Jericho gave him a flat stare. “No, I want you to torture a gang member who happens to be a girl.”
“Not to sound like a misogynist, but isn’t she just…like, one of their girlfriends? What makes you think she’d know anything?” Nico asked.
“You wouldn’t know she was anyone’s girlfriend the way she was all over Arsen,” Felix quipped.
“Yeah, but now, we know she was probably just finding excuses to come check us out for them,” Cree said.
“Male or female, Cherry is the weakest link. She’s easily recognizable, and she’s been running with them since she was a teenager,” Jericho said. “She most likely knows where the bodies are buried, literally and metaphorically.”
“Couldn’t she be one of their victims?” Nico asked. “Like, maybe she was trafficked, too. Especially if she started running with them in high school. She definitely used to be a pro at one point.”
Nobody asked how Nico knew that. He had intimate knowledge of the sex workers in the area and not because he liked to frequent their establishments. Nico’s mom was an exotic dancer and an escort when he was a kid. He had a soft spot for the industry.
Seven sighed. “I don’t know, man. Torturing a girl—especially one who potentially used to be a victim themselves? That feels wrong.”
“Know what happens when those girls age out?” Felix asked. “They become recruiters. Conning people like my sister into falling into their trap so they can go on to be victims. I have no sympathy.”
“If you guys don’t want to do it, we will,” Asa said, sounding unbothered. “My brothers and I don’t give a shit what they got going on in their pants. We’re equal opportunity monsters. If she wants to play with the bad guys, she gets to suffer the consequences.”
Avi shrugged. “Yeah, if she helps snatch children from their homes and sells them to people like Jennika, then fuck her. She crossed the line. Every bad guy has their villain origin story. We don’t really give a fuck. If they meet the rules, we get to torture and kill them. That’s just how it is.”
Arsen wasn’t particularly excited about the prospect of torturing anyone, male or female. But if there were other victims—ones they could leave in danger by taking out an entire crew in one go—Arsen would do what he had to do. Ever was priority number one. If the only way he felt safe was them killing everyone from the pawns to the king, Arsen would clear the whole chessboard. He didn’t care who he had to hurt.
“But she knows we know it was her who set the fire. It’s hardly like we can give her a call and ask her if she wants to go for coffee,” Atticus reminded them.
“She knows you. She doesn’t know us,” Avi said. “They have to have a base of operation, no?”
“That dive bar on 5th with the pool tables. The one that’s open ‘til five a.m. I walk past it on my way home from the night shift. They’re always hanging out on the corner there,” Levi said, his irritation obvious. “I’m sure they’re slinging dope out of there, too. They have to maintain that cover even if they’ve moved onto more lucrative revenue streams.”
Asa looked at Avi and grinned. “Wanna go play some pool?”
“You think these people won’t know who you are?” Atticus asked.
Jericho gave Atticus a fond smile. “I didn’t know who you were until Arsen hunted you down for me. Your names are far more familiar than your faces. Especially in our neighborhood. Nobody expects a Mulvaney around there.”
Asa and Avi shrugged. “Great. So, we’ll acquire the target, get the info, and let you know what we find.”
“Uh-uh,” Arsen said. “No way you’re doing this without me.”
“Or me,” Felix said.
“Or us,” Lake said, swinging his finger between the others.
“Or me.”
Everyone turned to see Ever standing in the doorway of the bedroom, still looking sleep dazed. Sometimes, he looked like a lost little boy.
Arsen shook his head. No way were they compounding on Ever’s trauma. “No,besenok. You’re not coming with us for this.”
Ever stared at him. “I am. You guys are doing this for me. I’m going to be there.”
“You really want to watch us torture someone, gumdrop?” Felix asked.
Ever’s gaze flicked to Felix, his expression the coldest Arsen had ever seen it. “Yeah. I really, really do.”
Avi clapped his hands together, delighted. “Sounds like a full house. We’ll be in touch when we have her and a location that will accommodate the whole family.”
The venue they chose was far from the city—a large concrete monstrosity set in the middle of a large parking lot that formed an imposing silhouette in the darkness. They’d driven through a dozen desolate streets to get there.
