Chapter 16 #3
“Another fancy way of saying they sell murder weapons. Who do you know that needs a lot of arms in this city?”
“You think my cousins get their weapons from the Davises?”
“I know they do. But the Davises can’t just sell that kind of weight to a man like Arsen, so they hide it through layers of corporate shell structures.
I need a list, proof that Arsen’s buying from the Davises and selling further down the line into the black market.
I need something bad enough to tie them all together, to the point that Arsen will let me walk to make sure it never sees the light of day.
Or the inside of a DA’s office, either one. ”
I let the plan sink in. She starts pacing across the small locker room, arms folded across her chest, chewing on her middle finger nail. “That’s crazy,” she says at last. “He’ll kill you.”
“He’ll definitely consider it, but he won’t actually pull the trigger, for two reasons. First, Riley would be really pissed, and she’s his sister-in-law.”
“That won’t stop him.”
“More important, I’ll have a dead man’s switch. I’ll make sure that if I end up dead before my time, whatever I find gets blasted out to every single DA, police chief, and politician in the whole damn country. I’ll make sure he suffers very badly.”
“But come on, it’s Arsen. You can’t bully him.”
“Maybe not, but the fact that the Davises are involved will be a problem. Despite them coming off like a pair of fucking Martha Stewart acolytes, they’re serious international players.
Arsen can’t risk pissing them off, which is exactly what will happen if their scheme is made public.
He’d have both law enforcement and a couple of pissed off warlords breathing down his neck. ”
She tugs at her hair and I approach, moving warily, not sure how she’ll react.
I’ve thought about this plan a lot since Arsen made it clear that he was dragging me back into his orbit.
It’s the cleanest, simplest way to cut ties, a sword dangling over both our heads.
He’ll be forced to let me disappear, and I’ll sure as hell make sure I don’t tempt him into anything stupid.
New name, new country, new language, new fucking life.
I’ll be a new person, someone else, finally lose myself in the shroud of all my lies the way I’ve always wanted to.
The armor will become permanent. A shield against who I used to be.
All it’ll take is one final act of insanity.
“If you find it, you’ll bring me with you?” Her voice is very small. She’s scared and I don’t blame her. I’m talking about doing something very reckless.
“Not with me. But I’ll make sure whatever protection I negotiate will extend to you too, if that’s what you want.
” I catch her wrist and move her hand from her mouth.
In its place, I slide my thumb along her cheek and press it into her teeth.
She bites down. “You’ll have to disappear.
You won’t be able to stay in this country anymore.
Your sister, your brothers, everyone you know, they won’t be able to contact you ever again.
That’ll be part of it. He lets us fade away, and in exchange, we don’t make his life hell. That’s what I’m playing for.”
Her breath hitches. She tightens her bite on my skin. It hurts, but I like it. My other hand slides against the small of her back, holding her against me.
She releases her teeth and sucks before pulling back. “You think this will work?”
“I think it’s our best chance.”
“And you need those tunnels in the walls.”
“I need a way in.”
She nods like that makes sense. “What are the chances you get us both killed?”
“Medium.” I lean in and kiss her lower lip. “Medium high. Sixty percent?”
“Close to fifty-fifty chance we make it.”
“I guess you could see it that way.”
“Not bad odds.” She kisses me quickly. “You ever gamble with your life before?”
“All the time.” My hand moves down to cup her ass. “But never with yours. If you want to back out, I won’t blame you.”
She chews her lip then kisses mine. “I’ve always wanted to be someone else. I mean… I could go anywhere, right? I could become French.”
“You’d make some cheating, filthy Frenchman very happy.”
Her nose wrinkles with laughter. “Okay, maybe somewhere else. I’ll work on that.”
“In the meantime…” I kiss her harder, holding her tightly. I’m not sure why I do it, what I want, where I’m going with this, only that it’s complicated and fucked. “You’re all mine, aren’t you?”
“We should get back to the party.” She slips out of my grasp. Fuck, I wish she’d come back. I’m aching to push her against the wall and slide between her legs. “I’m sure Annie’s show is over. They’ll notice we’re missing if they haven’t already.”
She’s right, as much as I hate it.
Before we leave, I cast one final look back at the locker covering the hatch. That’s my way in. That’s the secret I’ve been searching for all this time. If I can get in there—if I can follow where it takes me—
There’s a narrow lane through a dark forest, but there’s light on the other side. It’ll take courage and luck to reach it.
But I won’t have to get there alone.