Chapter Thirty
Two days later
“C an we talk?”
Fisher turned at the sound of Echo’s voice and found the man standing at the bottom of Dave’s staircase. He hadn’t even known that Echo was in the house.
“Sure,” Fisher said, coming down the stairs after freshening up. He’d stayed a couple of days at Dave’s because Boston had begged him to. Plus, he’d hoped that Justice would come back, but so far, the assassin had been MIA—and was not even answering his calls.
“Not here though, let’s go get some coffee,” Echo said.
“Okay, but you’re driving.” He smirked and Echo gave a reluctant smile.
Leaving Dave’s estate, Echo drove a few miles down the road and then pulled over.
A few minutes later, Rogue opened the back door and slowly got inside.
“The gangs all here,” Echo said lightly and pulled back onto the road.
“Hey,” Rogue said, touching his shoulder briefly.
“You’re moving slowly,” Fisher said.
“Yeah,” Rogue said but didn’t explain.
It was rare that they all three hung out so he was feeling a bit surreal.
Echo found a popular coffee house and instead of sitting at one of the vacant tables, they returned to the SUV.
Everyone settled back in their seats and Echo turned sideways in the driver’s seat and Fisher did the same. They were skinny enough to do that while Rogue, who was a lot bigger, took up the back seat.
“I have some questions,” Echo said, looking at him.
“Okay.” Fisher took a swallow of his sweet, creamy coffee.
“Why didn’t you talk to Dave about Solomon a long time ago?”
“Why didn’t you?” he countered.
“You already know why I didn’t.”
“Tell me again,” Fisher said.
“I was stupid.” Echo rubbed a hand down his face. “I came back so Solomon would let Rogue go. I thought…” Echo’s voice trailed off and the silence hung between them.
“Echo thought Solomon wasn’t caging kids any longer. He thought we were the only three until Cash came clean,” Rogue said into the silence.
“Like I said, I was stupid,” Echo said.
“And you?” Fisher turned his eyes on Rogue. “Why didn’t you end Solomon?”
Rogue briefly closed his eyes. “He was taking kids off the streets.”
“But what he was doing was worse than living on the streets.”
“I didn’t see it that way,” Rogue murmured.
“That’s because you were brainwashed,” Echo told Rogue. “You were six or seven when Solomon found you. That’s called Stockholm syndrome, bro.”
Rogue rubbed his fingers on his mouth and then dropped his hand. “I’m glad he’s dead.”
Echo sighed, gazing out the window as if lost in thought.
“Echo?” Fisher said.
“Yeah?” The man swung back around toward him.
“This isn’t your fault. Solomon was a master at manipulation.”
“I think…” a muscle ticked in Echo’s jaw and his voice sounded raw, “Solomon molested Azrael.”
Fisher processed that information for a moment and shot a glance at Rogue, who looked as if he didn’t have a clue.
“Have either of you ever heard of a man they call Tanis?”
Echo’s brow furrowed. “Not until Dave said he was involved.”
Fisher glanced at Rogue when the big assassin stayed quiet. The flicker of recognition in Rogue’s face had been very brief, but Fisher had seen it.
“You know him,” he said flatly.
“Know of him, but he’s dead,” Rogue said.
“That’s what I thought too.” Fisher thought he had overheard Solomon telling Rogue that Tanis was dead. He’d been twelve at the time, so he couldn’t be sure that he had remembered correctly.
Rogue gazed out the window, his jaw bunched.
“Is that what Solomon told you?” Maybe Rogue remembered his own conversation with Solomon. Fisher sipped his cooling coffee while he waited.
Rogue closed his eyes as if in pain. “No.”
The word was rasped and Fisher heard the ungodly suffering and that was when it dawned on him.
“You knew what Tanis was doing.”
“I didn’t!” Rogue’s voice sounded tight with strain.
“Fuck that noise,” Fisher snapped. “You kept your head in the sand to avoid the truth.”
“Shut up,” Rogue said thickly, but Fisher wasn’t done, not by a long shot.
“Tanis used you just like he used me and then sold us to Solomon.”
“No…it was different,” Rogue murmured.
“How so? Don’t tell me you loved that fucker?”
“I killed Tanis!”
“When? How?” Fisher asked quietly. He needed information and if Rogue could give him something to go on, he’d take it. So, for now, Fisher kept to himself that Tanis was indeed not dead. And the fact that the bastard was still running boys.
Rogue finally turned from gazing out the window, his eyes filled with so much despair.
Fisher swallowed hard.
Fuck.
Solomon and Tanis had done so much damage to them that Fisher wondered if they would ever recover.
“It was winter. I remember it was so cold in the warehouse.” Rogue’s voice was low, and the man’s eyes held a far-off glaze to them. “Solomon had brought you in a few weeks earlier. You were a few years older than I was, but I tried to get you warm. But you were terrified of me…of everything. It took me weeks to finally figure out why, but that was only after Solomon stripped you down.”
Fisher squeezed his hands into fists. He’d blocked out a lot of the humiliation he’d gone through back then, but Rogue’s words brought some of it up.
“I started paying attention when Solomon let me out of the cage. I overheard what they talked about.”
“What was it?” Echo whispered when Rogue seemed to be caught in his own hell.
“Tanis was raping boys and when he was done or they grew too old, he’d sell them to Solomon.” Rogue’s voice held a dead tone.
Echo gasped, staring at both of them as if trying to grapple with the sudden information.
“I followed Solomon on the next run and I shot Tanis with his own gun. Solomon got me out of there.”
Rogue’s words petered out, and Fisher suspected that there was a lot more to it.
“Finish it,” he growled. He didn’t remember about Tanis being dead until he’d escaped from Solomon. He needed answers that he suspected Rogue could give him.
Rogue’s eyes went from tormented to cold, flat, and hard. “Solomon told me that Tanis was dead. After that, there were no more boys sent over or picked up.” Rogue’s gaze burned into his. “I told you that Tanis was dead and you finally started crying.”
Rogue’s voice broke. Fisher didn’t remember, but when Rogue reached out a hand, Fisher gripped it tightly.
“Why did you ask me about Tanis?” Rogue asked.
“Tanis didn’t die, he just went to ground,” Fisher rasped. “He’s been doing the same fucking thing. I’ll bet you money he raped Azrael.”
“Why didn’t I ever meet Tanis?” Echo interjected, confused.
“Because the sick fuck was out of the picture, or so we thought, by the time Solomon found you,” Fisher said.
Echo gripped the paper coffee cup tightly, holding his eyes for a long moment. “Did you…were you…”
Fisher turned away from Echo’s searching gaze for a moment. But now was not the time to keep this to himself. He needed Echo and Rogue’s help to find Tanis.
“Yes. I lived with Tanis from the age of six until I turned twelve. He considered me too old. After that…I was sold to Solomon. Or gifted to him, I’m not sure how it all worked.”
“And was this Tanis guy an assassin?”
“No. Far from it. He was into…other things.” Fisher took a hasty gulp of coffee to wash down the bile threatening to come up at the memories.
“I’m so sorry,” Echo whispered.
“Yeah, me too.”
Rather than speak, Echo gripped his forearm in silent comfort.
“Are you sure Tanis is alive?” Rogue asked Fisher quietly.
“I’d bet my life on it.”
“Then we can’t let him live.”
They looked at one another and there in the confines of the SUV, they made a silent pact.
Tanis was going to die.
And the fucker was going to suffer before he took his last breath.