Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Against my better judgement, I shuffle until I’m sitting with my back to the locker. She’s crouched a few feet away, looking at the gap in the wall thoughtfully.
“You want to know why.”
She nods and bites her middle finger. “I assume you have a plan and you’re not just suicidal.”
“I have a plan.”
“And that plan is how you’re going to buy your freedom?”
“That’s right.”
“Just tell me. It’s my future too now, isn’t it? I’ve been patient, but I’m not sitting around and waiting anymore. Tell me what you’re after.”
I think about lying. I could give her some fake version of my plan, keep her off my trail, until it’s too late to stop what’s about to happen. But she’s right, now that she’s involved this affects her future.
And I’m tired of keeping things from her. I don’t want to sneak around. The weight of Sam’s dossier is like an anchor dragging me down into the deepest parts of the ocean. I’ll drown if I can’t find a way to cut it free.
“Arsen doesn’t like to let people go.” I move to the side and start replacing the hatch as I speak. “It’s not as simple as just moving away. He wouldn’t allow that, not when he decided that I’m useful. So the only way to get my life back is to force his hand.”
“Blackmail.”
“Exactly.” I pull the locker to cover the hatch and make sure it looks like nothing’s moved. “I need a tool to hold against him. Do you remember when we first met?”
“Hard to forget. I flashed you.”
My heart stutters and I smile despite myself. “You still had a bra on.”
“That’s splitting hairs.”
“But where were we that day?”
“The party… at that house…” She squints as she remembers. “The Davises.”
“You know what they are, right?”
“Old and rich.”
“They’re arms dealers.”
She waves a hand. “They’re in defense contracting.”
“Another fancy way of saying they sell murder weapons. Who do you know that needs a lot of arms in this city?”
“You think my cousins get their weapons from the Davises?”
“I know they do. But the Davises can’t just sell that kind of weight to a man like Arsen, so they hide it through layers of corporate shell structures. I need a list, proof that Arsen’s buying from the Davises and selling further down the line into the black market. I need something bad enough to tie them all together, to the point that Arsen will let me walk to make sure it never sees the light of day. Or the inside of a DA’s office, either one.”
I let the plan sink in. She starts pacing across the small locker room, arms folded across her chest, chewing on her middle finger nail. “That’s crazy,” she says at last. “He’ll kill you.”
“He’ll definitely consider it, but he won’t actually pull the trigger, for two reasons. First, Riley would be really pissed, and she’s his sister-in-law.”
“That won’t stop him.”
“More important, I’ll have a dead man’s switch. I’ll make sure that if I end up dead before my time, whatever I find gets blasted out to every single DA, police chief, and politician in the whole damn country. I’ll make sure he suffers very badly.”
“But come on, it’s Arsen. You can’t bully him.”
“Maybe not, but the fact that the Davises are involved will be a problem. Despite them coming off like a pair of fucking Martha Stewart acolytes, they’re serious international players. Arsen can’t risk pissing them off, which is exactly what will happen if their scheme is made public. He’d have both law enforcement and a couple of pissed off warlords breathing down his neck.”
She tugs at her hair and I approach, moving warily, not sure how she’ll react. I’ve thought about this plan a lot since Arsen made it clear that he was dragging me back into his orbit. It’s the cleanest, simplest way to cut ties, a sword dangling over both our heads. He’ll be forced to let me disappear, and I’ll sure as hell make sure I don’t tempt him into anything stupid. New name, new country, new language, new fucking life. I’ll be a new person, someone else, finally lose myself in the shroud of all my lies the way I’ve always wanted to.
The armor will become permanent. A shield against who I used to be.
All it’ll take is one final act of insanity.
“If you find it, you’ll bring me with you?” Her voice is very small. She’s scared and I don’t blame her. I’m talking about doing something very reckless.
“Not with me. But I’ll make sure whatever protection I negotiate will extend to you too, if that’s what you want.” I catch her wrist and move her hand from her mouth. In its place, I slide my thumb along her cheek and press it into her teeth. She bites down. “You’ll have to disappear. You won’t be able to stay in this country anymore. Your sister, your brothers, everyone you know, they won’t be able to contact you ever again. That’ll be part of it. He lets us fade away, and in exchange, we don’t make his life hell. That’s what I’m playing for.”