Canary by Tijan

23

Ash

Iliked the new place. It was an older home, and it was set back on a big piece of land. I didn’t want to think about how Raize had come to find this, but it had furniture. That was a bonus. I mean, the furniture was old. There were doilies on the wall as decoration pieces, and there were spiderwebs in almost every corner and under the beds. The place needed a full cleaning, which Cavers and I took care of the next day.

Now that things weren’t so dusty, I really loved having a bed. My spot was situated in the back corner of the second floor. Raize waited until Jake and Cavers were off on an errand and then he’d showed me a hidden door that led to a secret room and to a back exit.

The new dog’s name was Gus.

I’d wanted to name him Snake or Biter, but the guys outvoted me and Raize just left the room when asked for his vote.

So Gus it was.

After the attack, I got a better look at Gus and I still had no clue what breed he was. Cavers weighed him so we knew he was fifty seven pounds. He had short hair. Ears that stuck up. Smart eyes. His coat was a mix of all colors. He liked to smile and he’d nudged my arm more than once. I always took that as his apology for biting me.

I’d worried he’d miss that other family, but he hadn’t. So far.

When he woke from being drugged, he’d been funny. Walking around with his back legs half dragging. His head down. Eyes barely open. He kept walking into things, as if he were blind. Once he really woke up, the tail started going and he hadn’t done a search for his family. He was probably the most adjusted of all of us. That was saying something.

Raize had had one of his other men watch the house, to see if anyone came for the dog. After three days, no one showed, and Gus was officially ours. Jake confessed later that he’d always liked Gus the mouse from Cinderella, and that had sealed the deal for me. Consider me swayed.

It had been days since Raize had taken me on any errand, and I was getting restless. I didn’t particularly want a redo of the sex, so one afternoon I asked him if he or Jake could take me out for some shooting practice.

He took me.

I practiced on the land, but we went far enough that we had to take the truck. As we returned, we saw Jake and Cavers coming back from an errand.

“I don’t want either of them to know you can shoot a gun,” Raize informed me.

“Jake knows you took me that one time.”

“They don’t need to know you’ve gone more then.”

“Okay.”

He nodded and pulled up behind the guys. Gus was in the back and jumped out, running over to greet the guys as they got out of their car.

“Hey, Gussy Gus Gus Boy.” Jake knelt, giving Gus a rub behind his ears. He straightened when he saw Raize heading over, with me a bit behind. I tucked my gun into the back of my pants and pulled my shirt out and over it.

Since the whole Estrada kidnapping, Cavers had been less walled off toward me, even giving me a good morning and offering to cook a few of the meals. Jake, on the other hand, had been more cautious around me. I wasn’t quite sure why.

“I’m going to walk Gus,” Jake announced with a wave. “Be back.”

Raize glanced back before stepping inside, but he didn’t say anything. He headed for the back room he’d turned into his office.

It was nearing dinnertime, and Cavers was getting things set up in the kitchen.

The last couple days, I’d been helping him out, but today, as I lingered in the doorway, I decided to do something else.

I bypassed the kitchen, headed for Raize’s back office, and opened the door to see him flicking on some machine, a set of wireless headphones in his ears.

He looked up and motioned for me to come in. “Lock the door.”

He went to the window and peered out. I could see Jake going down the long driveway with Gus on his heels. Gus’ nose was to the ground while Jake focused on his phone.

I waited, folding into one of the corner chairs.

A second later, Raize hit a button. Jake’s voice came through a speaker. “...baby, yeah. How are you, beautiful?”

A moment later, a breathy female voice replied, “Hey there, sweetheart. I’m missing you so much.”

“Yeah? How much?”

“I’m so wet for you.”

My mouth dropped, and I could tell Raize was fighting a grin as he bent over some papers.

We were violating Jake’s privacy. Then again, you didn’t get privacy in this world. Ergo, I didn’t get all uppity, though I was uncomfortable hearing Jake talk about how big his dick was. I could see him walking Gus down to the road as he explained how hard he was stroking it.

The call ended when Jake and Gus were halfway back down the drive.

“What was the purpose of—”

Raize stuck his finger in the air. “Wait for it.”

I waited.

A moment later, we could hear buttons being punched and then the dial tone. Then a voice came over the line. “What do you have to report?”

I sat upright in my seat. That was Carloni.

Carloni, who was Raize’s boss, and who I didn’t think Jake was on a reporting basis with. But I sat back, stunned, and listened as he did just that.

“He made contact with Estrada,” Jake said.

“Estrada is there?”

“He was. I don’t know if he still is. This was the first time I could get away to call.”

“Tell me about the meet.”

“Estrada picked up the girl with us. Raize set up a meet to get her back. We were there with him, and then he called us off. He and Carrie returned an hour later. That’s all I know.”

“The girl? The Canary?”

“Canary?”

“That’s what she’s being called on the streets. She’s a human lie detector.” He paused, and I could hear his smirk as he added, “She sings, you know.”

“Yeah.” Jake’s voice was a bit rough. He bit out, “Her.”

“He has a weakness for her?”

Jake didn’t respond right away.

I looked out and saw that he had paused along the driveway. His head was bent forward, and he was staring at the gravel driveway. “I don’t think it’s that.”

“You’re biased.”

“I’m just saying it’s personal with Raize and Estrada. It seems personal, but I don’t know the history.”

“He sent you away?”

“Yes.”

“She was there the whole time?”

I stiffened, a shiver of wariness snaking down my spine.

“They were holding her, but he’s with her most of the time,” Jake replied, his voice a little muffled.

I glanced over and saw that Raize was also watching Jake. There was something different in his face I couldn’t decipher.

“I want her phone,” Carloni said.

I frowned.

“Get her phone, and we’ll send you an app to download onto it. It’ll give us full access.”

“He has her phone.”

“What the fuck?” Carloni snapped. “I sent you to watch him. You’ve reported literally nothing we can use. He’s still icing you out?”

“I’m on Cavers-babysitting duty.”

Carloni cursed again. “What’s the point of me having you on him? I might as well let it go and pull you back to work up here for me.”

Jake was silent for a beat again. “I’ll work her.”

“You told me that was impossible.”

“I’ll push harder. I’ll do better. She’s vulnerable. She said something about a sister. I’ll work that angle, talk about my family. I got a grandmother. I’ll talk about her, talk about my little sister. It’ll work.”

“You told me that wouldn’t work, that she’s locked down like you’ve never seen before.”

“Raize got in with her. I can do it, too.”

“You told me you didn’t have a little sister.”

“She don’t need to know that.”

There was silence on the line.

I held my breath, my stomach twisting.

“Fine,” Carloni said after a moment. “Raize down there is my call, but he answers to my brother. I know this, and he knows this. So does my brother. I can’t touch him. Her, on the other hand? She’s disposable. I don’t give a fuck if she’s a human lie detector. Get something to use from her or die—you and her. Got it?”

“Got it, boss.”

The line clicked silent. Carloni must have hung up because Jake stared at the phone for a full ten seconds before he ended his connection.

I could feel Raize’s gaze.

“That’s what they’re calling me?” And by ‘they,’ I hadn’t a clue who ‘they’ was.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

My gut, I guess it made sense. My hair.

I didn’t know what to say or feel or think about that.

But, Jake. I talked about something real with him.

Never show your cards. Never talk about anything real, anything personal.

I’d broken my own rules.

They didn’t know my real name, though. No one did, and that was everything.

I wouldn’t fuck up again.

I turned my eyes to Raize, finding him watching me. He was always watching me.

I showed my teeth. “Jake’s on the list.”

I gaveJake the cold shoulder for the next two days.

I know. Such a bad idea. So obvious. But I couldn’t help myself. I’d talked about her to him, and this was how he repaid me? And if he didn’t come up with something, both he and I would die? I wasn’t worried about that.

I wasn’t that girl anymore. I was me. I knew the stakes now. I knew what could happen.

I also knew who I was, and who I worked for, and I knew if it came to it, Raize would put a bullet in Jake’s head. Whatever was happening here, Raize had it under control.

He told me later that he’d learned Jake used the sexy calls as a safeguard in case someone was listening. Anyone recording would stop listening when the phone sex started, so no one would record the real conversations.

Fucking. Genius. On both accounts—Jake and Raize.

Me? I just wanted to learn how to shoot better, so Raize took me out every time he sent the guys on an errand.

On day five since my kidnapping, we were still waiting for Estrada’s decision.

Then it came.

I wished it hadn’t.