Chapter 34
Is he alive?
Declan
What I do next depends on whether Connor is alive. If I can’t confirm he’s alive, hell will reign for as long as I’m alive. And I’ll live for as long as possible just so hell can reign with me. It will be an extension of Massio’s reign. But worse.
My uncle can’t get here before nightfall.
Endo might land outside the city where the cargo is, then drive into the city.
Which means I could mobilize my relatives I met today.
If they arrive, Ivan’s people will go after them.
The police will be stuck in the middle of territorial wars, and since the chief isn’t a loyal person, he will flip and play into the hands of whoever is winning the war.
Which has to be me. Us. Con and I. Not Dina. Dina needs a normal life. I’m fucking broken over involving a good woman in my fucked-up life. But here we are. Or here I am.
Alone on the street, waiting for dogs to sniff out Connor’s cologne or whatever the heck dogs look for under the rubble.
When they dig him up, I need to see for myself that he’s alive because I can’t trust Glass to tell me. The only way to know for sure is to have every eyeball in the city looking at the excavation. I want to draw as much attention as possible.
A couple on a motorcycle pulls into an alley. I follow them. They get off, and she pulls the man toward me. As they pass, I bump into the guy and swipe his keys and phone.
“Sorry, Officer,” he says.
“Don’t mention it.”
Once the couple rounds the corner, I fire up the man’s bike. I ride a little way, then stop to use the phone. I have several phone calls to make.
A chipper-sounding man answers. “Selnoa’s Seven, how may I help you?”
“I have a tip you’re going to want to hear.”
“Currently, we’re taking tips about the ongoing situation at Selnoa General only.” It sounds like he’s chewing gum and blowing bubbles.
“Is the rescue team returning to the site?”
“Yeah, they are. Do you know why? Because they told us everyone is out. Is there someone under there?”
“There is.”
“How many people are we talking?” he asks.
“Just one Declan Crossbow.”
He pauses. No more chewing. I hope the man stopped breathing and died so I can get another person on the phone.
“I’m sorry, who?” he asks.
“You heard me.”
“Holy shit, this is huge. Huuuuge. Artina, Artina!” he yells. “Get back on site. I have a guy on the phone saying Declan Crossbow is buried under the rubble.” I hear a scratching noise, and then: “Give it back!”
“Sir?” A woman comes on the line.
“I’m still here.” I check my watch.
“Sir, you said Declan Crossbow is under the rubble, and they’re getting him out?”
“That’s correct.”
“I just got back from the news conference held by the chief of police who said only one woman was under there and they rescued her. The search stopped.”
“Mmhm.”
“You’re saying Declan Crossbow was left under there. How do you know this?”
“Because he’s my brother.”
There’s a long pause. I look at the screen before I prompt her. “Hello?”
“Hi, yes, I’m still here. Sorry. Am I speaking with Connor Crossbow?”
“Mmhm.” A jolt of excitement pings me, and I recognize the dopamine hit I got from pretending to be my brother for a change. I can see why Connor likes the twin swap. “Okay, I’ll tell you the details. Grab a pen.”
“I’ve got my pen, Connor.”
The way she says Connor, in a low, inviting bedroom voice, makes me think the real Connor would’ve purred at her.
But I’m not interested, so I don’t reciprocate the vibes.
“The chief of police is working with Ivan Holloway to take over the Crossbow empire. They caused the explosion that almost killed an innocent woman, Dina Ferrar, and my brother, Declan. The chief and Ivan want to draw me out so they can kill me. If you give me an eye in the sky when they pull my brother out, I’ll give you an exclusive.
” Connor loves interviews. He’ll say all the crazy shit going through his mind and scare everyone from ever looking at us wrong again.
“Connor,” she says, and I imagine she might come inside her panties from the promise of the interview. This could skyrocket her journalistic career. “Every chopper we have, and all our staff will be on the site. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Yes, there is. I need to send a message to the Tavalans who live outside Selnoa.”
“What do you want to tell them?”
“This is the moment you’ve been waiting for.”
“That’s it?”
I hang up. That took longer than I anticipated. I check my watch, then look around for a place with a TV. I spot a bakery and park in front of it. Inside, an older couple sit at a table with a gray tablecloth and a single blue daisy in a white vase.
The choppers fly over us: Artina sending her troops.
The bell above the door chimes as I walk inside. The smell of fresh-baked bread and cinnamon hits my belly, but instead of salivating, the smell brings up more bile.
The older man, tall and wearing a plain white T-shirt, rises and walks behind the counter. He puts on an apron. “You must be working the ruckus over there.”
“Just about to start my shift,” I say. “I’ll take a sandwich. Ham and cheese.”
“Mustard?”
My uncle Endo drowns his sandwiches in mustard. “Plain is fine.”
While the man makes me a sandwich, the woman flips through the channels on the wall-mounted TV. She lands on Channel Seven.
Artina rushed back onto the scene. She appears to be in her late twenties, with long brown hair and brown eyes. She wears a red suit and a blue scarf, and her lips are painted red. A pretty woman who captures attention on the screen.
Good. People will pause to listen.
“As you can see over here behind me, the rescue teams have been called back,” Artina begins. “We have it on reliable authority that it’s Declan Crossbow who is under the rubble.”
“Declan Crossbow! Did you hear that, James?” the woman in the bakery asks the man.
“Yes, Dolores, I heard. You were shouting.”
She huffs. “Those poor boys. We can’t leave them alone, can we?
It’s not enough that their mother tried to drown them in the river.
” She tsks. “I remember their weak cries when the babies arrived in the ICU. We heated blankets for them. And I’ll never forget how those two held hands and wouldn’t separate, so we bundled them together and put them inside the incubator to keep them warm. ”
I clear my throat. “You’re a nurse?”
“For over forty years. Retired now and have my bakery.”
“I didn’t know she tried to drown them.” I pay for my sandwich. There’s pounding in my ears. Rage might just overwhelm me. I’d hate to think what I could do if I lost control over my temper.
“Don’t go telling anybody that she did that.” The woman sips her coffee. “I’ll deny it if anyone asks.”
“I won’t. Don’t worry.” I sit in the back and keep my hat over my eyes even though I should take my hat off while I eat.
Donatella Macarley taught me manners. “Do you think Massio knew she tried to drown their boys?” I ask, and immediately mentally slap myself.
Why am I doing this to myself? It’s over.
My parents are dead. Good riddance. Forget about them.
“Oh yeah,” the nurse says, “An hour after the boys were rescued, Massio and Anabela rushed into the ICU, high as kites. We released the boys back to them.” She shakes her head. “Yes, we did.”
“Incompetent parents in a city of incompetent idiots. What could possibly go wrong?” I bite into the sandwich, if only to keep my mouth from speaking.
The lady turns in her chair and looks at me for the first time.
“Son, nobody dared say anything to Massio and Anabela. They were made for each other. Both beautiful people with violent, disturbing tendencies. I only feel bad for the boys. If I were them, I would never have returned to this city. And now look, one of them is dead.”
“He’s not dead.” I bite out, and the woman’s eyes widen.
I need to keep my cool. Sit at this nice table near the exit, eat the sandwich, smell the flower. I lean in and smell the flower. Cute. I’m grounded now. NOT.
“Do you want something to drink?” the man asks.
“I’m fine.”
The woman turns back to watch the news. They do so with commentary, but now that she’s not poking the wounds I can never heal, I sit back and eat the sandwich, which settles comfortably in my belly. Too comfortably. My control is slipping.
The dogs climb over the bricks and debris, and they’re fast about it.
They’ve already found someone. You can tell by how they’re barking, eager to get to the human.
Lots of people like cats, but I’m a dog person.
Those motherfuckers are loyal. You don’t see a cat jumping into a fire or taking a bullet for anybody.
“Looks like the dogs found someone over there,” Artina says as she’s running toward the wreckage to get a better look. A police officer, Martin, of all people, stops her from going past the yellow tape.
Artina turns toward the camera, and Martin steps out of view.
“You can see the crew behind me working to rescue someone,” Artina says. “Again, we have it on good authority that it is Declan Crossbow, one of the Crossbow twins, who is trapped under all the rubble. We have no idea if he’s alive, so stay with us.”
I finish my sandwich. I didn’t need to walk into the bakery of the nurse who knew Connor and me back when we were babies. My dad kept us around if only to make my mother look at us every day. I wonder how many times she’s tried to hurt us. How did Con and I survive?
Maybe angels did watch over us.
Nah. Con and I stuck together. That’s how we survived.
Well, I’m sticking with you now, brother.
The TV screen is split in two now, with one view showing the blockades forming in the city.
Stopped cars congest the streets, making people nervous and angry.
The news of Declan Crossbow possibly being dead under there is stirring up the same mayhem on the street that got stirred up when my dad was shot.
Maybe this will be worse, since people seem to be invested in us, the Crossbow twins.
I want to remain at the bakery longer, but the digging will take some time. And time is a most precious luxury we don’t control. We have to make the best of it, take advantage of whatever time we have. It’s a luxury.
Now, with all eyes glued to the TV and some in the crowd moving toward the site to get a glimpse of the Crossbow twin as they pull him out, the cops aren’t paying attention to what they should be.
Like, for example, the evidence locker at the station.