Chapter Six
Antonio
Once she’d slept peacefully for a good fifteen minutes, I carried Tessa to her bedroom and laid her across the mattress. She settled with only a sigh as I tucked the heavy blanket around her. Then I sat in the corner and watched her sleep like a fucking creeper.
She hadn’t moved since I tucked her in two hours before. I liked knowing I controlled her safety. As long as she stayed where I put her, I could make sure nothing could get to her.
I left her suite. No one in my employ would dare harm her, but to make sure Tessa felt safe, I locked her suite as I left. I wanted her to know her suite was her space and she controlled who entered.
Outside, the only light was the landing beacon at the edge of the helipad.
I liked the isolation of the mountain property.
No one could approach without being seen, and the only people with access to the helipad were mine.
The helicopter waited with the blades winding slowly, muffled by the trees and the high walls forming a wide circumference around the pad.
Kass’s crew stood at the ready, heads down, voices low.
I liked that about Kass and his people. They didn’t posture.
They just did the job they were paid to do and were loyal to me and my father because we were loyal to them.
Kass met me at the foot of the stairs. He handed me a black, legal-sized envelope. “Knight’s last brief,” he said. “He updates every hour or so, but this one’s fresh.”
“Anything new on the Pine alias?”
“Knight has two plausible candidates,” Kass said. “One was an insurance adjuster but he’s dead. The other, more likely, is a mercenary. Ran an operation in Africa for years before coming stateside. Uses the Pine alias on contract kills and skip traces.”
“The white van?”
Kass’s expression went blank, which meant he was withholding judgment. “We have it on camera at the Food Barn on Greer. Once at one a.m., another at three. Both times, the driver stays inside. The courier drops the package on the back seat, then leaves.”
“Knight’s running plates?”
“He’s already traced it to another shell, but the van’s a rental from a franchise upstate. Returned this morning. Already picked up for a different job, but we’re tracking it.”
I walked to the helicopter, feeling the ground vibrate under my feet as the rotors picked up speed. “And Rourke?”
Kass didn’t smile, but I saw the edge of it. “He’s in the city. My men picked him up on his morning run, no fuss.”
“He talkative?”
“He hasn’t shut up since we put him in the car.” Kass shrugged. “He wants to deal. Says he’ll give up Denton and Iron and half the city’s dirty secrets if we guarantee his safety.”
I got into the back of the helicopter and settled into my seat.
Kass followed, taking the one across from me.
I opened the envelope, scanning the summary.
The alias of Pine matched with a series of burner phones, all routed through a data center in Montreal.
The same network carried anonymous threats to judges, lawyers, and cops.
I flipped to the next sheet. The courier was still in play, but his last drop matched the payout window on Quinn’s job.
No face, but a habit of wearing blue nitrile gloves and never speaking above a whisper.
The drop point was always the same. The Food Barn west service entrance, never more than five minutes.
More than once the van left with no cargo, so five minutes appeared to be a hard limit.
The last note was about Rourke. Knight had done his usual deep dive. The man drank at three regular bars, had five ex-wives, and a gambling debt that would make a hedge fund manager sweat. Knight flagged Rourke’s biggest weakness as “fears Denton most.”
The helicopter banked south, and I watched the city come up through the break in the trees. The sun was just rising, but the city never really slept. I liked seeing it from above. It made the city feel manageable.
We landed on the roof of an empty office building on the edge of the West End. Kass and two men walked me through a steel door and down to the secure suite where Rourke waited.
He was handcuffed to the chair but otherwise looked unmarked. His wrists were red, his clothes rumpled, and he stank of sweat and whatever cheap cologne he’d drowned himself in that morning. He looked up when I entered, eyes bright with calculation.
“You’re not Iron,” Rourke said. “I asked for Iron.”
“You get me,” I said, keeping my expression a practiced combination of angry and annoyed. “Talk, or you never see the sun again.”
He flashed a practiced smile. “I’m an open book. Ask me anything.”
Kass took a position behind him, arms crossed. I stayed standing. I wanted Rourke to look up, to sweat.
“You know why you’re here?” I asked.
He nodded. “Your father wants Denton. He wants Iron, too, but he wants Denton more. I can help with that.”
“Denton would feed you to the wolves if it bought him five minutes of freedom,” I said. “The only thing keeping you alive is what you give me.”
Rourke nodded, lips pressed together. He tried to hide the tremor in his hands but failed. “You want his records. Where he keeps them. Who he pays off. I can tell you that. But I want a deal.”
I laughed, and I let him see I meant it. “Your last deal was with Denton. Now you’re here. Doesn’t say much for your negotiating skills.”
He swallowed. “I can get you in the building. He trusts me. I handled all the party logistics. Every room, every security sweep, every detail for the rich boys’ club.” He tried to give me a cocky grin, but I saw the sweat trickle down his temple.
“Enclave éclipse?”
His eyes widened, obviously surprised I knew that part of the secret. “Yeah. That place is his fortress. You’ll need me to get in.”
“Start with the last event,” I said. “Everything. And don’t waste my time with drama or you’ll die hard.”
Rourke swallowed, sweating harder, apparently realizing I might know more than he originally thought and that I couldn’t be bluffed.
“Last time, Denton brought in a crew from out of state. We set up three rooms for a buyer out of Miami, but there was only one actual target. A girl from a place called Haven. I don’t usually get the details, but the buyer was particular.
Didn’t want damaged goods. That’s Denton’s phrase, not mine.
“He brought in Pine as the closer. He uses a handler, never meeting face-to-face. Pays in cash, always through the same courier.”
“And?” I asked.
Rourke licked his lips. “The next run is scheduled for two days from now. Same location. But this time, the buyer’s coming in person.
Not a handler. The real deal. Denton wants to impress, so he’s upped the security.
I saw the list. They’re bringing in weapons, chemical restraints, and two snatch vans.
One of them is ex-military. Guy’s a freak.
They call him Rainman, but I think he’s your Pine alias.
I’ve never seen him, only heard the voice once, and it was --” He shuddered.
“Cold. Like a fucking robot.” He gave a weak laugh. “No offense.”
When I didn’t speak, Rourke cleared his throat. “Denton’s got everything locked up at his downtown condo. The safe is in his guest bedroom, the combination is his daughter’s birthday.”
“What do you want?” I asked.
He hesitated. “Witness protection, or whatever. A new ID. Some cash to get out of the state. Denton’s guys will kill me if they think I talked.”
I nodded at Kass.
“Is he worth it?” Kass said, eyes never leaving Rourke.
“We’ll see,” I said. “You get us into the safe. You help us take down Pine, Denton, and Iron. If you do that, you get your wish.” Rourke slumped in relief, like a kid told the punishment would be less than expected. “Where is Denton now?”
Rourke looked at the floor. “He sleeps in his condo, but during the day he’s always at éclipse. He doesn’t trust anyone else to run the place. If you go there during business hours, he’ll be in the manager’s office, watching cameras.”
I tapped the armrest. “You’ll take us to the condo. You’ll walk us in, get us to the safe, and open it. You do this right, and maybe you walk out with your life.” I walked to the door. “We go in an hour. Don’t make me regret this.”
Rourke sagged in his chair, sweat dripping down his face. Kass gave me a quick, tight nod as we left the room.
Outside, I took a breath and let the morning air cut through the stink of the interrogation room.
I could see the city below, streets already in motion.
For the first time in weeks, I saw the outline of an answer to at least one of my problems. I’d been running the same circuit for years, keeping the city under control, keeping the damage off my father’s doorstep.
Now it felt different. Every move I made was for Tessa.
I didn’t care if I had to burn the whole city down to keep her safe and avenge her trauma.
The part that scared me most was how right protecting Tessa felt.
We drove the thirty miles to Denton’s condo.
We parked three blocks from the building.
Rourke sat in the back seat between Kass and a man named Finch.
Rourke’s hands shook so badly he couldn’t light his cigarette.
I watched the flame gutter and die twice before Kass took the lighter and flicked it for him.
“For fuck’s sake,” Kass muttered.
Rourke sucked down half the cigarette in two pulls, then coughed several times.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing sweat and ash down his chin.
“He’s got security on the front and the rear.
The lobby’s got cameras all over, but the stairwell is just out of line-of-sight.
If we go in the back, we can get in unnoticed. ”
Kass checked his watch. “Timing?”
Rourke thought a moment. “If we go in now, nobody’ll be at the desk. The security guy always does his rounds at the top of the hour and takes a smoke break.”