Chapter 13 Ransom
RANSOM
The day after I visit Willow at her school, we get ready to head out for the job in Philly.
By the time we all convene down in the garage, Victor has packed and repacked the car about a half dozen times, making sure everything is right where he wants it and that we have everything we’ll need, and Malice has worked himself into a deeply foul mood.
Whenever we have to drop everything to go do a job for X, it pisses Malice off more than any of us. Vic and I don’t like the interruptions or being told to jump and fetch like we’re dogs, but it hits Malice somewhere more tender.
Probably because he’s the one X got out of prison, which makes him the reason we owe this guy in the first place. It’s why we’re on the hook to a person we’ve never even met.
That grates on Malice, and whenever the job is something big or something that takes more time than we’d like, it really gets to him.
Vic and I have never blamed him for any of it, of course. He’s the one who took the fall for our dad’s murder, when really, it was all of us who killed him.
And there’s no doubt the fucker deserved it.
The man was a piece of shit who tortured Victor just because he could and abused our mom. He beat the hell out of me and Malice whenever he felt like it too, and he treated all of us like trash. He deserved to die and probably should have suffered more if there was any justice in the world.
So we took that shit into our own hands.
We thought we did a good enough job covering our tracks, but we weren’t as skilled then as we are now, and when the cops pieced together enough evidence to come sniffing around, Malice was the one who took the blame for it all.
He protected us. He claimed responsibility and was sentenced to thirty years in prison, of which he served four, so the least we can do is have his back now.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” Malice says as Victor slams the trunk closed. “The quicker we get out of here, the quicker we can call this shit done and come home.”
“Amen to that,” I say with feeling, and we all pile into the car, ready to head out.
Malice glances at me in the rearview mirror as I settle in the back seat. “You checked on the girl yesterday?”
I nod. “Yup. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
What I don’t mention is that instead of just watching her to make sure she’s going about her regular routine the way I was supposed to, I stopped by her school and talked to her.
I know it was probably a bad idea, all things considered, but I meant exactly what I told her.
I wanted her to see me. I wanted those mesmerizing brown eyes of hers to focus on me. Wanted to hear her voice.
There’s something about her that intrigues me. Something I saw in her the first day we met, and something I’ve seen more of ever since then. She has this incredible strength mixed with vulnerability, and it’s alluring as fuck.
She’s delicate and fragile, like a doll that you’d think would be easy to break. But underneath that porcelain exterior, there’s something more like iron at her core.
There’s a hell of a lot more to her than meets the eye, that’s for sure.
And even though it’s probably a bad idea, I want to know every fucking thing about her.
The drive to Philadelphia feels long, but it probably goes by a lot faster than most people’s road trips.
Victor and Malice take turns behind the wheel. They’re both control freaks in their own ways, each of them wanting to drive as much as possible. So I let them, spending my time plotting out how we’re going to steal the file X wants and then burn down the warehouse when we’re done.
It should be a pretty simple job. Vic managed to find blueprints from the company that built the warehouse, so we’ve got a decent idea of where things will be located, ideal entry and exit points, and those kinds of things.
What we don’t know is what kind of security the warehouse has, and that will be the biggest sticking point.
If it’s heavily guarded, we’ll have to modify our plans.
Luckily, Vic loaded up the trunk with pretty much anything we could possibly need for this job, so even if we end up having to improvise a bit, we won’t be left scrambling.
I’m no idiot, and neither is Malice, but Vic is definitely the smartest of the three of us. Always has been. His mind works in a way that most people’s don’t, constantly gathering data and analyzing and calculating.
Our dad saw that too, and that was what fucked Vic over in the end.
Dad had some bullshit idea that he would become a major player in the criminal underground, so he tried to turn Victor into his perfect soldier.
He tortured my older brother and put him through hell to try to “toughen him up” and turn him into a warrior.
By the time Dad finally decided none of us were worth his time and left us behind to try to build up his empire alone, the damage was already done.
All that shit left a permanent mark on Vic, fucking him up in the head.
He has a hard time relating to people, and I think Malice and I are the only two people he’s ever felt truly comfortable with, besides our mom.
That’s why I was so fucking glad when Mal got out of prison, despite the fact that it left us indebted to a man who will probably hold it over us forever.
Vic wasn’t the same when Mal was gone. Those were a rough few years, and although we leaned on each other when we needed to, it felt like we were a three-legged stool that was missing a leg.
Vic needs Malice, in a way that not even I do. They’re twins, and that’s a heavy bond. It’s like something connects the two of them, some intangible force that binds them together.
By the time we get to our destination, we’re all a little tired of being crammed inside the car, and we’re ready to get this shit done so we can get back home.
But rushing through a job would be bad, so we’re as careful and thorough as we always are. I don’t think any of us want to find out what would happen if X decided he wasn’t happy with our work one of these days.
On top of that, these jobs aren’t even for our benefit. They’re for X, and the last thing any of us want is to get busted doing one of these errands for our unknown blackmailer turned boss. So we can’t afford to let ourselves get sloppy.
The warehouse is tucked away at the end of a row of similar buildings.
It’s in the heart of Philly, right on the river, and Malice pulls the car to a stop outside the chain-link fence that surrounds the row of warehouses, making sure to stay a good distance away.
It’s late in the evening by now, but there’s still some activity in the area, so we’re careful not to draw attention to ourselves as we stake the place out for a bit.
“Looks like things die down around here by around eleven,” Malice notes a couple hours later, raising his binoculars again.
“Agreed. But we should plan on hitting it even later than that. Better to go in when as many people as possible are cleared out of the area,” I say.
“Yeah.” Malice nods, then lowers his binoculars and glances at our brother. “Vic, what do you see?”
Victor purses his lips thoughtfully, staring out the window at the low, hulking buildings.
“Two things,” he says after a moment. “One, I think we’re better off starting a fire in the building next to the one we want to hit than our target itself.
And two, we’re gonna want to take out a few of those lights first.”
He jerks his chin toward several tall floodlights that illuminate the area around the warehouses. They’re meant to keep the area well-lit and probably safer, but he’s right—they won’t help us at all with what we’re trying to do.
“Okay.” Mal cranks the key in the ignition, pulling away from the spot beside the chain-link fence. “We’ll do more recon tomorrow, but that gives us a lot to start with.” He shoots Vic a look. “You think you can take out the lights without it looking like they were tampered with?”
“Yeah. Should be able to.”
We check into a hotel several miles away under an alias that Victor built for himself a couple years ago.
Then we set up a mini command station in the room, unpacking just the stuff we need for now and leaving the rest in the car.
It takes us two days to prep the job, which is actually pretty fast, all things considered.
But it feels slow, and I know it’s because all of us are itching to get back to Detroit.
On our third night in Philly, we pack up all our shit, then gear up and head to the warehouse.
Victor spent the day strategically blowing the fuses of some of the lights that surround the warehouse, making sure not to hit too many at once.
It’s three o’clock in the morning when we pull up alongside the chain-link fence, and I can see the evidence of Vic’s handiwork immediately.
Instead of being flooded with light like last time, there are now patches of darkness around the warehouses, giving us cover to sneak inside.
We pile out of the car, gathering wire-cutters, weapons, and accelerant from the trunk. I pull the balaclava over my head and glance at Vic. “You’ve got security handled?”
He nods, tugging his own balaclava down and glancing at the tablet he uses when he needs to hack and be mobile at the same time. “Yes. I’m going to try to limit the number of feeds I cut so that it won’t seem suspicious. So do everything you can to stay out of sight.”
“Got it.” I glance at Malice. “You sure you’re good getting those files on your own?”
“Yeah. Just let me know before you torch the place,” he tells me with a snort.
I grin, even though I know he can’t see it under my face covering. “You got it. Vic and I will give you a heads up. We’ll use enough accelerant that the place should go up quick, and since it’s attached to the warehouse we’re trying to hit, the fire should spread pretty fast.”
This whole job would be a hell of a lot easier if we didn’t have to work so hard to cover our tracks, but X made it very clear that he doesn’t want this to look like sabotage—or at least, not sabotage against our actual target.
That’s where Vic’s ingenious idea of burning down the warehouse next door comes in.
It allows us to torch the place we ultimately want to bring down, without making it obvious that that’s what we’re trying to do.
“Good to go?” Malice asks, his gray eyes shifting from me to Vic. We both nod, and so does he. “Good. Be safe. Be smart. Get it done.”
I grin again, because that could almost be the Boy Scouts motto or something, except for the fact that I don’t think the Boy Scouts give merit badges for arson.
We split up, climbing over the fence and darting through the shadows toward the warehouses. Malice stops near the one at the end, making his way toward the back door, while Vic and I continue on.
As soon as we reach the warehouse we’re planning to burn, he comes to a stop and starts tapping away on his tablet, his fingers flying across the screens. I watch him, poised to go as soon as he gives me the signal. After a few minutes, he looks up.
“Okay. We’re good. Security is disabled on this building and the next one. I’ve let Malice know.”
I nod, then pick up a rock and use it to smash out a window on the first floor of the building. Since we’re not exactly going for subtlety here, we can break shit on the way into this space—unlike Malice, who’ll have to pick the lock to get into our target warehouse and steal the files.
Vic and I climb through the window, careful to avoid the shards of glass still clinging to the edge of the frame, and then glance around to get our bearings.
“You know the drill,” I say in a hushed voice, handing him a carton of accelerant.
The two of us get to work immediately, moving quickly and silently through the space, spreading the accelerant in a way that should make the building light up fast when we want it to.
It probably says a lot about us that this is a skill we’ve developed to the point where it’s practically an art form, but fire is an effective way to cover your tracks, so we use it a lot.
Once we’ve used up all the accelerant, I glance at Vic. “Any word from Malice? Is he done?”
He glances down at his phone, then shakes his head. “Not yet.”
“Fuck.”
I grind my teeth in agitation, hoping like hell that he’ll get the files and alert us soon. With only three of us, there’s always one who ends up working solo when we have to divide forces, but it always makes me feel antsy. I like it better when we can all have each other’s backs.
“He’ll get them,” Vic says, confidence ringing in his voice. “Get your lighter ready. I’ll disable the sensors that are supposed to set the sprinklers off. Be ready on my signal.”
His fingers move across his tablet at lightning speed again, and I swivel my head back and forth, glancing around the shadowy interior of the building and making sure our path to the exit is clear.
After another few minutes, Vic looks up, his blue eyes glinting in the dim light. “We’re good. Light it up.”
A grin stretches across my face as I do just that, lighting the accelerant and watching flames spring up. He jerks his head toward the window we entered from, and the two of us make a run for it, careful to stick to the shadows as we slip out of the building.
We meet Malice on the way, and the three of us move out, heading back toward our car and making sure no one sees us on our way.
As we climb the fence and land quietly on the other side, flames start licking around the warehouse behind us, roaring through the building as thick dark smoke starts billowing out of shattering windows.
We all pile into the car, watching silently as the fire spreads to the warehouse at the end of the row, beginning to devour that one too.
“That’s it,” Malice says after several long moments, cranking the key in the ignition. “It’s done.”
Another job for X finished, which should keep him off our backs for a little while, at least.