What if something else has changed and they’re not even here?What if they aren’t coming, and we’ve just rolled out for no reason?
What if they have Brooks and they’re taking her out of the city by train right now, while I’m fucking around at the docks?If someone tipped Dominick off that they had her again...
Oh my God, what if they took her right to him, and he has her right now?
That’s almost more terrifying than anything else.If a buyer has her, I’ll track her and get her back.I’ll pay whatever I have to pay to save her.But if Dominick has her and knows she was trying to take his operation down...
He did enough damage to her when he claimed to love her, and when she was nothing more than a child.
I can’t imagine what he’ll do to her if he knows what she’s been up to.
I pull out my phone and dial Simon’s number, desperate for news.
“Boudreaux,” he says by way of greeting.
“We’re at the docks and they’re quiet,” I say without preamble.“There’s supposed to be a load going out tonight.What the fuck is going on?”
He snorts.“There’s still a load going out tonight.Dock workers just know to stay out of their way when they’re loading the girls.What you’re seeing is the product of a lot of money changing hands, my friend.”
“They’re here?”I hiss.“Are you sure?”
“Dead positive.”
I hang up without answering, and look to my men.“Simon says they’re here somewhere.That’s the ship they’re going to be loading.Let’s make enough noise to draw them out.”
We go in screaming like banshees, our guns blazing and our knives swinging, like there’s actually someone in there to fight, and to my surprise, it works.
Men appear from out of nowhere, shooting and shouting, and behind them, I see a row of vans I didn’t see before, their windows dark and their doors opening.Girls are already running out of the vans, guards at their sides dragging them toward the ship.Those are the girls, I realize.They’re already loading, and we haven’t killed the guards yet.Fuck, we wouldn’t have even seen them if we didn’t decide to attack ahead of time, and now we’re a step behind and everything is going sideways.
Well, when it comes to catching up, there’s no time like the present.
I start picking off the guards, rushing toward them like a fucking madman, and I can see that they’re confused by our behavior.This isn’t what any self-respecting New Orleans gangster does.Down here, we’re more subtle.We rely on trickery over outright warfare.
But I’m not just a gangster.I’m a pirate, and it turns out I’ve learned something from my new friends in New York.
We go in screaming, and beneath my scream, hiding in plain sight, is fury that these men have dared to touch my girl and steal her again.I feel possessed, like a man who has actually made a deal with the devil.Except I didn’t get any guarantee that I’d get my girl back when I sold my soul.
At this point, I’m flying blind, and I hate that.
When I see Brooks in the line of girls, her flaming hair lighting up the night around her and her eyes big in her face, my anger reaches a whole new level.I shoot and kick and slice, going through men like they’re smoke, my eyes on the girl in the distance.She stops the whole line and stares at me, her mouth open like she’s shouting something, and I have enough time to wonder why the fuck she thinks this is the time for a conversation before she’s hidden by the raging battle around us.
I slice through the man in front of me and shoot one running for me, swerve and spin to avoid someone’s knife, and come up shooting again.I get rid of the spent magazine and reload my gun on the run, my eyes on the place where I last saw Brooks.
When the space clears, though, she’s gone.
And when I look for the line of girls, she’s no longer with them.
I scream, furious, and shoot man after man to get to the spot where she was.When all the guards in our area are dead, I turn to my men.
“Follow the girls!”I shout.“Save the guards for questioning!I’m going to find Brooks.”
I run through the containers, taking turn after turn and shouting for her.No matter how many alleys I take, though, I can’t find her, and I’m starting to think I need to slow down and actually come up with a plan when I see something on the ground.The sky above is dark but I’m standing under an old light meant to make it easier to find the container you’re looking for, and in the faded yellow light of the lamp I see...
Blood on the ground.
A trail of blood on the ground.
I gasp and run to it, bending down to dip my fingers into it.
