Dirty Dealers

Rain drums harder against the roof, high over our heads. A lone drop of water hits the back of my hand. Another hits her cheek, but she doesn’t brush it away. She sits as if she’s in shock.

Blood is on her neck, and her hands are bound with that same fucking yellow nylon rope. Blix favors tools you’d find in a tackle box, and the horrific remains of his last victim trickle through my mind. Nylon twine lashed over and over around the victim’s neck. The tips of every finger clipped off with skinning sheers…

Freddie’s voice breaks my macabre reflection. “It’s completely deserted. He knew we were coming and ran.”

My eyes remain on the small woman sitting on the floor shivering.

“He must have left her behind,” Freddie says going to Kass. He pats down her arms before moving to her waist. “What’s this?”

In one swift move, he whips a holster from her waistband. She flinches back as if he might strike her, but Freddie doesn’t even notice. He’s back with me shining his light on the triangle of leather.

“Cold steel,” he muses. “It’s the holster for a punch dagger.”

We both look back at her shivering, eyes fixed on some point on the floor.

Freddie returns to her, speaking loudly. “What are you doing here?”

Her eyes slide shut and she shakes her head slowly. A lone tear slides down her damp cheek, and I steel myself. I won’t let it tear me apart.

“Answer me!” Freddie barks. “Who are you working with?”

Silence again, the noise of rain. We wait, and I refuse to interrupt this. I won’t act like I know her when clearly I know nothing.

Another minute passes, and finally she shakes her head slowly. “No one.” Her voice is thick and broken. “I’m a dead girl.”

Freddie looks at me, but my eyes are fixed on Kass. I hadn’t told any of them about her. I never had a chance. Rowan knows I had a date tonight, but he doesn’t know with whom. Nothing connects me to her. I’m free to walk away and let her face justice.

My feet move. I’m walking, but I go straight to where she’s sitting, pulling a knife from my pocket as I move. I kneel beside her and grasp the thick rope binding her wrists. Her chin drops, and it takes me a moment to saw through the cords. With a pop, they fall away, and I see the raw marks where they tore into her delicate skin.

My jaw grinds. I’m angry and confused. Still, I move her hands into her lap. She’s silently crying as I grasp her arms and lift her to her feet. Her knees give out, and I lean down, picking her up. Her face presses against my neck, and I feel her tears on my skin. I pause a moment to breathe through the pain before heading to the broken-down wall where we entered the villa.

“Let’s go,” I nod as I pass Freddie.

He’s silently watching the whole thing. “Where?”

“We’ll take her to Occitan,” I say, stepping over the pile of stones into the darkness and rain. My partner’s right behind me.

* * *

Kass sits on a small cot in the service room near the back entrance of the royal family’s ocean estate. I’m not comfortable taking her to the palace, and this is the closest secure area to the villa where we found her. I don’t trust her now. As for the other feelings still alive in my chest, I’ll deal with them later.

The housekeeper Nesbit brings a bowl of water and a cloth. Freddie leans against the opposite wall, arms crossed, his dark eyes trained on her. I sit in a chair to the side of the narrow cot my fingers steepled at my lips. We wait as the woman dips the cloth in the water and uses it to clean the blood off her neck.

Freddie breaks the silence. “I’ve alerted Reggie we have a captive. None of his spies have information about a female working with them.”

“I can confirm she was with them on the flight from Miami.” My voice is level, angry. I watch as Nesbit finishes cleaning the blood then rinses the cloth.

“How?” Freddie asks.

I wait for the housekeeper to rise. “If that will be all, sir?” Nesbit asks with a slight bow.

“For now. Thank you,” I say, and she leaves the room.

Freddie shuts the door behind her and looks at me, waiting. It’s late, and my eyes are tired. My whole body is tired. The rain has grown stronger, and flashes of lightning are followed by loud peals of thunder.

With a measured breath, I start the interrogation. “What is your relationship to Blix Ratcliffe?”

Kass looks down at her wrists, now wrapped in clean white bandages. I’m not sure how much she can see, but the room we’re in is white walls and dark furniture. Freddie is darker than I am, so I’m pretty sure she can at least make out there’s two of us here.