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“Mr Fayer not like me saying.”
I can see why. Either he has a speech impediment, or his native language is hugely different to English.
“You're a bit young to be here. What's your story?”
“My mama friend of Carrie. When she die, Mama die too.”
Wow. That means he thinks Edward killed his mum. I suddenly have immense pity for him.
“Do you have a dad?”
“I have Gavriil. He look after me, teach me Russian so he not have learn English.”
“When did you learn English?”
“Same time,” Nico shrugs.
I won't pry any more, but it leaves us with little to talk about. I want to talk more; if he's the only cartel member my age, it makes sense for us to be friends. But I'm not sure what we can chat about with Vince crying out in the background. I want to tell Nico that Vince killed his mum, but I have no proof. Nico's best chance of closure is slipping away, but selfishly, I don't want him to have it.
Edward returns to us, wiping his hands on a towel that is turning from white to red.
“Well, boy.” Thayer sidles up to me.
“It's Porter, Sir.” I say, keeping my head averted.
“Porter. Yes. Would you like to do the honours?” He offers me a handgun. Does he really not notice the mess I made with a knife? I did everything I could to avoid killing the man, I'm not going to change that now.
“I feel as though it should be yours. He said he killed your daughter and tried to kill Knox. However, for some reason Knox thought it was you.”
“It was a messy business. I tried to get her out of it, but she thought she was in love with that piece of rubbish. I had planned to spirit her away to a tropical island for a while, where she would be safe and have time to come to her senses. Vince must have found out, because when I went looking for her, he had already…” Thayer's voice cracks and he falls silent for a moment. “I lied to my son. I told him she had been killed by the one person he couldn't get retribution on. He has a very one track mind, and he would have destroyed himself trying to avenge his sister. I did what I had to do to keep him safe.”
“Then I think you deserve the honour, Sir.”
“Welcome to the family, kid,” Thayer grins at me. “I think a low blow is in order.”
My whole body jolts at the gunshot. I think I can confidently say I hate guns. Vince is suddenly hanging by his elbows behind him, his groin is now a bloody mess, and his howling has gone up a pitch.
“Dick shots are always good. There's no coming back from that, but it doesn't kill instantly,” Thayer mutters, not talking to me as much as himself.
“Please sir. Can we see Knox now?” I love blood as much as the next innocent bystander, but I love Knox more.
“You don't want to see the life leave his body?” Thayer asks with an interested look on his face.
“I really appreciate you trusting me enough to share this with me…” This feels like an odd moment when a cat would brutalise a mouse in front of its owner as a bonding thing. I remember praising the stray that lived in the back garden while also retching as I cleared up the mess. I'm over the retching thanks to that feral beast, but I'd rather not see a person die. “I love your son more than I love revenge.” I turn to face the middle aged version of Knox and add a whisper. “Is that OK?”
“Gavriil, please manage this. Make it hurt. Make him know he is not worthy of our attention.”
Nico speaks the same foreign language, and a smile crosses Gavriil's face. His speech is much longer than the thank you Nico gives as translation, but it seems enough for Mr Thayer.
Thayer turns away from me like I'm not worthy of a reply. “Thomas, please drive us to the doctor.”
Us? Doctor? That's good, right?
forty-seven
Knox
Myeyesreallydon'twant to open, but someone is pinching my hand and it's as annoying as fuck.
