Chapter 20

Chapter

Twenty

MILO

I climbed the steps from the subway to street level. The colder air was a brisk slap in the face after the warmth from the train. Course, it was also not as smelly up here. Not everyone on that train had showered recently. Still, I liked public transport, particularly if I wanted to flush out any tails.

When I was with Lainey, we drove all over the city. She had a driver. She had a bodyguard—thoughts about that prick were probably better left undisturbed. The fact Karagiani had her in close quarters for so long and hadn't done anything, was something of a miracle.

A flash of movement across the street mirrored my own path. I didn't make a big deal of looking. Not when I could see Jasper clear as day in the reflection in the glass window of a closed store. Not a lot of missing real estate out here, but some of these shops had been closed for a while.

It was another part of King's business plan to gentrify. Drive the residents out and the prices down. Keep retail out until the building owners were practically hemorrhaging money, then sweep in for a save. He would pick up the properties at a steal, and flip them for quite a bit more.

A disgusting process that made solid business sense, but disgusting where human compassion and common decency stood. My phone rang as I cleared another block and I slid it out of my pocket. Jasper's name flashed on the screen with his middle finger.

Snorting at the image, I grinned. Freddie must have pocketed my phone at some point this week. I would have to check the other contact images to see what other surprises he set up. For now, I hit answer on the phone. "Bored?"

"Not particularly. I am freezing my nuts off in this wind. How much further before you show me the top secret new clubhouse?"

I shook my head, chuckling. "It's not a top secret clubhouse, just a little personal renovation project. Future investment and planning."

"Raptor," Jasper said, his tone suddenly sober and serious. "I hate to break this to you, but you don't have enough time to match your girlfriend's bank account or the other boyfriends for that matter. I'd say you need to focus on what you bring to the table and accept your fate as a kept man."

"Fuck you," I told him cheerfully. "One more block, then I'll cross toward you and we'll head east."

His laughter carried over the phone. "Got it." Then he ended the call. One block later, I crossed at the corner and headed down a different street. Fortunately, this block offered something of a shield against the wind slicing down between the building. Which was good, cause my nose was fucking numb as hell.

Jasper fell into step with me. He had a cigarette lit and the familiar trail of bluish, tobacco smoke wreathed him periodically before the breeze would snatch it away. The smoking was a bad habit that he'd never kicked and frankly, I didn't think he wanted to.

We were all a little fucked up. Some of us were a lot fucked up. If he wanted to smoke, he got to smoke. Lighting cigarettes gave him an excuse to check behind us. I paused closer to the building than the street.

"Light one for me?"

He paused, glanced behind us then made a show of patting himself down. Then we huddled to block the breeze while he lit the cigarette. I made a face at the taste but only lipped it.

"We're clear. Pretty sure we lost the babysitters before you took the train halfway around the city."

I chuckled. "There are a lot of different lines. Still trying to learn them all." I turned us down a pathway into the underground garage. The boom gates were both closed and their pathways were marked red, but they weren't actually preventing anyone from walking in. "Sometimes the best way to learn is to just get lost and figure it out."

"Makes sense." Of course, Jasper got it. "Big fucking city though."

Yes, it was. Lainey and the guys occupied the upper echelons. They knew everyone worth knowing and a few more besides. I had a feeling Bodhi had more of a feel for the street as well, but it wasn't his focus. I wanted to know everything . Hard to prevent trouble if you didn't cover all the ways it could come at you.

The path down followed a curve. The concrete pavement was discolored by years of vehicles coming and going. By the first turn, the sound from the street behind faded along with the breeze. At the second curve, I turned toward the door that was tucked away there and opened it, letting Jasper inside before we closed it and then waited by the grimy window.

"Ah," Jasper said with a long slow sigh as he extinguished his cigarette then mine. "The good old days of paranoia and keeping one eye firmly over our shoulders."

"You make it sound like we've had new days where we don't." I raised my brows at him but he only shrugged, that faint smirk back on his face.

"Every now and then," Jasper said. "But you know, I don't mind it like I used to."

"You never minded it," I pointed out before heading deeper into the service hallway and taking the stairs up into the building above. The door was locked behind us so even if we had someone following us, they'd have to break the door to get in. That would set off an alarm.

Still, Jasper was right. Paranoia fit like a well-worn jacket and my favorite pair of shoes. At the first floor, I entered the code to unlock the door. It buzzed when it opened. Mickey J turned from where he was standing in the middle of the gutted floor, a cup of coffee in hand. The smell of fresh brewed carried.

"You two are late," Mickey said as we crossed to join him.

"Milo wanted to go fishing on the way here. Sadly, no bites." Jasper rubbed his hands together to warm them before he poured himself a cup. "I thought Liam was going to show up for this one."

"Later," Mickey said, then fixed a look on me. "Where's your head?"

"Where I need it to be." I waited for Jasper to finish then got my own cup. "We have three of his men here. He's going to know someone grabbed them. So whatever details they have are likely to be thin."

"If he's kept anything of his security since making you move in, after you moved out, then he's an idiot," Jasper said. "Of course, I don't mind if he wants to be an idiot. I will happily take a baseball bat to his head and close that chapter."

"I know you would, but Ivy's still on the fence." Not that she didn't hate him, but it was harder for her to make that call where King was concerned.

"She's not on the fence," Mickey said and that dragged my attention and Jasper's. Only instead of curiosity, there was rough agreement in Jasper's expression.

"Agreed," he said and I frowned.

Mickey eyed me briefly then said, "She doesn't want you to have to make this choice or to have to do it. She's trying to work herself up to doing it for you." The compassion in his eyes was no match for the depth of feeling in Mickey's voice.

He loved my little sister. He might be too old for her and maybe once upon a time he made bad choices, but he was also the same man who did penance for those mistakes, who loved her to distraction, and would do everything he could to protect and keep her safe. He was also steady enough in a group of hotheads to keep the peace when they needed it and to tell her no when she did.

"Ivy never has to do that for me," I said, but the rest of the protest died unspoken in the face of the bland looks they were both favoring me with. "But you guys know that."

"So does she," Mickey said, saluting me with his coffee. "Doesn't mean she doesn't want to protect you."

"She's a pain in the ass like that," I muttered and Jasper smirked.

"You love it."

Having my sister back? Yeah. I did. Even if she was with all of my best friends, and I was with hers. Or maybe because of it? Fuck, I didn't care. Considering I wouldn't give Mayhem up without a bloody battle and my corpse on the ground, I could hardly fault Ivy for how stubborn and intractable she'd proven about keeping the guys.

I downed a couple of swallows of coffee before I stripped off my coat. "Do you have a preference on who we start with?"

We'd debated this, the three guys all worked for King. They weren't civilians. They were definitely muscle. He used them for a lot of the dirtier jobs—including watching me. Business was one thing, but these pricks enjoyed hurting people. While I found that behavior rather despicable, it did free me up to deal with them how I saw fit.

"Which one do you like least?" Jasper asked.

"Clive," I answered without missing a beat. That fucker had been on my ass from day one. I'd caught him following me before I went to live with King. After, he'd been downright insufferable. "He's been sizing me up for a coffin since day one."

"Well, the first one is usually the hardest to crack." Jasper grinned wide. "It means we get to inflict more damage."

"I like how you think." We saluted each other with our coffee cups and I downed a couple of swallows. After, we all dressed in the plastic coveralls. We were going to be making a mess.

Once ready, Jasper led the way into the room where the three men were secured to hooks buried four feet into pillars around the room. When we were ready for full renovations, all of this would go. For now, it gave us a quiet place to work. With the clocks counting down, I didn't want to waste time.

"Gentlemen," Jasper said as he clapped his glove hands together. "Thank you all for waiting for us. My name is Hawk, I'm going to be your host on this magical interrogation ride. You're probably thinking you can handle the pain. I'm here to tell you, that's okay. Keep telling yourselves that. We'll disabuse you of the notion soon enough."

I didn't laugh, but Jasper was performing like he was the master of ceremonies and this was our three ring circus. Then again, maybe these assholes were very much our monkeys.

"Don't everyone volunteer at once, we've taken the stress out of deciding who goes first for you." He mimed pulling out a card and flashing it at the room before he glanced at it. "Clive… do we have a Clive here?"

The man in question gave a little jerk, yanking his death-filled stare off of me to look at Jasper.

"Winner winner, chicken dinner. Good afternoon Clive, I'm Hawk." Jasper strode over to him. "How are you today?"

"Fuck you," was Clive's response.

Jasper made a buzzing sound then swung his fist hard and fast. It caught Clive right in the jaw. He snapped his head too hard and hit the wall behind him, leaving the first stain of blood.

"I'm sorry," Jasper said easily, barely even winded. "You chose the wrong answer. Would you like to try that again?"

"Sometimes," Mickey said in a low voice, his lips barely moving. "I forget just how much he enjoys this part."

Clive spat blood out as he glared at Jasper. He was on his knees, having collapsed there after the first blow. He fought to get up as Jasper waited, humming the song from Jeopardy.

Yeah, Mickey was right. I'd forgotten just how much fun Jasper could have with these interrogations.

"Go to hell," Clive said and Jasper made the buzzing sound again.

This time he slammed his fist so hard into the man's gut that he actually gagged and coughed up bile that Jasper dodged neatly.

"That's two strikes," Jasper informed him conversationally. "Would you like to try one more time? If not, I'm sure you can phone a friend or pass to the next player?"

"Go…" Clive gagged. "Fuck yourself."

Another buzzer sound and Jasper turned away from Clive to look at me. "I swear, manners have really gone downhill."

"They have," I agreed, picking up his bat and tossing it to him. "Once upon a time, a little please and thank you went a long way."

"Still does," Jasper said. "Unfortunately, three strikes and you're out." He pivoted smoothly, swinging the bat. It crashed into Clive's right knee with a sickening crunch. His howl cut off as he gagged again. It was hard to shriek and fight to breathe at the same time.

Definitely sounded like a him problem.

The other two stared at us with varying degrees of disbelief and concern. Probably wise on their part to be very concerned. Jasper glanced down at Clive who wasn't quite crying, but he was close.

Kind of depressing how fast he would fold.

Still, the faster we got the info, the faster we could act on it. Probably better to approach this at speed.

Didn't mean I didn't want it to hurt just a bit more.

"Right," Jasper gave a kind of nod, then glanced down at Clive before he looked at the other two. "Which of you guys is going next?"

There was a jagged moment of silence before both men began to sputter.