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Neil walks into my room as I’m fastening the last strap on my outfit, and he lets out a low whistle of appreciation. “Nice, but I thought you were on restrictions. Why are you dressing like you’re going out?”
I flash him a grin as I stash my switchblade in my cleavage. “Kendrick brought home a Viper for me to play with! Doc says no bat, but I can cut the bastard all I want. And bonus, it’s the asshole who shot me. So, I get some revenge action while I’m at it.”
He nods absently, scratching the back of his neck.
“Something on your mind?”
“Yeah, kind of.” Neil looks around and rubs his arm. “Look, if I tell you something, will you promise to help me break it to Kendrick? He scares the shit out of me, but I think I remembered something that might be important.”
“Sure. What’s up?”
He takes a deep, shaky breath. “I think my boss, Justin, planted something on my computer. I had completely forgotten about it until now, but he was over at my place one night when my work laptop was acting weird. I left the room to take a leak, and when I came back nothing was different, but I just wonder if he did something to my personal computer while I was out of the room. He left pretty quickly afterwards, saying he had somewhere to be. Do you think that’s something Kendrick might want to know?”
I bite my lip and give it some thought. It could be absolutely nothing, but it could also be a clue. I mean, Justindidset Neil up for disaster at the club. Was it a way for him to get Neil out of the picture so he could steal the laptop? And if that’s the case, is Justin working with Samson Ramsey or against him? Does Justin have some dirt on Ramsey that could be of use to us, or possibly some intel that we can swipe?
“We’ll tell Kendrick. Let him decide if it’s important.” I could make an executive decision now, but I know Kendrick will want to be read in, anyway, and besides, it might give us more ammunition for our upcoming interrogation.
Neil and I head down the hall towards the elevator down to the interrogation room. The Burrow has a basement, deeper even than the lower garage level, and that’s where we usually take care of any street trash that needs his face rearranged. Sometimes it’s a jackass punk rapist, sometimes it’s a dealer pushing drugs to kids, sometimes it’s just someone who looked at me the wrong way in an alley. Regardless, they’re all scum of one type or another and all worthy of whatever Kendrick and I cook up. Sometimes we have Doc stitch them back up after we’re done, but sometimes we let the wounds heal on their own, so these lowlifes can have the scars as reminders of who they shouldn’t mess with.
This particular lowlife might not fare that well, though. I don’t anticipate either Kendrick or myself wanting to let him go back out in the wild when he tried to kill me. This one? He’s slated for a deep sleep already. Dirt nap city, baby.
By the time Neil and I get there, Kendrick’s already started working the guy over. He’s slumped in a metal chair, held up by ropes that bind him to the seat, blood dripping from his jaw. Doc sits in the corner, nursing a beer, his med kit lying on the floor at his feet.
I stop in my tracks and put my good hand on my hip. “Damnit, Kendrick, you started without me!”
Doc lets out a belch and gestures with his bottle. “You’re gonna want to hear what he’s learned so far. There’s more going on than we knew. A lot more, and frankly I’m pissed off enough that I might not set this guy’s jaw for him.” He takes another swig. “Might not do anything for him.”
Doc’s not going to lift a finger? That’s serious. He usually at least offers to mend these guys, even if Kendrick says “no.”
Kendrick turns to me, and the murder in his eyes says it all. I push Neil out of the room and tell him to go find Keys. He doesn’t need to see what’s about to happen.
“But—”
“I’ll tell Kendrick what you told me. Now go.”
Neil takes one more look at the bound Viper before he disappears back down the hall. I shut the door and lock it before rounding back on Kendrick and the Viper.
“So … care to fill me in?”
Chapter 13
Kendrick
My hands shake as I let Doc read Bunny in on what we’ve learned so far. I’d be the one talking, but I’m so furious I can’t get a fucking word out.
They’ve been watching us. The Vipers. Formonths. They’ve known about Bunny’s little vigilante operation. They’ve known about the Burrow, about Keys and Doc. According to the bludgeoned jackhole in front of me, they’ve even known about Keys and Neil’s online thing.
I can’t wait to get my hands on this Justin guy at Neil’s work. He’s the one who went to the Cobra, who told him about us, who set up Neil to get beaten to shit. Set up Bunny to find him.
He put Bunny at risk, and all because of some stupid office rivalry.
When Doc finishes, I see my rage mirrored in Bunny’s eyes. Good. Mad Bunny is a vengeful Bunny, and we could use her skills.
She’s got more finesse than I do, especially since she’s using her knife tonight.
As if summoned by my thoughts, her switchblade clicks open. I allow a grin to spread my lips as the bound Viper raises his bleeding head at the sound, his eyes filled with abject terror.
Kicks and punches do plenty of damage, but the sparkling glee in Bunny’s pink eyes as she watches the light glint off her blade is a special kind of nightmare. I’ve never been on the receiving end of her play, but I can vouch for her ruthless effectiveness when it comes to getting information out of street thugs. This Viper? He may think he’s tough, but he’s never been at the end of Bunny’s knife, either.
