Page 31 of Ruin

“So what are we going to do?”

“You and I both know I can’t tell you that over the phone. This might be a burner, but we don’t know who’s listening. I can tell you that we’re going to get Mandy out ASAP. She’s a core part of this group. With her gone, we’re all on edge.”

“Then you’re starting to feel the way I do. Get her out, Knight. You know she’s not safe in there.”

I kept my mouth shut. I knew she wasn’t, but it wasn’t going to do Gemini’s mental well-being any good for me to agree with him on that point. He was already going to worry enough, all by himself.

Besides, I didn’t think she’d be in much longer. Adams had been working on her case the longest, and he already had a judge’s ear about unlawful arrest of a woman who’d just been walking through a parking lot. Sure, the gun was going to be a complication, but in this part of town, a lot of women carried guns for their own protection. Adams thought she might be in for another night, but that would be it.

Unfortunately, another night meant another night of being in danger on the inside.

I wasn’t going to think about that part, though, and I also wasn’t going to tell Gem any of what we were doing. I couldn’t afford for the wrong ears to hear it and put a stop to it.

“We’re getting her out, Gem. I promise. And then we’re going to work on getting you home. Until then, keep your mouth shut, you hear me? Don’t get yourself in more trouble than you’re already in.”

At that, the other man laughed. “I can’t promise anything.”

I wasn’t laughing, though. “Gem, you’re my lieutenant, and I need you. Promise me you won’t make it harder for me to get you back. Promise me.”

He didn’t promise, not right away. He waited long enough that I was starting to worry that the call had dropped. Then he finally said, “I promise. But Knight? Hurry up.”

Hurry up. If only it was that simple.

BY THE TIME I HUNG up with Gemini, the ruckus outside had been growing for some time. I’d been ignoring it, thinking that communicating with Gem and letting him know what was happening was, honestly, more important than anything the five or six people here could get up to, but now that I was concentrating on it...

I could hear shouting.

And I recognized the voices.

I got outside quickly, my mind cataloging the events of the past couple of days. We’d somehow been left alone at Brock’s, getting some time to heal and recover here, but it had come at a price. One, we were all stuck in this one house together with almost nothing to do and no way to act, and two, we were all stuck here with Brock as he went through what I could only describe as a complete change of personality.

The once peaceful, easy giant had become a monster that wanted nothing more than revenge and was ready to lash out at anyone who told him he couldn’t have it yet.

“We need to be doing something!” he was shouting at Remy, his hands curled into fists and his face red with rage.

“And I’m telling you, man, we can’t do anything yet!” Remy shouted back, though he looked less angry and more frustrated at the situation.

And no wonder. This was the third time, at least, someone had had this conversation with Remy. He just didn’t want to listen.

“Why not? Call in favors. Get the other gangs here. Devil fucked up, and he deserves to pay! Let’s blow this fucking place to hell!”

I stepped into the fight before Remy could answer and put a hand on Brock’s arm, hoping to calm him down with touch. “And we will, Brock. You know we will. You know I want revenge as much as you do.”

The truth of the statement shot through me, making me feel both weak in the knees and on fire, and I stopped and cleared my throat.

Devil had killed one of my best friends. Kidnapped him and tortured him and then caused his death. And he was going to fucking pay. I wanted to do it with my own hands. Show him how much Tinker had suffered. Make him scream for mercy before the end.

But not yet. Not until it was safe and smart.

“You know as well as I do that it needs to happen right now,” Brock growled.

I shook my head. “And you know as well as I do that we can’t afford to start a war right now. Most of our men are in jail. The ones who are out there are scattered, and we don’t know where half of them are. We’re not even at half power, Brock! We’re at something closer to quarter power. It would be suicide to go to war right now!” I was shouting by the time I got to the end of the statement, partially from the frustration of the situation and partially from the frustration of having to repeat myself so many times.

Brock had already heard this. I was getting awfully tired of him choosing not to listen. He wasn’t the captain here. He wasn’t the president.

He didn’t get to make the choices. I did. But he was acting like he’d forgotten that.

He was also acting like I hadn’t cared for Tinker, because I wasn’t out there fighting, yet. And that part right there... That was too much.