Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

MINA

Damon directed Enzo and Angelina to a room in the house, where they promptly disappeared, closing the door behind them. Bianca, with several rolls of her eyes, disappeared into a room on the other side of the corridor.

She muttered something that sounded like, "Far enough away that I don't have to listen to them fuck."

Damon grimaced and headed back down the stairs.

I followed him, watching the tension in his shoulder and back. He looked stiffer than a column of stone. Hard, but not brittle. Nothing about him was fragile, in spite of Enzo pushing his patience to its limits.

We reached the lower level as the twins returned.

"Just as you said, there's no sign of Martina," Hunter said. "The entire house was empty."

"Personally, I'm impressed at how quickly she cleaned the place out," Parker said. "It couldn't have been more than a handful of hours."

"She had help." Reuben stood with his hip against the kitchen island, a glass of whiskey in his hand.

"Probably lots of it," Gianni agreed. "The question is, from whom?"

Reuben shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. I'll have Caleb keep an eye on the chatter about her. She'll turn up sooner or later."

"People like her always do," Hunter said. "Like a proverbial bad smell."

"Like you two?" Gianni teased.

"Exactly," Hunter said, not rising to the bait. "They can't keep people like us down. Right, Park?"

"Right," Parker agreed. "On a scale of one to a hundred, how much did you piss of the Vipers?"

"Nothing we can't handle." Reuben took a sip of his drink. "They know we could squash them if we wanted to. Or cut them off from our supply of goods."

The second one would hurt them worse than the first. They could fight off an attack, but not being able to get shipments would bring them to their knees within weeks, if not days.

Reuben could sell contraband elsewhere, but if no one would sell to the Vipers, they were fucked.

"I'm sorry I missed all the fun," Hunter said. "Did you really throw a knife at Carlos Jones?"

"Yes, I did," I said. "And I'd do it again. I will if he keeps trying to sell his sister."

"He's probably going to claim you tried to kill him, but missed," Gianni said.

"Of course he is." I shrugged. A man like him wasn't going to let the truth get in the way of his…manly reputation. He'd lie to save face.

No doubt everyone there, those who worked for him, would agree with his claim.

I didn't give a shit, we knew the truth. If his ego couldn't deal with that, that was his problem. I knew the extent of my abilities.

"If Mina wanted to kill him, he'd be dead," Reuben said. "If that needs to happen in the future, then it will. It might be a good idea to consider replacing him with someone we can continue to work with. I don't need anyone with an ego his size creating trouble for us."

"I'll look into who might potentially replace him," Damon said.

Reuben nodded. "Do it."

Hunter lounged against the island, on the opposite side from Reuben. "Parker and I have been talking to some people. Casually mentioning Kurt keeping a woman in his basement, like you asked us to."

One day, someone might mention that basement and I wouldn't shudder, but it wasn't tonight.

"And?" I prompted.

"And people believed it," Parker said. "Mostly, they're speculating on who it was. We also circulated the information that someone knows who the Sparrow is, and that the information was for sale."

"We might have also slipped in a rumour that the Sparrow kept a woman in their basement," Hunter said. "Sooner or later, people are going to start comparing notes and coming to conclusions. It won't be long before they realise that one and one equal three. Then, the shit will hit the proverbial fan."

"Good work," Reuben said. "Keep spreading those rumours. The sooner we can push this to a conclusion, the better. Any further information and the whereabouts of Kurt Lasalle?"

The moment the words passed his lips, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

I had the ringer turned off, because no one had any reason to call me. The number was new and the only people who had it were in this room.

That is, the only people who should have it were in this room.

"Let me guess, telemarketer?" Gianni asked.

I pulled out my phone. As expected, the screen said 'unknown number.'

I knew exactly who it was before I pressed on the screen to accept the call. I put the call on speakerphone and held the device on my palm.

We all waited in silence for the caller to speak.

"What fucking game are you playing, Mina?" Kurt's voice echoed through the kitchen. "You think people are going to believe I'm the Sparrow? Yes, I heard the rumour your little twin friends are trying to spread. "

"We're not little," Parker whispered.

"People will believe what they want to believe," I said coolly. "Although, most people who've met you don't need an excuse to want you dead. You seem to have that effect on people. Probably because you're a slimy prick."

He laughed. "Is that supposed to hurt my feelings, bitch? You need to work on your insults."

"It wasn't an insult, it was an observation," I said.

"An accurate one," Damon said.

"Sounds like the whole crew is there," Kurt said. "Hi guys. Long time no see. Don't worry, I'm working on rectifying that as soon as possible. Did you have fun on the side quest I sent you on? You knew that was me behind that, right? Martina was paid well to give you that false lead. Don't bother trying to find her, she's long gone. In the meantime, I put some plans into place. It's only a matter of time before you're back where you belong. On your back, under me."

Reuben, Damon and Gianni all growled softly.

The twins looked murderous.

I swallowed to keep from throwing up my last meal and said, "You're cocky for someone who won't be alive much longer."

He laughed again. "Threats? That's fucking adorable. You can't even find me. I could be right under your nose and you wouldn't have a clue. By the way, nice aim on that knife you threw at Carlos. I could tell you were aiming for his gun, not for him. Bravo." He clapped slowly.

My blood went cold. Kurt was watching? Of course he was. The question was, where was he watching from? Another house, or a camera? Would he have dared to get close enough to watch in person?

"You should have come out and said hello," Gianni said. "But you wouldn't, would you? You're too much of a fucking coward. I'm looking forward to seeing how tiny your cock is, right before I slice it off." He made a slicing gesture with his hand.

"More threats?" Kurt sneered. "I had no idea how pathetic you all were. Disappointing, really. Still, it'll be easier to replace the Brantleys when people realise how much more competent I am."

"You said 'fucked up in the head' wrong," Gianni said.

Kurt snorted. "Please, you're embarrassing yourself now."

"Did you actually want something?" Reuben asked. "It seems to me all you're doing is wasting our time. Making idle threats and pretending you have power and contacts you clearly lack. No one in this room is fooled by your bullshit."

"Reuben Brantley himself," Kurt said derisively. "Does Mina moan when you fuck her? She has the best moans. She has spread her legs for you, hasn't she? I'm sure she has, she loves nothing more than being fucked. Especially when she's restrained. I recommend chains, but rope would do too."

Reuben's fingers tightened around his glass, so tight it shattered in his hand, sending a spray of whiskey onto his sleeve and the floor.

"You'll moan when we're done with you," Damon said darkly. "You'll beg us to kill you." Before Kurt could respond, he leaned over and ended the call.

"Have I mentioned recently how much I really, really hate him?" Gianni said. "He's such a shithead. Actually, that's an insult to shitheads. He's worse than a shithead."

"He really is," Hunter said. He looked like he wanted to live up to his name and hunt Kurt down personally and drag him here by his balls.

Parker looked similarly furious. "He must have missed the part where pissing off a member of the Brantley family was a really, really bad idea. People who do it tend to live to regret it."

"Yes, they do," Hunter agreed. "What else can we do? It's not fair for this oxygen thief to keep living any longer than necessary. Another hour is too much."

"Short of knocking on every door in Dusk Bay…" Damon rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand. "We're doing everything we can think of."

No one suggested actually going door-to-door. That would be time-consuming and ultimately pointless.

Kurt was likely moving around, and wasn't dumb enough to open a knock on the door. He'd have someone to do that for him. Someone to take the bullet if one was aimed at him. No, we'd have to be smarter than that.

"Mina, can I have your phone?" Parker asked. "I can at least try to trace wherever he called from. I couldn't last time, but it's worth a try."

I nodded and handed him my phone. "Just don't go poking around in the apps in there."

He grinned. "I wouldn't dream of it. And I won't look at your photos either, just in case there's a dick pic from Reuben." He stuck out his tongue in playful disgust, his eyes shining with amusement.

Reuben gave him a look that was drier than a martini, before raising his hand in front of him. His palm was red with blood from the imploding glass. Indifferent, he walked over to the wet bar on the side of the room and poured himself another drink, this time a double.

"She's more likely to get a dick pic from me," Gianni said.

Parker grimaced. "That's just as good a reason not to look in her photos. No offence. You're almost as much a big brother to me as Reuben is."

"How am I supposed to take offence when you finish with something like that?" Gianni stepped over to give Parker a hug.

Parker hugged him back. "I know what to say to avoid getting shot."

"So far," Damon said. He smirked at Parker.

Parker grinned. "I'm going to fuck up at some point and I know that, but in the meantime, I'll keep trying to be smooth. It's gotten me this far. I might even live to be as old as Reuben."

"Not if you call me old." Reuben downed the contents of his glass in one gulp and poured another.

Both twins chuckled and fist bumped at the expense of their oldest brother. If they weren't giving him hell, they wouldn't be themselves. Even if it scored them dark looks from time to time.

"I'll get this back to you as soon as I can." Parker nodded towards the phone in his hand. "And I'll change the number to one that'll be harder for him to get a hold of."

I shook my head. "Don't bother. The cockier he gets, the better chance he'll make a mistake. He already did by reminding us he was watching tonight. We know he's still in Dusk Bay. We know to look out for something. Something big."

"He could be trying to convince us he's doing something when he's not," Damon said.

He didn't look like he believed that any more than I did. Something was coming and, whatever it was, we had to be ready.

If not, I might have to take a leaf from Angelina's book and step out the front of the house before someone else paid the price for me.