Red Handed by Jessa Wilder
Ilay on my leather couch, eyes closed, listening to the blessed sound of fucking silence. No screaming, no music, no asinine chatter coming from Sophie’s room. The only positive thing about them not being back yet was the quiet from next door.
I needed to come up with a new plan.
The last month had been bullshit. There was a reason I never improvised, and the proof was now on her way back to the hotel, anticipating a good reason I needed her to be here.
“They’re back,” Rush announced as he flung the door open. “Bro, what the fuck?”
I cracked an eye open, already aware of what he was reacting to. The broken shards of my glass coffee table lay across the floor, several bullet casings lodged in the rug. “I already called the cleaners.”
Rush looked down at the former table and sighed. “Regular cleaners or body cleaners?”
I frowned at him, annoyed. “Regular. Fuck, does it look like I killed anyone?”
“Dunno.” He poked his head into my bedroom like I was hiding a body in there, and my frown deepened. “You need a fucking therapist, dude.”
“No, I need to kill The Hatter, put my mother in a home, and spend an entire week shit-faced fucking a revolving door of porn stars.”
Rush raised his eyebrows, but didn’t comment as he stepped carefully over the ruined coffee table to sit in the armchair across from the couch. Admittedly, that idea held less appeal than it should have.
“You said they’re back?” I asked.
“Yeah. Beck just texted, they’re unloading now. Sophie brought more shit.”
I glanced at my watch. It was 9:30PM. I’d definitely said I wanted Raegan here for dinner, but fine. I hadn’t really expected her to show up. That I wanted to spend any time with her at all alarmed me more than anything else. That was a desire best buried alive.
Anyone else and I’d have shot them weeks ago. Raegan made it her life’s mission to be disrespectful and yet, I couldn’t find the energy to do anything about it. I didn’t even care anymore. Jesus Christ, maybe Rush was right. I did need therapy.
“I want to bring her with us tonight,” I said absently.
“Sophie?” Rush said, alarmed.
I glanced up, confused. “What? Fuck no, Raegan.”
“Why?”
I couldn’t fucking fathom why he looked so confused. I closed my eyes and stood, stepping over the broken glass and striding toward the kitchen “Because I told her I needed her to come back right away and I promised her she could help hunt down the fuckers who kidnapped her. Anyway, I’m telling you we should keep a closer eye on what she’s capable of.”
That sounded good. I’d had a whole three hours to think up the logic behind demanding Raegan come back to the hotel. I didn’t really need her here, but I’d called and made it sound like she had to come back right away and now if I didn’t come up with a reason for that call then... then, nothing.
Nothing would happen. No one would say anything to me about it. Even if anyone fucking noticed, they wouldn’t dare call me on it. No one would know I’d asked Raegan to come here for no reason except me and her, but that was still unbearable.
Rush looked contemplative for a second. “You know, those assholes who took her thought she was Sophie because of her red hair.”
“We don’t know that.” I ran a hand over the back of my neck. “There could have been any number of reasons.”
He scoffed. “Come on, man, I made the same mistake at the masquerade gala. So did you when you first went over there.”
“Only because you fucking told me she was Sophie an hour before I got there.”
“Fuck off. You know you would have thought the same. You didn’t know there were two of them.”
“And don’t you think that’s fucking suspicious?” I hissed. “That just goes back to what I was saying. Why would Jimmy hide he had a third kid?”
“You’re getting as paranoid as your dad.” Rush shook his head. “Anyway, it’s obvious what your real problem is so if you’re not going to own up to it, at least buy some cheaper furniture.”
He had no fucking idea what he was talking about. I had no problems. I was doing fucking outstanding. One hundred percent A1 every fucking day of the year.
“What do you want me to do? This whole situation is a shitshow,” I grumbled.
“I want you to tell Rae what’s going on. You said you would.”
I glowered at him. “Yeah, cause you cared so much about telling her before you were fucking her. I notice it’s just Raegan you’re interested in letting in on the secret, not both of them.”
Rush didn’t deny he was fucking her, which was the confirmation I’d been fishing for. I pinched the bridge of my nose. He was really on my last goddamn nerve. I told Raegan I’d give her answers, but she hadn’t called me on it yet and I sure as hell wasn’t going to remind her. I doubted she forgot. She was probably holding out until the right moment to spring a question on me and really fuck me over.
I crossed to the bar cart and poured myself a drink, just to have something to do with my hands. Rush looked like he wanted to keep arguing, but wisely kept his mouth shut. It was a rare day when Rush pissed me off as much as Beck. Both of them were basically my only family, but unlike Beck, who never seemed aware of how fucking lucky he was to still be breathing, Rush was more conscious of when he was close to a broken nose. Lately, though, he didn’t seem to give a fuck anymore. I could guess who’s influence that was.
“Sorry we’re late. Or, to be honest, I’m really not.”
I glanced up sharply. My suite door opened, and Beck and Raegan walked in. He had one hand in the back pocket of her jean shorts and was wearing sunglasses despite the fact that it was past 9:00PM and we were inside. Fucker.
Raegan glanced at the broken table and then up at me, her expression unreadable. I could never fucking figure out what she was thinking. I hadn’t stayed alive this long by being bad at reading people. It was just her.
She picked up a huge shard of glass with delicate fingers and brandished it at me like a sword. “One of these days you guys are going to have to bring me to this mythical gym you claim to have. I don’t believe it.”
I blinked at her. What? Why? I shook my head to clear it. “Put that down, we’re already behind schedule.”
“Oh? I didn’t realize we had anywhere to be, my liege.” She made a mock bow.
“You would if you’d been here for dinner to discuss it.” I sipped my drink.
She smiled. “Maybe if you want me to be somewhere, you should try asking nicely.”
I raked my gaze over her. She was wearing another one of those stupid t-shirts and shorts that made her look like a rebellious nineteen-year-old. We needed to do something about that.
“We’re all leaving in twenty minutes. Meet in the garage.” I downed the rest of my drink. “Oh, and Raegan, we’re breaking and entering. For the love of Christ, wear pants.”
* * *
I immediately regretted my request for pants as soon as Raegan walked into the parking garage. She had to be fucking with me. She couldn’t possibly wear jeans like a regular woman. She wore leather pants so tight they could have been spray paint. That was really all I needed. I was trying to run a goddamn organization, and the entire thing was going to be derailed by one somewhat—very—attractive girl and her tight ass.
“Raegan!” I barked, trying to avoid looking at her directly. “What are you carrying?”
I glanced up at her prolonged silence. She stared down her nose at me, a bemused expression on her face. “Phone, keys, condoms, forty bucks.”
“Don’t be cute. Weapons. What weapons are you carrying?”
She rolled her eyes and lifted her t-shirt to show me two Eagles and what looked like a hunting knife clipped to her belt. I narrowed my eyes, debating, arguing that she should take something with a larger mag from the weapons room.
“Leave it, man.” Beck clapped me on the shoulder as he got into the backseat of the car. “Not worth it, she’ll get buried with those guns.”
Raegan followed Beck into the back seat. “So where are we going?” she asked as I slammed the passenger door shut.
“We pulled the contact information for the Trilogy tech guy off one of the stolen SIM cards. He lives on the East Side. It’s time to pay a visit to someone with a direct line to The Hatter.”
Beck inhaled sharply, and I felt a minor twinge of guilt. I hadn’t warned him, we'd be working tonight and bringing Raegan. Still, he needed to get the fuck over it. Either she was going to watch him peel someone’s skin off and go running, or she wouldn’t. I couldn’t decide which option I preferred.
The apartment building was a shabby brick walk-up in the kind of neighborhood where it wasn’t really safe to leave the Range Rover unattended.
“I’ll wait with the car,” Beck said, his knuckles white on his knees. “We’re not doing it here, right?”
I shook my head. “The crematory.”
“Sick. I’ll wait then.” He sounded like he was steeling himself.
Raegan put her head on his shoulder, and I tried not to roll my eyes. Yet another example of how she was going to ruin us.
“Raegan, let’s go,” I snapped.
She muttered something to Beck, and he laughed. Both of them could go fuck themselves.
I got out of the car and assessed the area. There wasn’t anyone in sight, just some litter blowing in the wind and a stray cat a block up. The evening was cold and damp, like it could rain, which was perfect. Rain washed away footprints and the odor of blood like nothing else.
Raegan jogged up beside me on the dark street. “I’m not a fucking pet, Nico, or one of your Gentlemen.”
“What?”
“Raegan, come! Raegan, put on pants! Raegan, use different guns!” She imitated my voice. “Are you having some sort of nervous breakdown?”
That was a good question, actually. Maybe I was losing it. Getting too paranoid or some shit. Sometimes I wished I’d been bored stupid, or at least less intense. It was probably much easier to be a fucking moron.
I tore my eyes away from the apartment building and looked down at Raegan. Her expression was mischievous, but there was a hint of hardness. She wasn’t joking. She didn’t like when I gave her orders. Fuck, I hadn’t even noticed I’d been doing it. I knew I wasn’t going to stop, but nodded once anyway, conceding the point. Let her think she won this round.
“The building is shit, but the security is good,” Rush said, obviously not listening to mine and Raegan’s conversation. “The guy we’re here for set it up himself which should say something about his abilities.”
“How do you know that?” Raegan asked
“Doesn’t matter,” I snapped, and she rolled her eyes.
I didn’t even know why I cared. She would be here to see us torture this son of a bitch, so why did it matter if she knew we got the information from torturing the owner of one of the phones she stole for me? Habit, maybe.
Raegan pulled her phone out of her back pocket and typed in a password. “There are cameras on every floor,” she said. “Four floors, all hooked up to the same system.”
“How long can you jam them?”
She raised a brow at me. “Indefinitely if we’re in range, but only for a few minutes if you don’t want it to be detectable.”
“I don’t care if it’s detectable. The guy who checks them won’t be coming back here, I just don’t want him to see us coming up the stairs and go out a back way.”
She typed something into her phone. “Yeah, no problem, you’re all set.”
Rush watched her appreciatively, like she was a fucking savant or something. I rolled my eyes. She probably didn’t even come up with the technology herself, just knew how to use an app. I should have sent someone to do this for me. I was already regretting dealing with it myself. “Let’s just fucking go.”
The inside of the building was worse than the outside. The hallways were dingy with grey carpeting that was undoubtedly growing something, and peeling yellow wallpaper. Everything smelled of weed and piss mixed with mildew.
“Lovely,” Raegan commented as she stepped over a dead mouse carcass.
“He’s up on the third floor,” Rush said. “Apartment 3C.”
We paused outside the apartment door. Rush glanced at me, waiting for a nod of approval before pulling out his gun and shooting the doorknob clean off, then kicking the door where the knob had been. The cheap plywood door burst open with a crash.
The apartment beyond wasn’t any better than the hallway, either in terms of lighting or decor. The floor was littered with beer cans and other debris, and the window blinds were all in tatters. A disgusting microfiber couch took up most of the main room, which was both kitchen and living room.
I stepped through the doorway and peered into the dark bedroom to the right of the entry.
Inside the dark room, it became clear where the occupant of this apartment was spending any money he had. Ten computer screens stood end to end on five desks, arranged in a semicircle near the back of the room. Various electronic equipment littered any open space on the desks—cameras, hard drives, a VR headset. Some things I didn’t even recognize, but Rush could probably work out for me.
In the middle of the circle, a tall, thin man with dishwater blond hair sat frozen in a padded desk chair. His mouth fell open as he stared at me, clearly shocked to be interrupted. One glance at the screen furthest to the left explained his confusion. He had the security camera feeds for the whole building up on the monitor. Raegan’s jammer must have been working, because the halls appeared empty.
After a split second’s hesitation, he dove for the floor, scrambling to reach something. Goddammit. I’d just learned a vital piece of information about our mark. He was a coward. Cowards were fucking useful in interrogations because they talked, but they were also twitchy. If he had a gun or some kind of self-destruct switch under there, we were fucked. I wasn’t worried he would hurt one of us. I was worried he’d kill himself instead of letting himself get captured.
Rush obviously had the same thought, because he darted forward and fired two shots into the darkness under the desk. The man yelled, but not in a way that implied we’d hit him, more like just scared him. Jesus Christ, was this seriously who we were dealing with?
“Knock him out and tie him up,” I said, without interest. “Let’s get out of here.”
Rush grabbed the guy by the collar, looking equally disgusted. “You sure this is the guy?”
I glanced at the computers. It matched the intel we had. “Yeah, and if not, Beck will find out fast.”
Rush shrugged and slammed the dude's face into the nearest desk, then pulled a handful of zip ties out of his pocket.
“Was that necessary?” Raegan wrinkled her nose as she poked her head inside the room.
I gave her a long look. “You get that he helped organize your kidnapping, right?”
She stepped back. “Seriously? Him?”
“Theoretically. We’ll get more answers when we question him and go through the computers, but we’re not doing that here.”
She nodded mutely, a hard expression on her face. I would’ve killed to know what she was thinking. I’d killed for less.
Within minutes we had the guy unconscious and strung up like a thanksgiving turkey. He hadn’t put up much of a fight. Almost disappointing. But then, he was the tech guy. Probably not a trained marksman or anything. Still, pathetic.
“Give me a minute,” Rush called from the next room. “I’m just going to collect all this shit.”
Rae shifted between her feet by the door and tapped at her phone, frowning. “One of the cameras downstairs just came back online.”
I raised a brow at her. “And?”
“And that shouldn’t happen.” She pulled a gun out of her belt and reached for the doorknob. “I’ll be right back.”
“No, you fucking won’t. Stay right there,” I barked with more intensity than I’d intended.
She smirked. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Grumpy. It’s probably nothing. I’m just going to get a better signal for my jammer.”
Before I could say anything else, she slipped out the door, phone and gun held in front of her. Fuck.
“Rush,” I barked. “Hurry up.”
“I’m trying, bro. He’s got a lot of shit in here.”
I ran a hand through my hair. My eyes darted from the unconscious man on the floor, to the half-open door, to the faint light coming from the room where Rush was, and back. “I’ll be right back.”
I left the tech guy and slipped out the door after Raegan, my mind racing. Maybe I was being paranoid. I’d been on fucking edge all day. All week actually. Rush was right. I had some sort of problem with this girl. Maybe I could buy bulletproof furniture. For fuck’s sake, I should have just shipped her back to where she came from. I wasn’t even convinced this alliance with Jimmy was going to work, and that aside, it’s not like I needed to keep Raegan here to accomplish that. Maybe I was turning into a masochist. How fucking ironic.
Three loud cracks rang through the quiet building—gunshots.
My heart pounded against my ribs as raw panic tore through me. It was an unfamiliar feeling. Or, it had been until a week ago. I should have left her at the hotel. Or at Mount Summer. Why the fuck had I made her come with us?
I whipped around the corner, heading for the noise, which sounded like it was coming from up ahead. The dim light of the apartment hallway flickered like a B horror movie, and ahead the sound of scuffling felt like a deafening roar.
I rounded another corner at a full sprint and skidded to a halt. Raegan stood with her back pressed up against the filthy wall, an enormous man in front of her holding a knife to her throat. There were two bodies bleeding out at their feet, one dead, one nearly so.
Darkness pressed in on the edges of my vision, red and black, as rage washed over me. In a daze, I reached for my gun.
The sound of my footsteps had alerted the man to my presence. He looked up at me and recognition sparked in his face. I couldn’t say the same. This person was no one. Maybe a Trilogy member, maybe just an asshole. Now he was a dead asshole.
Raegan used the asshole’s distraction as an opportunity to force his arm away from her throat, kneeing him in the stomach in the process. He grunted, and she shifted enough that I had a clear shot.
Reminding myself of the day we’d stolen the laptop, I aimed at the asshole’s head. Then, at the last second, I shifted, shooting him in the gut instead. This one didn’t get to die quickly. This time I was going to make him suffer.
He yelled as he toppled back and I smiled, darting forward as the knife he’d planned to use on Raegan clattered to the floor. Grabbing the knife, I didn’t break stride as I stabbed the man in the sternum over the bullet wound. He screamed, his eyes filling with something like fear as I twisted the blade.
He choked, gurgling as blood poured from the wound, soaking his t-shirt and spilling over my hands, staining them red. I watched the blackness still seeping in on the edges of my vision as the light disappeared from the man’s eyes and he slumped to the ground. The knife stuck out of his stomach—a macabre sword in the stone—warning anyone else what would happen if they touched what was mine.
My breath came in heavy pants, and I leaned against the wall, trying to regain some sense of space. Footsteps registered in the back of my mind as Raegan stepped up behind me. I whipped around, adrenaline still coursing through my body.
I stared at her, vision coming in and out, barely containing the rage that still wanted to take over. There wasn’t anyone else to kill or even furniture to break, just Raegan, watching me like she knew something. I was going to shake her, scream at her to tell me why she was looking at me like that.
“Well, I think we deserve an A for effort on that, don’t you think?” she said. “Maybe I should get the higher grade on the group project, though. I did kill two, and you only got one.”
I blinked, surprised. The black tunnel receded from my vision slightly. How the fuck did she do that? She always said the most ridiculous shit, and it shocked me back to myself.
I scanned the hallway, to her, to the bodies, to her. She didn’t look hurt, but I raised a hand to her face anyway, turning her cheek red with blood. I opened my mouth and then closed it. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to scream at her and tell her to go back to where she came from and never come back or... not that. “Rabbit…”
A noise up the hallway made me tense, ready for another attack. I whipped around to see Rush jogging toward us, weighed down by an enormous bag of electric equipment. I blinked. Where was the tech guy?
“What the fuck?” Rush called from several yards away.
His eyes darted from Raegan, to me, to the bodies, back to Raegan. I wondered how the scene looked to him from the outside and then found I didn't care.
“Where’s the guy?” Raegan asked.
“Dead,” Rush said, disgusted. “Woke up and shot himself. Must have either had some good information or just been really afraid of being interrogated. Either way, I called the cleaners.”
“No,” I said too loudly.
Raegan and Rush looked at me, obviously perplexed.
“Don’t call them. Leave the bodies.”
Rush raised an eyebrow, then looked again at the man with the knife sticking out of his chest. “Fine.” He gave Raegan one more long look, then walked out of the building.
“Come on, Grumpy.” She grabbed my hand.
I stared down at our joined hands in bewilderment. She either didn’t notice or didn’t care that blood from my hand coated her fingers, marking her with my sins. There was something in that image—our bloody hands dripping onto the pavement as I let her pull me into the dark street. A metaphor, or a phrase I couldn’t quite place right now.
It was raining. Distantly, I considered that I’d been right about the rain—that was good. It would wash away the blood trail.
I looked down at our hands again. The blood trail was an unnecessary, unplanned complication. What the fuck was I thinking? I couldn’t afford to lose my shit like that. Raegan was threatened when we stole the laptop and I hadn’t felt so… nothing. Nothing was happening. I needed a plan and a drink.
Raegan turned back to me as we walked and smiled. I stopped breathing, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. She said something—a question—but I couldn’t hear her over the rushing in my head. My vision tunneled again, blocking out everything but her.
I started breathing again. Whatever feeling I’d just had suddenly replaced with nausea. Fuck me.