Levi nodded, and the two of them walked briskly out of the room. Once they made it to the lobby, they broke into a run. He pushed open one of the sets of dramatic gold doors onto Tropps Street, bright with neon signs and beckoning window displays.
Tommy was nowhere in sight.
“Don’t panic,” Tock said, her voice hitched. “Maybe Tommy just...lost track of time?”
“Doubtful,” Levi answered. “He’s one of our most reliable dealers. He wouldn’t just wander off.” He scanned the area, his mind racing. If Tommy had been abducted by a bounty hunter and turned in to the whiteboots, then he would hang. That meant Levi’s best hope was that the bounty hunter would try to ransom him back to the Irons—if Levi was even given that chance. People didn’t exactly associate gang lords with that kind of compassion.
Despite Tock’s warning not to panic, her wide eyes as she scanned the passersby told Levi she was thinking the same thing. He kicked at the curb in frustration.
“Where’s the nearest parking garage?” Levi asked. Even in the City of Sin, you couldn’t get away with openly dragging someone down Tropps Street.
“Under the casino.”
They tore through the crowds around the side street, making their way to the garage’s entrance. They sprinted, pistols in hand, down the slope to the first level. The lights above them flickered, and despite the commotion of the city outside, in here, it was eerily silent.
Levi nodded at Tock, and the two of them split up—him taking the right side, her beyond a barrier to the left. He treaded carefully down the center of the lot, clutching his gun down by his hip with both hands. His gaze shifted through car windows, searching for movement.
He’s already gone.Levi cursed.
Tires screeched loudly behind him. He whipped around to spot a black car speeding in his direction. Levi lifted his gun and fired at the driver’s seat. The dashboard cracked but didn’t shatter. He leaped out of the car’s path just before it collided with him, and landed painfully on the hood of another car.
“What was that?” he heard Tock call from far away.
Levi stood up and turned in time to see a second car driving toward him from a different direction, a gun brandished out the window. Levi ducked behind another car and held his arms over his head as bullets fired and glass shattered all around.
Muck. Muck. Muck.
His back hit the garage’s cement wall as both cars skidded to a halt in front of him, blocking his only escape route. The driver who’d shot at him climbed out of his car. He wore a black suit appropriate for an upscale casino.
Or a funeral.
Both he and Levi raised their guns. Levi slowly rose to his feet, his heart pounding so hard he thought he’d burst. “Who’ll shoot first, then?” he demanded, praying it would be him.
“Me,” someone else said. Levi’s stomach did a turn as the second person appeared from behind the other car. She clutched Tommy by a fistful of his blond hair. Tommy’s nose was broken, and blood ran down his face and shirt. The woman held a pistol to his temple.
Dread crept up Levi’s spine as he came to a sudden realization.
They had never come for Tommy.
They had come for him.
“Put your gun down, or I’ll kill him,” the woman sneered.
Levi didn’t even consider ignoring her. He crouched down and carefully placed his gun on the pavement, then lightly kicked it away and raised his arms.
“Let Tommy go,” he ordered, though he was in no place to make demands.
“Get in the back seat.” She nodded at her companion’s car.
Levi knew where this future headed. A cell for the night, and the gallows in the morning.
Dead?
Or alive?
He’d found the answer to his question.
A gun fired, and Levi instinctively squeezed his eyes shut. Then the man let out a shout, and Levi saw that he’d been shot in the same arm that had pointed his gun. His pistol went skidding across the pavement.
