“You’ve got somethin’?!” Malek nearly leapt out of his chair. Sev looked around when I nodded and jerked her head towards the hospital chapel.
“Nobody ever goes in there. It’s safer. Let’s go.”
It feels weird being in this room. I’m not worthy of it, even if it is in a hospital. It has a sort of peace to it that I feel like I’m disrupting just by poisoning it with my presence. But she’sright. There’s no one here and the door closes. Malek stared at the open Bible and Seven crunched on almonds. I had to force myself to speak past the uncomfortable silence.
“We found her.” That got their attention. “I know where she is, but I gotta play it smart. I dunno how many girls are in this dungeon other than Bridge.”
“Whadd’ya mean,you?You’re not goin’ alone, mate. That’s mysister.”
I waved a hand towards the door.
“What about everybody else? Sev needs you here.”
She scoffed and shook her head, slamming the bag of nuts down on the wooden pew. “No. I don’t. Because we’rebothgoing with you. The worst of this has already passed with my family, Dec. We’re not whole without her. Now, skip to the part where you get to the plan.”
Well, I’ve seen where arguing will get me with her already. I sighed and turned in the pew to face them both, pulling my laptop out and bringing up everything we found. “We traced records and bank transactions back to before we took care of Jonas. The pleasure house is blanketed by an LLC for some grain company. This is the place. Dan got more. We were even able to get the blueprints for the warehouse, and I doubt much has changed about it since a restoration eight years ago. The only reason I was even able to figure that out is because there were inspection reports publicly filed after being sold a couple times. This one is the most recent, and the last buyer…is Romanov.”
“So, let’s ambush the place like we did the O’Dell compound,” Malek shrugged.
“Nah…too many lives at stake in here, Mal. It’s too risky. We need these girls to make it home. You know Bridget…she’s gonna be determined to do the same damn thing.”
Seven rubbed her chin and studied the blueprint. “He’s right, Malek. There could be several in each of these rooms. Lemme have that job.”
“Whatjob?” he asked.
She looked up and smirked. “The Batmobile can fit quite a few. If you find a way in…there’s a back door right here.” She pointed at a rogue corner on the document. “Get me in when you get the pawns occupied. I’ll round the girls up and get them out. We’ll pile ‘em in the hearse and I’ll take them straight to a hospital.”
That’s…actually genius.
“I dunno if anybody’s idea of‘occupied’is the same as mine, but…I’m tryin’ to slit throats. Roll heads. Castrate. You know…fun stuff.” I couldn’t help but smile at him.
“I love where your head’s at, brother…but that’s the opposite of playin’ it smart. They know our faces. They don’t know Dan’s. Or Simon’s. If you can help Seven without being noticed and let her get away with the girls…we’ll save some fun stuff for ya.”
“Okay, so what aboutyouthen, Dec?” Sev asked. “They know your face too.”
“I’ve got a plan for that. Jonas’s big idea for Bridget when they took the two of you last year, was to marry her, giving her the title of a mob boss’s ‘ole lady. Then he was gonna charge top dollar to have people fuck her. Romanov’s gonna do exactly that. I’m going in, in Dan’s words, ‘undercover’…and I’m gonna buy her. Dan and Simon will be doing the same with other girls. I’ll get Bridge, and the boys will deliver the girls to you one by one until they’re all safely out. Then we slaughter.”
We all looked between each other, nodding in agreement.
“Alright…so what the hell are we waiting for? When do we ride?” Seven might not want us to know…but her palms areitching just as badly as Malek’s and I’m more than happy to give her an outlet to satisfy the bloodlust.
“If you can get the hearse ready by tonight, I’m good to go green.”
She slapped my laptop closed and stood up.
“Bet. Let’s go.”
Fifteen grand.
She’s gonna be real happy with the overkill. Simon bounced in the back seat of my car with his signature smile that makes us all uncomfortable. One spark. Just one…and my little tin can would take out this entire street. I glanced at my rear-view to see Dan staring at him like after everything he’s probably seen in his career—Simon is the most confusing.
Same, Dan the man…same.
“I dunno what you’re so excited about, mate. Bridget lights the fuse,” Malek said, cutting him a look over his shoulder while he rode shotgun with me. “And when were you gonna tell me that she’s been your lunch date for months?”
“I try. She say no.” Simon shrugged and rolled his eyes. “Skull thick…like Shamrock.”
Dan leaned forward to pop his head over my shoulder. “Why do I get the feeling we need to reiterate that we’re not actually buying sexy-time? I’m deprived too, trust me. I meant every word about my status puttin’ me in a dry spell, but…he knows he’s not getting laid tonight…right?”
