14
Some of the panic Alistair had been holding at bay slipped away once they were out of the speakeasy and back on the street.
Damn Gallo for an idiot and a coward. He’d involved Sam in his mess, and Alistair had been afraid Sullivan would turn his displeasure on him as well.
He still might, but at least it didn’t seem like it would be lethal. If it was, neither of them would have left the basement alive.
Alistair let go of Sam but remained one step behind. Turner limped to a car parked outside under the watchful eye of another of Sullivan’s thugs and slid behind the steering wheel. “In the back,” Sullivan ordered, and got into the passenger seat.
No one objected when Alistair climbed in after Sam. Turner started the car and began to drive slowly up the street.
“You didn’t have any clue?” Sullivan asked without preamble. “None at all?”
“No.” Sam swallowed, but his nerves seemed to be holding up. Or he was putting on a good show. “That is, I knew he wasn’t happy about being passed over for promotion, but I never thought…”
“Fabiano also knew he was unhappy. That means someone was talking out of turn.” Sullivan swiveled half-around in his seat to look at Sam, his eyes cold. “I blame myself—I assumed all of the problems in the hexworks had been taken care of when Vic died. Since we can’t go back and fix it then, it’s going to be fixed now. Lenny will help you.”
Because he didn’t think—probably correctly—that Sam was up to the job? Or because Turner was going to be looking into Sam, too?
“Unless,” Sullivan went on, and now his gaze was on Alistair as well, “the leak is coming from somewhere else.”
He bristled. “Like hell. I don’t talk about anyone’s business, not even mine. And before you start accusing anyone else, Wanda wouldn’t put up with it. You know that—you’ve met her.”
Sullivan didn’t know it, but Alistair had him figured as a man who put a high value on his own ability to judge people. Despite the fact he’d worked elbow-to-elbow with Bobby Watts, who’d been selling him out the whole time.
Sullivan seemed to relax fractionally. He turned back to the front of the car. “Speaking of your sister, remind her our deal is now in effect.”
Damn Fabiano, and Gallo, and Sullivan, and everyone. What a fucking mess.
“And Mr. Cunningham,” Sullivan said, and he wasn’t happy with Sam, not at all, “I want five-hundred copies of the counter to the look-away hex completed and distributed by the end of the week.”
“Yes, sir,” Sam replied. His voice was steady, but Alistair could feel him trembling.
The car pulled to a stop in front of The Pride. Sullivan waved them out, and they stood on the sidewalk and watched it drive away into the night.
The next day was one of utter misery for Sam.
Luke was dead and there was no use pretending otherwise. Bellinowski didn’t just have him beaten and run out of town. Given the proximity of the speakeasy to the river, it seemed likely Luke’s body was on the bottom, fish even now swimming through the strands of his hair, nibbling at his flesh.
The thought made him sick to contemplate. If he’d just noticed sooner, confronted the problem instead of letting it fester, maybe this all could have been avoided. Maybe Luke would still be alive today.
Instead, he had another name to add to the string of bodies in his wake. Jake, Mom, Luke. Who would be next?
Not Alistair. Please God, not Alistair.
Turner was already there when Sam walked in. “Don’t look so glum,” he said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Why, you didn’t even get a proper dressing-down from the boss!”
Sam shuddered to imagine. “That’s true, I guess.”
“You guess!” Turner laughed. “Trust me, Choirboy, it could’ve gone a lot worse. We’ve just got to plug the leaks in this ship, and it’ll be smooth sailing from here on out.”
Sam doubted it would be that simple, but he wasn’t going to argue. They went together up to the lab and waited for Glenda to arrive.
She bustled in five minutes late, her hair windblown and missing her hat. “You wouldn’t believe the morning I’ve had,” she said, opening a cabinet and throwing her purse inside. “First, I found a hole in my stockings, just as I was about to go out the door. And then…”
She trailed off once she spotted Turner, then glanced at Sam. Whatever she saw on his face must have worried her, because she said, “Is everything all right?”
Sam didn’t want to be the one to tell her…but it was his responsibility. “Luke…he was working with Fabiano. He slipped her the look-away hex and…did other things.”
