“That and a lot more. My mother said they own a fancy boat and use it to meet drug smugglers offshore. They sell guns to anyone who wants to buy them. And here’s the kicker… They find homeless drug addicts down on their luck and use them to rob banks, jewelry stores, or whatever for the promise of an unlimited supply of their drug of choice and a mansion to party in. But if they don’t perform, they kill them and assume no one will notice they’re missing.”
“Aren’t the police aware of what’s going on?”
“If they are, they haven’t done anything about it. My mother said she remembered their posting bail for one of their drug addicts and then making it look like he committed suicide. As far as the cops were concerned, society had one less problem.”
“Jesus,” Jayce muttered. “I understand your wanting to take them down, and I admire your courage, but wouldn’t your mother have put a stop to them if there was any way to do that?”
“You forget, she hadmeto think of. And we’re very different people.” She sighed. “Please, let me go alone. There’s really nothing you can do to help anyway.”
“Oh? I don’t know about that… I can watch, perched in a nearby tree. And if you need someone to dive-bomb Donkey Pizzle and peck his eyes out, I’m your man—or phoenix—at that moment.”
She smiled. “You’re so sweet.”
He laughed. The thought of pecking someone’s eyes out as a sweet gesture must have struck him as funny. She had to join in the laughter.
An elderly couple strolled by hand in hand and gave them twin smiles.
* * *
It was a long train ride, but it gave Kristine time to think up a plan Jayce would agree to. As much as she resented his interference, she also realized he’d probably already saved her life.
By the time they had arrived at Penn Station, he had talked her out of going back to her apartment for any reason. Until the thugs on Long Island were taken care of, they’d look for her in the Hell’s Kitchen area. The element of surprise would only be Kristine and Jayce’s if they stayed away.
She was right about the new moon and the darkness that would ensue. Jayce called Gabe and let him know he wouldn’t be back that night. They needed that darkness to cover their paranormal identities. He could disguise his tail feathers with dirt, but there was no way to hide an almost-six-foot dragon.
Because it was early afternoon, they had some time to kill. They decided to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. This was where more than twelve million immigrants landed with hopes of a better future. Some of the displays there gave them pause. Boatloads of human beings, some barely alive, were funneled through an uncaring system.
The United States required all immigrants to possess the ability to read and write—at least in their own language. Many of the people who arrived were illiterate, and therefore deported… Or they went to Canada. How many dragons learn to read and write in caves in the Scottish Highlands? Not many, she imagined. It’s a good thing they came over before the Pilgrims.
Having spent the afternoon exploring and appreciating her home city, she wanted to fight for it more than ever. Since it was now May, and it would be quite late before it got completely dark, she and Jayce finally made it to a Broadway play together.
It was hard to believe that just ten days ago, Jayce had walked into her firehouse to reconnect with her. It felt as if they had known each other for months or even years.
At dinner after the play, Jayce reached across the table and took her hand. “Are you sure you want to go through with this, love?”
She nodded. Then she took a large bite of her lo mein and chewed slowly.
“Hey, I use that trick when I don’t want to discuss something.”
“What trick?” she mumbled around the food in her mouth.
He just laughed and shook his head. “Never mind.”
She knew what he meant. She was stalling for time—he was right about that. Nothing he could say would talk her out of doing this. Their plan was drastic and dangerous, but they couldn’t think of anything better. And it just might work.
Walking up to the front door and asking to be let in wasn’t an option. There had to be cameras for security all around the perimeter. The only place from which they could approach undetected was the sky.
The plan was for Jayce to check out the situation via flybys first. If all seemed quiet, he’d fly down the chimney, and if they’d left the flue open, he could double-check from the inside. He often flew down chimneys, dragging his tail feathers through the creosote on the way down and then doing a quick turnabout and coating the other side on his way back up. This was how he and his brothers hid their colorful tails with waterproof camouflage. Unlike normal birds, they didn’t worry about the filth weighing them down. They were strong.
However, this time Jayce didn’t need the disguise. Well, he might if anyone saw him and lived to tell about it. But they planned to let no one live. As drastic as that sounded, it was the only way to be sure Kristine stayed out of jail, countless innocents remained safe, and the mobsters ceased their illegal activities. Smuggling drugs and guns was bad enough, but human trafficking was the last straw.
If Jayce could guarantee everyone was upstairs first and then pinpoint the bedrooms of those in the house after all the lights went out, Kristine could target those areas with a stream of fire. Jayce would gather sticks from the nearby woods and lay them under each exit. If cameras were picking up his activity, it would only look like some dumb bird decided he was tired of getting wet and wanted his nest under a portico. Then Kristine would need to work fast to light the tinder, blocking the exits, and then set the rest of the place on fire.
In a way, it was karma. Kristine learned on the news that the home on Park Avenue—the one they’d tasked her to set on fire before her mother escaped—belonged to an elderly art dealer. The place had been burglarized, and the resident had been drugged. They’d wanted her to burn him alive while he was incapacitated.
Thank goodness Amy’s escape removed the only leverage they had. Getting out of the city was another smart idea on their part. Okay…Jayce was mostly responsible for that. She had to admit her stubbornness might have cost her or her mother their lives.
Jayce had said more than once that he didn’t know what he’d do if anything happened to her. Well, she felt the same way. If anything happened to Jayce… Her heart broke just thinking about it.
