when I ask, “What do you want me to do?”
“I told Zeke to pick a team to go down to that area where you guys were attacked and see if they can scare those assholes out again. I want you to go with them.”
“And what makes you think we’re going to have any better luck if we find them?”
“Crossbows.”
I quirk a brow. “Crossbows?”
“I ordered three dozen of them. It won’t equip everyone, but at least every group in the streets will have access to one. I had two men filling bolts yesterday, so we’re stocked. If you come across those ninja bastards again you can burn their asses alive.”
If we can get off a shot. As I recall, they ambushed us without warning last time.
“You think one team is enough?”
“Don’t you?”
As long as he’s asking…
“What if we go in as the first wave, and have another team watching our back? Maybe put them on top of the buildings.”
“Don’t tell me you’re scared of these guys,” Dante taunts.
His tone makes me bristle; he wasn’t there last time. “Not scared. Just a healthy respect.”
Dante motions Zeke over. “Cord wants to take backup.”
Zeke thumbs his lip. “Wouldn’t hurt. In fact, that’s probably a good idea, considering we got our asses handed to us last time.”
“Even with the crossbows?”
“They jumped us from behind, and we didn’t see where they came from. Kind of hard to get off a shot in those circumstances. Someone on the roof watching our backs would make me feel a whole lot better.”
“Fine,” Dante snaps. “Put together another team.”
After he storms off with Gio, I turn to Zeke. “Other than losing money, what crawled up his ass this morning?”
“He’s bleeding men, and not from injury. They’re deserting for the Python’s crew.”
“How many?”
“At last count, eleven. Some of them were kind of high ranking, too.”
“Ouch. That’s got to sting.”
“You know how Dante feels about betrayal.”
Yeah, he made that abundantly clear with Cosgrove.
“With everything they know, it’s only a matter of time before they attack us here, and right now we’re spread pretty thin. The Python has been poaching our donors, too. Two dens have already been hit.”
Sounds like things are getting dire. As much as Dante may resent it, it might be time to call for reinforcements. Yeah, they would come in and take over for a while, but it’s better than sacrificing the entire organization.
I lean over to Zeke, lowering my voice. “Have you heard anything about the Black Guild taking notice?”
Zeke looks around to make sure no one is listening. “Not specifically, but you know it’s only a matter of time, especially if we keep losing men.”
“I’m not an advocate, but I also don’t want to see the Crimson Guild fail here.”
“Let’s not talk about that here. We’ve got to put together another team before Dante comes back and chews our asses out.”
? ? ?
We wait until evening before leaving for what I consider to be a waste of time.
The streets are unusually quiet as we make our way through the neighborhood where we were ambushed.
Every now and then I glance up at the rooftops for our backup.
They’ve been following us from building to building, putting to use their parkour skills.
All of them are armed with crossbows, as are the other two guys on the ground with us, TJ and Eddie.
Zeke is wielding a thick length of lead pipe and I’ve got my axe.
We must look like a pack of medieval cosplayers to anyone passing us on the street.
We’ve decided to head over to the bar we were watching when we got drawn into the ambush. I don’t know if it’s one of their hangouts, but we’ve got nothing better to go on. We’re supposed to be bait for a trap, but it sure feels like they’re the ones with the advantage?
As we round the block across the street from the bar, the voice of one of the guys on the roof comes over our comms.
“We got movement heading your way.”
“How many?” Zeke asks.
“Hang on.” We wait half a minute. “Looks like three.”
“Sure they’re not randoms hitting the bar?”
“They’re vamps. And they’re packing blades.”
Fuck me. Looks like we’ll get some action after all.
“If you get a clean shot, take it,” Zeke tells him.
“Roger that.”
Zeke and I duck into a doorway while TJ and Eddie slip around the corner of the alley entrance.
We hear them before we see them, broadcasting their presence like they own the street.
“I saw them go this way,” one of them says as they approach the corner.
Zeke is poised with his pipe on his shoulder like he’s coming up to bat. When the three vamps draw even with us, he steps out and takes a full extension swing at the first one, spinning his head around and dropping him to his knees.
The others pull their blades and go into a fighting stance. They don’t look like the ninjas we encountered before, but they appear more trained than your average street thugs.
One of them comes at me with a machete he whips out of a sling on his back.
I duck under the blade then kick out to back him up.
When he’s off balance, I raise the axe and bring it down on the top of his head.
The satisfying crunch of crushing bone brings a smile to my face. Not dead yet, but knocking on the door.
The third one goes after Zeke, who’s still busy finishing off the first one. TJ and Eddie step into the street and take aim as Zeke yells at them.
“Any time now.”
“I can’t get a clear shot. I don’t want to shoot you.”
“And I don’t want to die,” Zeke snaps back.
I drop my axe and pull out my knife, slipping up behind the third vamp while he’s focused on Zeke.
“Nighty night, asshole.” I reach the blade around his neck and slice his throat from ear to ear. It’ll only weaken him, but that’s all Zeke needs.
“Thanks,” he says as he chokes up on the pipe and finishes the job the knife started. The vamp’s head rips clear of his shoulders and lands in the street, barely missing a parked car before it rolls into the gutter.
Zeke glances around at the other two then back up the street toward our guys. “Don’t just stand there, shoot ‘em.”
“Thought they were dead,” TJ says.
“Let’s make sure.”
A bolt to the neck of each of them takes care of that problem. “Anyone else?” Zeke asks the guy on the roof.
“Negative. Streets are clear.”
I look around. There’s no foot traffic right now but there are still cars passing by. “We can’t leave these guys here.”
Zeke pulls out the keys and tosses them to Eddie. “You two go get the van. Watch your back.”
While we wait for them to come back we drag the bodies into the alley and recover the head from the gutter.
“Let’s check their pockets,” I say, digging into the first vamp’s jacket. I find a wallet and a cell phone in his pants. I check for ID and find a Pennsylvania driver’s license.
“Sean Riddick from Pittsburgh.” Has to be fake since the birthday puts him at twenty-three years old. Unless he was just transitioned, he has to be older than that.
Zeke checks the decapitated body and finds another cell phone and ID, this one from New Jersey. The third guy is only carrying a burner phone, no wallet or ID.
“At least they’re not Dante’s,” he says as he pockets the cache.
“He’s pulling them from outside the city.”
I think back to what I know about Thalium. Rich businessman, multiple companies. Probably travels quite a bit, which would give him access to a variety of Clansmen. How is he finding the ones with the skills he requires, and what is he using to recruit them?
“How deep does this go?” Zeke murmurs, echoing my own thoughts.
“And how long has he been at it?”
Eddie pulls the van up to the alley and jumps out to help us load the bodies. “What do you want to do with them?” he asks when we’re done.
“Take them to the burn site and dispose of them then come back and park in this alley,” Zeke tells him.
“What are you guys going to do?”
Zeke glances at me then up at the roof. “I think we need a bird’s eye view of this area.”
I nod and look around for an access point. The building next to us has a fire escape that leads straight to the roof. “There,” I say, pointing up.
“Go,” Zeke tells Eddie, then he and I cross the alley and climb the ladder.
We’re on the roof of the building across from where our other guys are, giving us a commanding view of the streets surrounding the bar.
And now we wait.
I pass the time taking inventory of everything I know about this guy.
He’s got the pull to find and recruit Clansmen from cities throughout the area. Who knows, maybe the whole country.
He’s got the money to arm them and buy up any number of buildings to use as hangouts.
He’s obviously playing the long game. Putting together an operation like this took time and planning, and I suspect we haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg yet.
The two guys we caught kidnapping people from Luca’s neighborhood were an anomaly, and I’m starting to wonder if they were just Thalium fishing to see what we’d do.
We’ve encountered no more Outliers. The men we have captured or killed, with the exception of Cosgrave, have been trained to withstand torture.
I’m starting to wonder if they weren’t more tests for us. With everything I’ve seen of Thalium so far, I find it hard to believe he would employ men careless enough to get caught.
So how is he doing it? Is he training them himself, or is he recruiting experienced warriors?
I look over at Zeke, who’s kicked back watching the street. “You ever get the feeling we’re in over our heads?”