“All clear,” Donovan said.
In my ear, and his, Jinksy was counting through all the things we had to do before setting off. Donovan rolled his eyesand his hand over in gesture, as if Jinksy could see—and I think he really could. It felt like a whole lot of work just to transport money.
“Is there like procedure depending on how much?” I asked.
Jinksy laughed in my ears. “There is, how did you know that?” he said. “But it looks like everything is prepared, and I’ve got my eye in the sky, reading and watching to make sure of a safe journey ahead.”
We were about thirty minutes into it. Donovan had rarely said a word other thannomusicandcheck the backthrough the window slot. He’d gone to the annoying stage now—when was he going to come back around to being unattainable but mine.
“Trouble up ahead,” Jinksy said, sparking both of our bodies straight. Donovan immediately reached his non-dominant hand to his gun—he was quick with it. I rested mine on the grip of my gun. “Three navy vans, they’ve created a roadblock just now.”
We were driving right toward it—in the distance, they were there.
10. DONOVAN
I knew this was going to get fucked. It wasn’t the kids fault—Artemis reverting in my eyes to the guy I’d never let set foot near the action. He was my eye in the sky at one point. And once again, he looked like him—but I knew he wasn’t the same now. The innocent had really gone, and I think I liked him more this new way.
“You stay in the car, I’ll go out and see what we can do. The windows are bulletproof, so you won’t get hurt in here,” I said in a low voice. Jinksy was in my ear telling me he should’ve been the car tailing behind us—and I felt just as foolish for not noticing it. “Four cars.”
“I heard,” he said. “I can see the one in the back, you think he’s their boss?”
“Good question, Artemis,” Jinksy said.
“We don’t have time for speculations right now, we need a way through this,” I said. “What’s Mercy comfortable with us loosing?”
“Nothing,” he chortled back in our ears. “We don’t negotiate in hostile situations.” He was offering up the same sentiment Sanctum was pretty much known for. It was ground people could hash out the differences without fighting.
“Who do we think it is?” I asked him.
Artemis clicked his tongue. “The file said something about a family tapping into their territory,” he said, annoying me with how spritely effective he was with every action. “It’s some other Italian name, I think. I don’t—”
“Come on, Art, you should know this.”
“You should know this,” he snapped, his face all red. “I’m—”
Donovan laughed. “Took you a while to burst, I’ll try harder next time,” he chuckled. “I think it’s the Morrell family.” He turned to me and nodded once. “We stay calm. We don’t deviate. We get to the rendezvous point, and we make them pay from there.”
“But—”
“Artemis. You listen to me. No improvisation. This isn’t a baseball bat to the back of the head.”
The one time before this when we were together—I didn’t know why he was mentioning it. We were different people back then. “Good job I don’t have a baseball bat then. I’ve got a gun and a knife.”
Donovan nodded. “You’ve also got two fists. If you need to—you should go in showing them you’re unarmed, then get them when they approach.”
“But what if they—”
“Do as I tell you,” I snapped.
He stared right ahead with a blank stare, as if composing himself, as if this was the professionalism Mercy wanted for Sanctum.
We rolled to a stop and I stepped out of the car.
Three in front, one pulling up in the near. Artemis seemed to already have eyes on the money in the back, and the wing mirror.
“Keys, wallet, hands where I can see them,” the central man steps forward with a Glock 19 in hand. I fought the urge to reach for mine—and risk them shooting. This might’ve even been a dispose and dump for them—killing us both.
“You’re gonna have to trust me when I tell you, this isn’t what you want to do,” I said, giving them a full body turn, catching my second glimpse at the door behind us. “It’s not advisable, at least.” Approaching them, I gave my knuckles a crack.
