He nods. “Except cleanup.”
“Toss them in the quarry pit. They’ll be skeletons before anyone notices.”
“Get their wallets,” Whisper says. “Remove their IDs.”
I turn around to see Nimble and Wraith talking to the two men we rescued by my car. At least we got a few innocents out of trouble tonight.
“Carnage.” Specter waves me over.
I join him, looking down at the bullet-riddled body at my feet.
“Look at this.” He lifts the man’s left arm up, showing off a shamrock tattoo that looks pretty fresh.
“Okay?”
“Dude, remember the hate crime we stopped? That guy said the gang slash wannabe Mafia members had shamrock tattoos.”
“Oh yeah. Think this is related?”
“I don’t know, but he sure as fuck doesn’t look like he’s celebrating his Irish heritage.”
I know Irish people can have a variety of features and traits, but this guy looks closer to Italian or Greek than Irish.
“It could be a coincidence.”
“Hey, guys.” Wraith drags a body over. “Look at this.”
Sure enough, the dead guy has a shamrock tattoo on his left wrist.
“Second one I’ve found tonight,” Wraith says. “Same location—left wrist.”
“Still think it’s a coincidence?” Specter teases.
“We have to tell Shadow about this. Whoever Leon is working with might be the connection to this growing Mafia. If they’re gonna be trafficking people, the boss will want to know.”
“Absolutely,” Stealth says.
We finish tossing the bodies in the pit, seven in all, and I’m feeling pretty good that at least Leon is out of Rue’s life for good.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say, flexing my hand. I’m gonna feel the soreness come morning. Maybe I need to start using more tools than my fists, especially when I get super pissed off like I did tonight. To me, this was personal, but I could still make it fun with some weapons.
By the time we pull up at Crestvale House, the adrenaline has worn off and my hand hurts, but it was worth it. I’m excited to tell Rue that Leon is dead, we saved two guys who were eighteen and nineteen respectively, dropped them off at a shelter for men that works with victims like this, and all in all, had a productive night.
I shuffle into the house, excited to see Rue’s face. We find him, Colson, Pax, and Shadow in the rec room, one of the Batman movies playing on the TV. Rue hops up as soon as he sees me. It looks like he’s going to rush over, but he hesitates, offering a tight smile instead.
“So? Is it done?”
I nod. “It’s done. Boone?”
Boone walks over to us and pulls up the video he took. “Be warned; it’s pretty graphic. Carnage is ruthless when he’s protecting someone or something he cares about.”
Rue’s gaze lingers on mine for a second, but then he nods, straightening his shoulders. “I’m ready.”
Boone hits play and we all watch the violence play out, but I quickly shift to look at Rue to see his reaction. I hope he’s happy, relieved. Proud. Fuck. I hope he’s proud of me.
Instead, I watch his face fall and his cheeks turn a splotchy red.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
