“I said not directly. Since the Huntsman didn’t get the job done, she put out another hit on me. Tonight was the work of another assassin by the name of Poison. And I think the same person tried to take us out at the warehouse.”
“How do you know all this?” Nef’s dark brows arrow down over her equally dark eyes. She must really be worried about Penn in order to show that emotion on her face.
“The Huntsman.”
Quiet swells and thickens in the room as they all stare at me in varying degrees of disbelief.
Kenya tilts her head, confusion balling her face up. “Uh, one more time?”
I sigh. “The Huntsman. He pulled me out after the bomb went off and…”
“And?” Kenya and Maura damn near yell together.
“And he took me to a safe house and got me together. And fed me pizza.”
And gave me the best fucking orgasm I had in my life, but this ain’t the time or place to go into that.
“The fuck?” Sienna looks me up and down. “You sure we ain’t talking to your ghost right now? That’s two times you’ve come into contact with the fucking bogeyman and lived to tell the tale. That makes you either the luckiest mu’fucka walking or the aforementioned apparition.”
“Three times, but that’s neither here nor there.”
I wave off their assorted versions of “the hell” and “bitch, what’d you just say?” and “you’s a lie.”
“Anyway, the point is this assassin, who’s apparently some badass bitch who’s even deadlier than the Huntsman, is on myass, and, by association, yours, too. This”—I brush my hand down Penn’s arm, careful of the IV needle, and gently cradle her hand—“is what she’s capable of. What we now have to look out for on top of whatever else bullshit Abena has planned or intends to send our way.”
“And after Sienna sent that Donato shipment deep diving, the bullshit’s about to come hard and fast. Abena’s a cunt, not an idiot. She’s going to know who’s behind that even if she doesn’t have proof,” Doc says.
“And that’s all that matters. She can’t accuse me if she doesn’t have proof.” I jerk my chin at Sienna. “She doesn’t, right?”
Sienna mugs me, offended. “Seriously? As far as they know, while in the middle of transporting that container, the barge mysteriously caught fire. Probably an engine problem. Anyway, the whole thing ended up sinking, taking everything with it. Damn shame. But, hey, that’s what insurance is for.”
A cold, fierce satisfaction burns through me. Abena’s going to have a hell of a time explaining why millions of dollars’ worth of guns belonging to the mob now reside at the bottom of the Charles River.
“Poison, Venom, whatever the fuck his name is—” Tera growls.
“Her,” I correct.
“Huh?”
“Poison is a she.”
Surprise flickers across her face, but then it’s almost instantly replaced by a hard fury.
“Well, good for her equal-opportunity ass. Either way, she might’ve set the bomb, but it’s Abena who’s pulling the strings, still getting others to do her fucking wet work. Penn is in this fucking bed because ofher. We already got our plans set in motion. Bisa, Taraji, Moorehead, and Richter said they can meet as soon as Wednesday of next week. That’s a week from now. With their influence, manpower, and weapons, that’s damn near the numbers Abena has backing her.”
I nod, anticipation a fire in my veins.
“Are they all willing to meet in one location?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Set it up for Wednesday at nineP.M.in Buffalo. If all of us roll out to the meet, it’ll look suspect as hell. So, Tera, Nef, and Doc, you’ll go with me. Kenya, Maura, and Sienna, you’ll stay here and watch over Penn and keep our presence seen here in Boston to cover our absence.”
They murmur their agreement, the same feral eagerness that courses through me filling their faces.
“In the meantime, we keep the pressure on Abena. Hell is going to be coming her way from the Donatos. And a buy is scheduled for Thursday night from the plug. Coke and pills. Unlike that bullshit meet at the docks, I know this one is legit.” That’s another thing that will change. How the fuck are the Mwuaji the biggest family in our region and yet we’re depending on someone else for our product?Weshould be the fucking plug, and buyers should be coming tous. “Sienna, Nef, and Maura? Take a team of soldiers that are loyal to us and make sure that buy doesn’t go down. But don’t kill Abena’s people. Just the suppliers. And if the Mwuajis there don’t take the drugs, you go in after they leave and take it. Either way, shit gon’ be tight for Abena.”
I smile at the thought.
