Chapter Twenty #2
I laugh, low and dangerous. “Oh, and to add to that… about four hours ago the fucker blew up one of my properties! Yet you think you can make a deal!”
Mitch swallows against my arm and taps it desperately, hoping for air. I growl, making him flinch, then drop him to the floor. He crumples, coughing.
I spin on James, furious. James speaks quickly, like he’s trying to please me. “We’re giving you Finn… you can have him… please, we just want to stay, to rebuild.”
I lean down to his height and narrow my eyes. “You’re being disloyal to your own blood?”
James can’t meet my gaze. He keeps his eyes down as he speaks.
“Finn has always been… troubled. He’s caused nothing but problems. Nothing has ever been good enough for him.
I swear to God we didn’t know about the shipment…
we don’t even know where he went! When we got back, me and Mitch went to Vladski’s and Finn just… disappeared.”
I snarl, “Oh he did so much more than that.”
James continues, desperate now. “He rang me a couple of hours ago. We’ve been… gathering all of this information.”
I lean in closer. “How the fuck do I know you’re not distracting me? That he ain’t out there right now planning something else?”
Mitch coughs and walks over cautiously, palms up.
“Because we ain’t like him. You know we’ve always kept out of your business.
Anyone in their right mind would. We just don’t want to be buried because we’re blood related to Finn.
He made his own choice and we ain’t a part of it.
We only found out when he called about the warehouse… about your guy.”
I laugh loud and sharp at the words “your guy.”
Armen mutters behind me, “You dumb fuckers.”
Ray sighs and asks, “Where do you think he’d go?”
James answers quickly. “Honestly, I’m sorry but I don’t know. Me and Mitch didn’t even know about half of the shit he’s put his cut into. Random small properties, some vehicles, a fucking boat for some reason…”
Before James can continue, loud footsteps come running into the foyer. Sam and Luke are panting, Sam waving his tablet.
“It’s not live,” Sam says breathlessly, “but… he just sent a video.”
I snap, “Show me.”
The screen flickers to life.
Luke clears his throat. “We didn’t watch it without you, boss.”
We all gather around the tablet he’s holding. Mitch and James stand opposite me, sharing uneasy glances, unable to see the screen.
Finn appears first, grinning like we’re old friends at a barbecue. “Hi there!” he says cheerfully, waving at the camera. “Miss me?”
He steps aside with a theatrical flourish, revealing Kit tied to a chair in the middle of a dingy metal room. Rope is wrapped tightly around his waist, pinning him in place. His hands are bound behind the chair back.
Armen gasps. “Fuck…”
Kit looks worse than he did on that first call four days ago.
He’s deathly pale, skin slick with sweat, dark bags heavy under his eyes.
A cut runs across his throat, crusted with dried blood.
One eye is swollen shut, bruised black and purple.
He looks malnourished. The sight rips something open in my chest; my heart feels like it’s being torn in half.
Finn claps his hands together. “Christopher has something he’d like to say, right?”
Kit swallows hard, lifting his heavy eyelids with obvious effort. His voice comes out weak and croaky, barely more than a whisper. “It was me… who chose to blow up your warehouse.”
Finn laughs and claps again, delighted. “Carry on, remember what I told you… come on…”
Kit’s eyes fill with tears. “I hope… it hurt you,” he says, voice cracking. “I hope something precious was in there… I hope it eats you alive.”
I inhale sharply. I know Finn forced him to say it, but the tears on Kit’s cheeks and that faint, angry twitch at his lips tell me the guilt is real. Finn made him choose. Kit doesn’t even know what he chose… he has no idea about any of my businesses or dealings.
Kit leans forward a little, voice trembling. “I know that was your most valuable warehouse.”
The way he says “most valuable” makes me frown.
Ray mutters beside me, “Most valuable?”
Armen frowns too, equally as confused. “That warehouse is just an overnight hold for shipments. Everything is cleared out at dawn and distributed.”
I grunt, eyes locked on the screen.
Kit continues, “I could tell. Finn showed me a picture.”
Finn beams. “That’s right… this good boy of yours, Mr. Sinclair, could see from the picture that you had a guard there, and he could see through the window. This kid you kept locked away is more useful than you think…”
I narrow my eyes. “What?”
Armen lets out a low laugh. “Clever bastard…”
I pause the video and look at him.
Armen gestures at the frozen image of Kit.
“Kit knew… If Finn showed him a picture clear enough that Kit could see through the window, it must have been daytime. Kit would have seen that the warehouse was empty. And yeah, we always have a guard patrolling the docks, so wherever Finn got that picture from, it must have snapped him.”
A flicker of pride surges through me, unexpected and sharp. Even through all of this, Kit is still being loyal. He doesn’t owe me anything, but he ensured nothing important would be lost.