Page 97 of Riordan's Revenge

“Let’s get this over with, then.”

I stomped up the steps, waiting for Shade to unlock the door, then dove inside.

The wind cut out, but the rushing of water intensified. I moved through the building, following the two men across a concrete floor and through a surprisingly well-maintained interior, until the sound made sense. It was a boathouse, clearly disused for that purpose for a long time, but with a new purpose.

We rounded a wall to discover an open end to the structure, dark water flowing underneath a metal walkway, and a figure hanging from a hook over a drop.

Naked. Bloodied. Gagged but not blindfolded. He blinked, his eyes crinkling at the edges, then moaned.

My stomach roiled.

“Fucking hell.” I turned away.

Shade took a fistful of my shirt and brought me back. “Talk to Arran. He has a few things to say.”

I faced the leader of the skeleton crew, glad I hadn’t eaten, and got my words in first. “I know this is a test of my loyalty. I know why you need it, too. I didn’t join your crew because of devotion to what you do. I didn’t know about this.” I pointed to the hanging man. “Cassie filled me in. She’d eat this shit up for breakfast.”

“Where you wouldn’t.” Arran relaxed in his position of watching me, understanding in his eyes. “Like it or not, you made the choice to accept my job offer. I don’t know if you thought it would work as a temporary thing, or if you took it in order to keep a closer eye on Genevieve. The fact is, you had a choice. You made a decision.”

Steely resolve settled over his face. “But I can’t have a hanger-on. I lost two friends recently, both crew members for over a decade. Alisha and Convict were important to me for different reasons, and the fact they were both wiped off the planet showed me how vital it is for me to keep close those who give a shit about me and what I’ve built. As well as to push everyone else the fuck away.”

Beside me, Shade folded his arms, no humour in him now.

Arran continued, “I accept my fault in their loss. It’s made me fucking angry and more determined to do what I think is right. Back to you. You’ve impressed me in a number of ways. You’re loyal. You work hard. What you did for Gen is more than most brothers would. So in view of the respect you’ve earned, I’m again offering you a choice. The Four Milers are going to be reeling from Bronson’s confession and death, and Red is fighting for his life to rebuild. If I cut you loose, the risks of them scooping you up are small. It’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’ll also pay you three months’ salary to give you space to find another job. Take the offer and walk away. You’ll still be able to see your sisters and date Cassie, if she wants you, but you’ll be an outsider and treated as such.”

His proposal was too good to be true. The money meant I could find a place to live. I could have everything I did now but freedom from life in the shadows.

Then there was the flip side of the coin.

It meant not working with Cassie. Visiting the warehouse rather than that building and the people in it being the centre of my life. I’d barely started understanding what Arran did, but a certainty formed in me. I respected it.

Slowly, I looked from him to the hanging man. “What did he do?”

Shade gave the explanation.

“His name is Leslie Kantoro. His kid rang the cops when he moved on from her to her little sister. Saved the younger one from a lifetime of being fucked up by a rapist dad and saw him locked up. Unfortunately, not for anywhere near long enough. The women are twenty-three and nineteen now, and when this piece of shite was released from prison, he applied for grandparents’ rights to visit the eldest’s baby girl. The prison considers him rehabilitated so the courts can’t block him. His phone is filled with child abuse pictures.” Shade’s lip curled in disgust.

I stared at Leslie, disgusted, horrified, and with anger brewing inside me. He should never have got out of prison.

“Oh, and a trip planned to Thailand with an apartment booked for six weeks in one of the poorest areas,” he added.

“What does that mean?”

He sighed. “Ye have a lot to learn. The question is whether ye want to.”

He glanced over at Arran, the two of them having some kind of conversation without saying a word, then came back to me.

“You’ve been offered an out. A good one with respect from us both if ye take it. No hard feelings. Now let’s walk through the alternative. The skeleton crew protects women. At the warehouse, with Cassie slowly trying to take over at the helm, and with people like Tyler who disrupt trafficking routes and help lost souls find freedom with us. If they want to sell their bodies for a living, we let them do so in safety. If they want to dance or clean fucking kitchens, the job is waiting. If they want out, we arrange it. Whatever the world thinks about us doesnae matter, but those who are closest to the cause should be there because they’ll fight and die to defend it.”

That fierce focus held me in its grip.

“There are hundreds of lasses and bairns who have been spared pain at the hands of men like Leslie and the countlessothers who’ve been washed away by Deadwater River. Ye can be part of something that makes a real difference in the world. Whether it be here or in one of the other support roles. You’re already too close for comfort and still an outsider. So my question is, would ye kill a man like this to save a stranger? What about to save Cassie? Let’s find out.”

From the back of his jeans, Shade produced a gun.

On the hook, Leslie moaned and rocked his naked body, the chains rattling, and his shrivelled dick doing its best to creep up inside his body.

Shade offered out the weapon. Automatically, I took it from him, the same matte black model I used and the weight familiar after Struan’s lesson.

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