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I’m not sure who sent him, but I intend to find out before I kill him.
The hall behind the stage is dark, only a dim strip of lighting illuminating the path. The usual security guy isn’t standing by the door. Which means Gabe spoke to him when he left to call Lou.
I’ll have to thank him for that.
I pull my phone from my jacket pocket, reading Echo’s text. He’s behind me now, so I tap at the screen to open the camera. I act like I’m taking a selfie, peeking at my back as the stranger approaches. I fluff at my hair, tuck my phone away, and open the back exit like I didn’t notice him.
The black metal door doesn’t close as quickly as it should, but I don’t look back. I just continue my trek to someone else’s car like I’m the owner.
From my peripheral, I spot Aloysius leaning against the side of the building, casually playing with his lighter as he waits on me.
My stalker drags his feet across the loose rocks on the cement, pausing at the first row of cars to not seem suspicious. I stop, peering over my shoulder at him. I don’t recognize his face, but that doesn’t mean anything... There’s no way to know every new recruit who joins the cartels when I’m not in charge.
Yet.
He notices me looking and smiles darkly... It’s the kind of expression that would make most people pick up their pace. But my accomplice is already moving closer, his footsteps silent despite his size.
A dark grin of my own stretches across my face right before Lou blind-sides the stalker with a punch to his jaw. It rocks him but doesn’t knock him out. As he sways, he reaches toward his side for his gun.
I reach for my weapon as I rush toward Lou, ready to shoot or help him fight. The guy brandishes a knife instead, swinging at my cousin. Lou jumps back, hunching to avoid having his stomach sliced up.
They circle one another as I sneak up, but when I get closer, I stop. A loose brick sits on the ground near the door, one used to prop it open when deliveries are made... And a better idea forms in my mind as I scoop it up.
Lou jumps again, and the guy lunges too far forward. I tighten my grip on the end of the brick, swinging with all my might as I aim for the back of his head. The stalker turns at the last minute, and I clip his ear and jaw, knocking him out cold.
His body tenses as he tips over, falling onto his left side. I wince when his head slams into the cement, hoping I didn’t accidentally kill him before we could have a chat.
Lou sighs as he glares at his holy shirt. “I just bought this.”
“Suck it up,” I drawl, kicking the knife away from the stalker. “I’ll buy you another.”
“Where to now?”
“My place.”
He snorts, already knowing the answer, before he asks, “Which one?”
I just smile. “The other one…”
Lou was kind enough to drive my car around to the back of The Flaming Cherry and load the unconscious man into my trunk. I zip tie his hands and feet together and tape his mouth because I don’t want to get bitten again.
I’m not taking any unnecessary chances...
My “other place” isn’t like my apartment at all. It’s a shabby house in the middle of the Bay’s ghetto, but it’s protected territory, home to more than a few loyal Mal foot soldiers. They know better than to ask questions or even turn in the direction of my car when they see me drive by.
They all know why I come here.
This means there’s a snitch or a defector who was caught and delivered to me.
As far as they know, I’m just the unlikely enforcer… The woman my grandfather threw into a man’s role hoping the job would kill me.
They know what I do… They know better than Senior does, and it keeps most of them in line. It’s not always easy to ignore the screams.
I pull into the garage, leaving enough space between my car and the decoy Camry for Lou’s street bike to fit. We close the bay door and open the trunk to find the stalker awake and freaked out, staring wide-eyed at us.
“You’re going to tell me who sent you,” I inform him with a polite smile.
He shakes his head as if he has any say in the matter.
