“And for that I’m so sorry. You’re the best man I’ve ever known.”
26
Dirk
It’s five o’clock,and we’re both in the small room monitoring the camera feeds on Scar’s twenty-seven-inch desktop computer. Rainey is handcuffed to the chair near the filing cabinet, and we’ve said nothing more about what happened this afternoon.
There’s nothing more to say.
My job is to keep my eyes on what’s happening in Gibson’s, and I have Louie’s number at the ready on my phone. Hutch said he chatted with his old friend with the Brooklyn Police Department yesterday and this morning. Louie knows what’s going down, and I’m on the line ready to call him at the first sign of a trap.
Sliding my glasses over my eyes, I lean back in my chair, focusing my gaze on the screen. The quality is grainy and the picture is black and white, but I can make out everyone’s faces.
Then a call comes through on the computer. I press accept, and we have sound.
“I see you intercepted my girl retrieving what you stole from us.” Natasha’s voice has matured, but it still smacks of entitlement.
Hutch’s voice is level. “Simon’s own guy Andre stole this book and sold it to Hugh van Hamilton.”
“Doesn’t make it yours.”
Scar cuts in. “Why do you want it back?”
“Because it belongs to me now. It’s my inheritance, along with this club and everything else that was Simon’s.”
In the feed we see her face turn to Scar, and my skin prickles. What is she up to?
“You’re not Simon’s heir.” Scar’s voice is dangerously quiet. “His enterprise died with him, and I’m here to see you don’t try to revive it.”
“Then it seems we’re wasting time.”
The screen breaks into confusion. A swarm of men fills the office, and the struggle is short. A nightstick flies, leaving Hutch unconscious on the floor, hands locked in zip ties. Scar is bound to a chair with a gun at his neck. I’m on my feet at once, waking my phone, ready to call Louie.
“Wait!” Scar shouts, and his eyes cut straight to the camera, to me.
“Wait?” I yell from 800 miles away. “What the fuck just happened?”
“She hired reinforcements.” Rainey’s tone is quiet surprise. “She was ready for this.”
The other feed, which until now has been black springs to life, and I watch as three guys drag my unconscious brother into the smaller room, deposit him on the black leather, and close the door.
“She could have taken him anywhere, but she brought him to that room,” I muse.
“She knows you’re watching.” Turning my head, I meet Rainey’s eyes, and she shrugs. “It’s a guess, but I know her pretty well.”
My eyes narrow, and I study Rainey’s position, leaning forward in her seat before turning back to the screen. Scar is seated across from Natasha, and a big man with a gun stands behind him. On a hunch, I hit the record button to capture everything that comes next for the record.
“You thought you got away with it, didn’t you?” Natasha leans back in her chair, crossing her arms. “You thought you could welsh out of the deal you made with my uncle, but you forgot one thing. I was there. I witnessed your vow to take Hana’s place and to pay for what you did to Victor for however long Simon said.”
Scar crosses his arms, mimicking her pose. “So this whole thing was a trap, a ploy to bring me here, with Rainey as a decoy?”
“Oh, no. I still need that book, but now that you’ve caught her, you can do what you will with that little cunt.”
“You don’t care about your people?”
Natasha stands from her chair, and the smile on her lips is visible even with the poor quality. “Rainey’s not my people. She’s been waiting to betray me. The only thing Rainey wants is the man who killed her father. Boo-hoo, poor little rich girl, can’t live without knowing the truth about her past.” She lifts her chin and shouts into the air. “Simon killed your dad, Rainey! Get the fuck over it!”
A shifting noise behind me pulls my attention from the screen. Rainey’s eyes are red-rimmed and burning with fury, and her hands are clenched into fists.