Brakes squealed from the street, too loud. I jerked away, shoulder bumping into Sal. His hand snatched my shoulder in surprise. A van came to a stop right next to us. Its sliding door flew open. My brother and cousin hunched down inside.
The fingers on my shoulder tightened. Sal stampeded me toward the open door. It happened so fast, I froze instead of fighting back. My cousin snatched at me as my shins hit the bottom of the doorway but I burned that shock away.
Already stumbling toward him, I swung my neck forward. My forehead slammed into his nose. A crack sounded. Pain spiked through my head. My cousin stumbled back, hands covering his face, but he hadn’t been alone. Ewan tossed me to the floor inside the van.
“What the fuck, Sal!” my mom screamed.
He held his hands up, back to the open van doorway. Mom swung her purse at him. He shielded the first blow with his arm. The second time, his hand caught the strap.
“It’s just business,” he said.
Mom yanked her purse away from him. His eyes turned down the street, beyond the doorway. Eyes wide, he leaped inside. Bashir and his man reached the van just as the driver squealed away from the curb. My brother stepped over Sal and jerked the door shut.
Through the back window, I could see Bashir speaking animatedly with my mom. His man ran down the street to their SUV. Inside, my brother leaned against the door, huffing breaths. My cousin still held his nose, but stumbled to the back corner when the driver took off. Sal lay closer to the door.
I didn’t know how to play this yet, if there was a way out. In the moment, I chose instant gratification over strategy. My fist slammed into Sal’s face. A splash of blood burst from his cheek when I reared back. My ring finger throbbed, but I’d missed his eye and swung again only for my brother to yank my arm back.
14
Meet the Mother-in-Law
Ian
Meeting my new lieutenants had gone better than I had hoped. Not even Emma’s sour cousin had objected to the plans I’d outlined. He still looked like he’d eaten a plateful of sour plums but he held his tongue.
“Thanks to my Liverpool connections, we will have access to a much larger port going forward,” I said. “With the increase in truck drivers, we’ll also have some no-show job opportunities. Kickbacks alone should net us—”
The doors flew open. My Scouse muscle to either side of them almost pounced. Emma’s mum burst through, followed by Bashir.
“That son of a bitch kidnapped my daughter, his own sister!” Monica yelled, storming my way.
“Clear the room,” I commanded.
The men at the table scrambled to their feet and past Monica to the door. Emma’s cousin rushed around the table. With a single glance to my borrowed muscle and the retreating man, they sprang into action.
Both the brutes stepped in front of the cousin. The smaller man took a deep breath, held himself as high as he could, but the muscle didn’t budge. When the cousin stepped to the side, my men followed.
“What’s Ewan planning?” I demanded, closing in on them.
Monica’s eyes shot wide and she ran past me with a clatter of heels on the floor. She slammed her purse over the cousin’s shoulder. He held his arm up but cowered further with each hit.
“If you hurt my daughter, I’m going to skin you alive, cock first,” my vengeful mother-in-law screamed.
Bashir winced at her words. The muscle dropped a hand on the cousin’s shoulder. My steps slowed and Monica slammed her purse into his arm two more times before she stumbled back.
“If I have to ask my question again, I’ll sharpen my mother-in-law’s knives for her,” I said, measured and quiet. “Well?”
His proud stance couldn’t stand five pairs of eyes on him, ranging from criminally indifferent with my muscle to increasingly incensed between Bashir, myself, and Monica. The hand on his shoulder squeezed and pushed down.
“I don’t know!” our target yelled. “I was in the meeting, dammit!”
“I’ve got a guy following them,” Bashir said, holding his phone up. “Abdul will let us know where they’re going.”
“Sal’s phone!” Monica yelled and started digging through her purse. “My soon-to-be ex-husband was with them. I installed a tracker on his phone.”
“Emma’s stepfather helped kidnap her?” I asked, mostly for myself. “I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight.”
Everything had been going so well. It hadn’t seemed like a big risk to let her spend time with her mother. I mean, I had Bashir watching her. My eyes fell to my oldest friend.
