11. Dante #3
“We?” Her breath saws in and out as she struggles to keep up with me, and I curse myself for already revealing more. “And belong to what?”
“Remember the Council I mentioned before? The masks show who’s affiliated with them and who’s under their protection.”
“The Council.” Her hand curls in mine. “You said something about a Codebreaker. What is that?”
My grip tightens, and I practically haul her onto the sidewalk before backing her up against one of the many towering American Elms that line the street, right next to a bike stand. “A Codebreaker is someone who violates the Council’s rules, the penalty for which is almost always death.”
She smells like candy. I want to lean closer and breathe her in, but her next words stop me. “And you were almost a Codebreaker. For me. That’s what you said, wasn’t it? Because of our…relationship?”
With a growl, I recoil as if she just splashed scalding water in my face and cinch her leash to the tree trunk. The second Sara realizes I’m about to ditch her outside, I have to sidestep to avoid her swipe.
“Be a good girl.” Though I throw a careless grin when she grits her teeth in frustration, I don’t linger to tease her any further.
Instead, I leave her on the street bound to the tree as I stride into the jewelry store.
The owner is a fence named Robbie. As soon as he sees me, I motion with my hand for him to clear out.
Robbie grabs his daughter, and the two of them disappear. Blue Hoodie whips around as the shop abruptly empties, but my hand’s already at his throat. I lift him off his feet and slam him down on the bulletproof glass encasing Robbie’s display of jewels.
He drops what remains of his hot dog, his eyes bulging in shock. “What the fuck, man?”
Pulling my gun, I smack him once in the nose with the barrel. He cries out as blood streams into his mouth and tries to shove me away, but I hold him easily.
When I nudge my mask off my face with the gun, his skin pales.
If anything, Blue Hoodie struggles even more. “You do recognize me. Good. That means we can skip the theatrics and go right to the part where you tell me what I want to know.”
“I don’t know shit. I swear.” The side of his mouth is smeared with mustard, and my nose wrinkles with disgust.
“Wrong answer.” I hit him again, a little harder this time. Engaging in some mayhem always lifts my spirits. It’s been a week and a half since I’ve had the chance to blow off some steam, and unfortunately for Blue Hoodie, I’ve got a lot of pent-up emotions.
I pop him with the gun a third time and am rewarded by a loud crunch. Blue Hoodie spits blood and what might be a tooth onto the glass display, and I watch impassively as he attempts to regain his breath.
“You want to try again, or do we need to take a field trip to my place?”
My smile feels genuine. Have I always enjoyed hurting people? I can’t tell anymore. Sometimes it seems like I’m exactly who I’m meant to be, but true or not, the philosophical musings can wait.
With his brow pulled low, Blue Hoodie desperately scans the empty establishment for help.
When none’s forthcoming, he finally curses and sags in defeat.
“Fine.” He licks the sweat from his upper lip, and his cheap cologne mixes with blood and hot dog relish.
Not a fragrance combination that will sweep the nation anytime soon. “What do you want to know?”
“A few years ago, a man hired you to dig up information about me.” I let go of his neck only long enough to capture him by the chin. My fingers dig into his flesh, and for a moment, I imagine what it would be like to break his jaw. “I want to know who hired you and why.”
He shrugs, his eyes dancing away. “I don’t fuckin’ know. What even makes you think I remember that shit?”
“Good question.” Prying his mouth open, I place the nozzle between his teeth and stroke the trigger. “To be honest, I’m not sure. I’d like to think I’m a pretty memorable guy.”
The squirrelly bastard’s legs kick out as he struggles to find purchase, and he claws at my arm. He’s clearly too scared to put up a real fight in case the gun goes off but unable to ignore his own survival instinct. I almost feel bad for him. Almost.
He attempts to speak, but the words garble around the gun in his mouth. Curious, I remove the barrel and cock my head. “Sorry, didn’t quite catch that.”
“I wasn’t hired to look for you!” Blue Hoodie holds up his hands to ward me off.
“My client paid me to dig up information about this bitch who works at the hospital because she’s connected to someone in the Council.
He wanted to teach the guy a lesson and thought she could help him figure out where to find him. That’s all I got.”
With a sigh, I tuck my gun back out of sight. He relaxes until I withdraw my hunting knife and position the tip beneath his eye.
“Don’t squirm.” My warning is mild and disinterested. I’ve never cut out an eye before, but a first time exists for everything. “You move, and this gets real messy real fast.”
A loud cry from outside interrupts us and instantly raises my hackles.
“Let me go!”
Sara. I release Blue Hoodie, and he scrambles away. Luca should be waiting at the back, so I don’t bother trying to catch him again. Instead, I race out the front door, the interrogation forgotten.