17
Mercy
It feltweird to be standing in front of my house again, this time in daylight and facing the front door, as if I hadn’t snuck inside just last night. In the guise of darkness, I’d been able to pretend that I was in a different reality, one in which my house belonged to me. Now I had armed strangers eyeing me from what was technically my porch.
I dragged in a breath and fidgeted with the collar of the button-up shirt Anthea had lent me so I looked more professional than I felt. Then I marched up the front walk.
The men on the porch straightened up, but they didn’t draw the guns I could see at the waists of their jeans. They were expecting me. I’d called this meeting with the Red Shark’s people as the current leader of the Claws and the daughter of the man who’d called them into my world.
A couple of the men—younger ones—shifted restlessly on their feet. I didn’t think they liked my arrival. Well, too bad for them.
As I climbed up the steps, refusing to let my nerves show, the front door opened. A man in a polo shirt motioned me in. “Mercy Katz. You came.”
I fixed him with my best Claws Princess look. “I said I would.”
He gave me a tight, sharp-edged smile. “Some of us thought it was a prank. But we made sure we were prepared anyway. Come in.”
As if it was his house and not mine. I bit back the snarky remarks I wanted to make and stepped over the threshold.
The family pictures that had been hung in the foyer were missing, leaving pale marks on the striped wallpaper where they’d been. The only one left was of Dad alone, and it’d been disfigured with streaks of red and black paint. Had these pricks defaced it, or had that been the Steel Knights who’d staked a claim on this house before?
The man saw me watching the picture. “Like that?”
I ignored his bait. “I’d like to get on with our meeting. Are you in charge of the Red Shark’s presence in Paradise Bend?”
Several men had come down the stairs and stepped into the hall to watch, a couple of them with guns in hand. More than one gaze lingered on my chest. I restrained a shudder of disgust.
“Don’t go by appearances, boys,” said the man who’d greeted me. “This one bites. Hard.” He nodded to me. “Your reputation precedes you. We’ve heard that you took on the Steel Knights and killed their leader yourself. We’d just like to make sure you don’t get any of the same ideas here. My boss is this way.”
He led me into the dining room. Someone had smashed the crystal chandelier that hung over the broad oak table. My teeth set on edge as I took in the man sitting at the head of the table.
He was middle aged, with a creased forehead and a graying goatee, dressed in a suit I could tell was expensive. He glanced up from his newspaper with a bored look as if I’d disturbed his reading, but I didn’t let that faze me. I knew the Red Shark’s contingent was on the losing side of the battle with the Storm so far. I’d seen the edginess of his men. They wouldn’t be so worried about little old me if they’d been sure of their foothold here.
“So you’re Mercy Katz,” he said, setting the newspaper aside. “You have ten minutes to tell me exactly why you’re here, or my men will put a bullet in your head.” He smiled thinly as if he hadn’t just threatened my life.
I echoed his expression. He wasn’t going to intimidate me. I’d faced much worse. “I don’t even need ten minutes. It’s very simple. I know that my father’s the one who suggested you come here and take a stake in Paradise Bend. He never told me about that deal or why he made it, but he’s dead now, so I don’t see how it matters. What matters is you don’t have any deal at all with anyone alive here.”
“Are you looking to make a new one, Miss Katz?”
I folded my arms over my chest. “No. I’m telling you I think you should leave. You don’t have any alliances here. You’ve lost men to the Storm’s forces, and they’re obviously not letting up their attacks. What’s the point in staying?”
He cocked his head. “Why do you care? Just want us to make things easier for you when you try to reclaim your territory.”
“No,” I said. “I want to stop seeing blood all over the streets and the people I grew up with living in terror. But I’ll point out that this territory was never really my father’s to bargain away anyway. The whole county belongs to the Nobles, and they’re not interested in giving it up.”
The man snorted as if I’d said something ridiculous. Then he tapped the tabletop. “Yes, your father is gone—and thanks to you, I understand, so is Colt Bryant and the Steel Knights. The two most powerful gangs in this part of the county. That leaves quite the power vacuum. You can’t expect us to walk away and leave it all to the Storm.”
“So you’re willing to kill whoever stands in your way out of greed?” I asked.
His eyes glittered coldly. “We’ve already killed plenty, and we have no shortage of weapons coming in to take down more. And the one good thing the Storm’s troops have done is prove just what an avid customer base exists here for certain types of products. We have our own merchandise we’ll be moving in.”
Nausea gripped my stomach. “More drugs?”
“Among other things. So if you don’t have any better argument than you’ve already presented…” He raised his eyebrows.
I resisted the urge to punch him right in his haughty face. “If the Storm’s people don’t crush you, then the Nobles will. You’re fighting a losing battle here.”
His shoulders stiffened, but he waved me off. “We’ll see about that. I think we’re done here.” He pointed at the guy who’d escorted me in. “Send her off.”