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It can’t be tonight, though. I have something important to take care of, and there’s no way I’m dying before I handle it.
We hurry across the pavement toward the shitty Honda Civic I drove over here. It must be a million years old, but it got me here, and it’s going to get us out. I left the doors unlocked and the keys under the driver’s seat since it’s not like I was given an employee locker or anything.
Quinn helps the girl into the back seat. She falls face-first against the cracked leather. The smell of stale cigarettes that permeates the air in here makes me gag. I turn the key in the ignition and clap a hand over my mouth, splintered thoughts slicing at my brain.
“Hey.” Quinn puts a strong hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “You need to pull your shit together. A lot just happened back there, but I think we both know more is coming. Very fucking soon. Zip it all up till we get to the person who can answer all your questions, okay? Then unleash holy hell all over him.”
I take a few deep breaths. He doesn’t move his hand.
“Tonight was a total shit show.” I turn to look at him.
“Yep. And you turned into a goddamn rogue soldier. If it’d been up to me, I’d have gotten us outta there after you killed Pops. Control freak Val never would have stuck around after hearing all that crap from Stepanov. She’d have run right back to Alek for answers.”
“We saved someone, though.”
Quinn peeks at the girl sprawled on the back seat. “Did we? I’m still not sure.”
My jaw hinges open. I put the car into gear and speed out of the lot. “What are you talking about? She was kidnapped. Her friend was killed.”
He turns a lifted eyebrow at me. “I’m not as trusting as you.”
“What is she going to do back there? Passed out?”
He shrugs. “All I’m saying is a lot of things went down tonight that neither of us expected, including her. I’d have left her.”
“What if it’d been Molly trying to escape?” I hiss. “And somebody left her? Would you be okay with that, knowing this girl might have a family who’s looking for her? Desperate to find her and punish the people who took her?”
“I just think if you’d have been thinking clearly and realized that she just coincidentally appeared at the right time, you might have chosen differently.”
“She gave us the name of a restaurant where we might get some kind of lead. If Branko is still alive, that information might lead us to him.”
“Unless he’s not a real person and you ended the actual ringleader.”
“No.” I shake my head, pressing my foot on the gas. “Not a possibility.”
“Isn’t the easiest explanation always the right one? Isn’t there some saying about that?”
“Not with this. I could have killed Stepanov a million times over in my sleep. He’s not the one.”
“For someone without any backing to that statement, you’re holding fast to it.”
I wrap my fingers tight around the steering wheel, gritting my teeth. “If I’m being honest, so much has been thrown at me, I don’t know how to process any of it. Because it would mean the past years have been for nothing. That Alek would have had me chasing a ghost for no reason.”
“He’s a slimy self-serving bastard, so would it really shock you if he lied for his own gain?” Quinn stares out the window and slouches in the passenger seat. “I hope that douchebag is ready for a good ass-kicking.”
Red Ladro is Alek’s priority. It always has been. I just don’t understand how everything fits together. I keep getting bits and pieces, analyzing it all as best I can, but there’s never an opportunity to tie it all together. He’s always held back little tidbits. I’ve figured some things out on my own, but still don’t have the full story.
And dammit, I want it all. Now.
No bullshit.
No distractions.
We finally get back to the safehouse, the rage festering in my gut close to exploding in a fiery blaze. I park the car and jump out before opening the back door. It takes some prodding to get the girl out, but once we do, Quinn and I hoist her up between us and drag her toward the elevator.
He doesn’t speak. Neither do I.
Alek is the only person I want to talk to right now.
