The Killer’s New Obsession by B.B. Hamel
Cam
After staying so long at the manor house, it felt odd to go back into the city. I drove and Irene sat up front while Sasha lounged in the back, staring out the window.
“You ever wonder why there are so many cars?” she asked.
“Sounds like something a high teenager would say,” Irene said, grinning.
“I mean it though.” Sasha tapped on the glass. “So many damn cars. You’d think we’d figure out a better way to move people around.”
I exchanged a look with Irene, who was smiling huge. Irene and Sasha got close over the last few days and I was beginning to worry that Sasha was a bad influence. Except Irene seemed happy to have a friend, and I couldn’t begrudge her that.
In fact, I thought it was a good thing. The way Irene talked about the street made it sound like she had nobody, or at least the people she spent time with were only temporary, and only using each other for warmth or safety. I couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like going so long without any real connections, no friends or brothers or colleagues, just the streets and survival. It was a miracle she hadn’t come out feral.
Though she was a little feral, truth be told. I caught her casing the Don’s study one night and when I asked what the hell she was doing, she just shrugged and said, “Might be something worth stealing in here.”
I had to make it very clear that she could not, under any circumstances, steal from the Don.
She probably understood.
I navigated toward West Philly and parked down near the South Street Bridge. We walked to the hiking path that snaked along the Schuylkill River and ignored the crowds out for a stroll on a sunny afternoon. The girls kept close to each other, talking in soft, nervous whispers, and I led the way, keeping an eye out for threats, though it was unlike the Healy family would be stupid enough to do anything violent in such a big crowd. The river path was a major destination for city folk on a nice day and the runners, walkers, and bikers dominated the area, with more lounging around on the benches.
I spotted Anna sitting outside of the dog park on a bench that looked in through the fence. Two girls I didn’t recognize were with her, and I spotted a few young, pretty, vaguely European girls in skimpy outfits sitting at another bench nearby. I saw a few more scattered around the park, standing in groups of two or three, all of them young, all of them attractive, and all of them with the savage look of a girl that had been through some shit.
I looked back at Sasha and motioned her forward. “You see them?” I asked, nodding in the direction of Anna and all the others.
Sasha perked up. “She brought more than I thought,” she said.
“Do you know them all?”
“Most,” she said. “The ones I recognize are good people. The others, I can’t speak for.”
“Fair enough,” I said and let out a breath. I had slight nerves, but I pushed them aside, and approached Anna and the two girls with her.
Anna stood up, beaming. “I wondered if you’d come,” she said.
Sasha ran ahead and hugged her. “I thought maybe you got yourself killed.”
“Oh, no, not me,” Anna said. “I’m a survivor, remember?” She let go of Sasha and gave me a look. “Although your men haven’t exactly been gentlemen.”
I cocked my head. “Anyone touch you?”
She laughed and shook her head. “No, of course not. But they drink too much and gamble all night. Keeps me awake.”
“I’ll talk to them,” I said, relaxing a bit. I didn’t think Linc or the others would be stupid enough to try something on this girl, but you could never be sure when it came to mafioso.
Irene stood next to me, stiff and uncomfortable. She glanced at Anna and Sasha, then at the other girls, scanning across the park toward the other groups. Anna followed her gaze and her grin got bigger.
“I brought more than you expected, I bet,” she said. “I tried to keep it small, but more girls kept wanting to get involved.”
“How many are there now?” Irene asked.
“Twenty,” Anna said.
I let out a sharp laugh. “Twenty?” I asked. “You’re kidding?”
“Not kidding,” Anna said.
Sasha beamed proudly. “Told you, these bitches are powerful,” she said, and punched Anna in the arm.
Anna grunted, rubbing at the spot. “More like angry,” she said, and gestured for the two girls to join her. One was blonde with very dark eyebrows, and the other was a brunette with her hair up in a tight braid. Both were pretty in an almost severe way with tight outfits, high heels, and scowls like they wanted to burn the place down. “This is Vera and Lara,” she said, gesturing at them. “They’ve been a lot of help.”
“You’re the big strong mafia guy, huh?” The blonde girl, Vera, stepped up to me, arms crossed over her chest, a scowl on her lips. “Anna says you want to help us kill the Healy pigs.”
“Easy,” Anna said. “He’s on our side.”
“None of them are on our side,” Lara said, nudging up against Vera. “Unless he gives us guns. Then he’s okay.”
“Guns are coming,” Sasha said. “I promise you that.”
Vera seemed skeptical and she draped an arm over Lara’s shoulders. “Me and my sister, we want big guns. Very, very big funs.”
I grimaced slightly. Sisters, fucking hell. Forced to sleep with men for money together. I could only imagine how messed up that was and truly didn’t want to know the details of whatever sick shit the Healys forced on them. Irene tensed at my side and I guessed she had the same thought.
“You’ll get guns,” I said. “But first I need to make sure you can use them.”
“Point and shoot,” Vera said, making a barrel with her finger. “Bang, bang. Not so hard.”
“There’s more to it than that,” Anna said softly.
“We’ll teach you,” I said, approaching the sisters. Both girls glared at me defiantly. “We’ll have to start with these outfits though.”
“What, you don’t like this?” Lara gestured at herself. “I look hot. Healy boys love it.”
I pushed her shoulder. Not hard, but enough to make her stumble in those stupidly high heels. “You need practical shoes,” I said.
“Dick,” Lara said, and both sisters glared death at me.
I looked out at the other skinny, exhausted, scared-looking girls and wondered if I was making a massive mistake. Giving them weapons and sending them off to die fighting real mafia guys wasn’t going to accomplish anything, and would only get them hurt. These girls couldn’t fight even if they wanted to.
Anna stepped up next to me. “They’re ready,” she said firmly, face set. “I swear. I talked to them, and they’re serious.”
“I don’t know,” I said.
Sasha came next. “I’ll beat the fucking shit out of you if you try to back down now,” she said, glaring at me.
“Big man’s getting cold feet, huh?” Vera asked, grinning wickedly. “Of course, big strong mafia man, scared of some girls in short skirts and high heels.”
“Typical man,” Lara said.
I ignored the sisters. “Willing to fight is one thing, able to fight is another. Half these girls look strung out.”
“What do you expect?” Anna asked. “Half these girls are strung out. And they’ll stay strung out if they don’t fight.”
“Cam.” I looked back at Irene, who stood a few feet away, hands clasped behind her back. She stared at me with a fire in her eyes. “We’re doing this. Don’t back out now.”
I sucked in a breath and let it out. “All right,” I said and looked down at Anna. “You have to teach them. I’ll get you equipment, and you figure out how to teach these girls how to shoot without tipping the Healy family off.”
“I don’t know how the hell we’ll do that,” she said.
“Bring them to the mansion,” Sasha said, waving a hand in the air. “They’ll love it! Sit by the pool, take a little dip, shoot some guns. It’s great.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Anna said, shrugging. “Nowhere to shoot in the city, not while hiding from the Healys.”
“And how are they going to get out there, assuming the Don allows this?” I asked.
“They get time off to go into town,” Anna said. “Not a lot, but they do. They’ll grab an Uber, act like they’re going into Center City to do some shopping, then grab a cab and take it back out to the mansion. The Healy family doesn’t follow them. The girls know what happens if they don’t come back.”
“Shit,” I said, and looked up at the sky. “I’m going to have to ask Don Valentino if I can train a bunch of hookers how to shoot in his back yard.”
Sasha patted me on the back. “Cheer up. At least they’re hot.”
I shook my head. “For some reason, that doesn’t help.” I turned away and walked back to Irene. “Make the plans,” I said.
“Will do, captain,” Anna said. “Should we start tomorrow?”
I nodded and waved. Sasha caught up with me as I rejoined Irene, and the three of us walked slowly back through the crowds toward my car. “This is never going to work,” I said.
Sasha glared at me. “You set this in motion,” she said. “And now you want to stop it?”
“I don’t want to stop it,” I said, “but you saw those girls back there. Half of them won’t be able to hold a damn gun, let alone kill a man. And now I’m supposed to sneak them out to the Don’s mansion for training.” I shook my head and looked at Irene. “I’m sorry, but we’ve got to find another way.”
Sasha grabbed my arm and held it hard. A group of runners had to split up to get around us. We stood near a tunnel that cut through a hill, and people walked all around, strolling with loved ones, blissfully unaware of the war that was simmering in the city.
“Listen to me,” she said, staring up into my eyes like she wasn’t some little tiny thing. “I’m saying this once. We’re not backing down. You got those girls out here, which means you got their hopes up. You have no clue what that means for them.”
“I know what it’s like to lose hope,” I said, staring back at her.
“No, you don’t,” Irene said, and we both looked at her.
She stared down at the ground for a long moment, fidgeting with her shirt, before meeting my eyes. She looked exhausted and terrified, but her jaw was set, and she took a step closer to me.
“I lost hope out there,” she said. “When I was living day to day, hoping for my next meal, I lost hope. And I’ll tell you right now, I still haven’t gotten it back yet, and I think I’d kill to believe in something, even a little bit.”
“You sure that’s worth putting them through all this?” I asked. “One slip-up, one unlucky mistake, and it’s finished.”
“It’s worth it,” Irene said. “I wasn’t sure at first, but seeing them here today convinced me. They look so much like people I knew out there.” She looked toward the city, up at the massive buildings looming over the relative calm of the river trail. “Everyone on the street’s a little bit lost, and everyone out there’s looking for some hope. If those girls believe this can work, we have to let them try.”
I let that sink in. I took it for granted that Irene was safe and with me now, but hearing her experience again made me understand that this was about more than the Valentinos and the Healys. This was about a bunch of girls that were tricked into leaving their homes and sold into sex work, forced to stay there through threats, coercion, and drugs. It was about giving them something to believe in.
“We’ll try one group,” I said finally. “One group comes out and I teach them, but no more than one. After that, it’s up to Anna to figure it out.”
“Fine,” Sasha said quickly, and Irene stared at me with fear in her eyes, but she seemed determined to move forward.
“Tell her,” I said, and began walking again. Sasha turned and ran back to the dog park.
Irene caught up with me. She slipped her hand into mine and leaned her head against my shoulder.
“You’re not a monster,” she said. “And maybe you do some things for free.”
“Only for you,” I said, squinting at the path ahead of us. “These girls are going to pay for this chance in blood. You know that, right? Are you ready for it?”
“I’m ready,” she said, and squeezed my hand hard.
We walked back together and waited for Sasha at the car, then the three of us drove out to the mansion to plan.
