Page 129 of Riordan's Revenge

Thirty minutes. Our window of opportunity.

He handed me his phone, open on a tracking screen with a green blip on the move. I hadn’t known that he’d stuck Piers with a tracker until now, but I appreciated the forethought.

“Why do ye want to kill?” The enforcer kept his gaze on the street.

“Piers or in general?”

“The latter.”

“I imagine the same reasons ye do.”

“An impulse?”

“A bone-deep need to remove bad people from the planet.”

He tapped the steering wheel. “When I was a kid, I knew there was something different about me, but it was the actions of others that brought it out. Ma had a boyfriend who put cigarettes out on my back for fun. It was terrifying and painful but also the point of my realising that I wanted to kill him and couldn’t stop it. It broke or maybe released something in my head. When I take a life now, I see the pain and fear I inflict as righting wrongs of all the suffering the bastard in question caused.”

I considered his words and inclined my head. “You’re a check and balance of the universe. Love that. Mine’s similar. There was an event that happened to me when I was six. Social workers dragged me kicking and screaming from my family. The cops had Sin on the ground so he couldn’t come after me. My other brothers and my sisters-in-law were held back, and the fear on their faces was agonising. I will never forget the feeling and how it paired to the truth I was told years later that it was our father’s doing. He hurt so many. It’s the audacity that gets me. The arrogance.”

“That was your trigger. Someone crossing the line and getting away with it,” Shade observed.

I took a breath. “I want to walk in with pretty nails and cute shoes and drive fear into the hearts of people who hurtothers. I want them to know what I am and realise there are consequences to the things they did. That consequence is me.”

He shot me an expression of undisguised admiration. “Fuck, yeah. I need to see that in action. I was going to say it’s like looking in the mirror, but I don’t think I’d suit your shoes.”

He took a corner, merging into traffic. Piers was still in sight further up the road. An abuser, forcing other people out of his way on his furious march down the pavement.

A bus obscured my vision, so I focused back on Shade.

For a beat, his mirror comment replayed in my mind. The enforcer had dark hair and blue eyes. He was Scottish, too.

Just like me and my brothers. McInver’s kids.

I squinted at him. “Do ye know who your daddy is?”

“Aye, some deadbeat who fucked my mother then left her in the lurch. Why do ye ask?”

“Oh, no reason, other than ye could easily slot into the lineup of my family. There’s a big gap between Jamieson and me, and we’ve often wondered if another sibling would pop up one day.” I gestured between us. “The psychopath element fits, as well.”

He made an off sound. “Neither of us are psychopaths. I looked the word up once. It fits those who can kill without remorse, but that’s it. I see myself more as someone who has trained for the role. Where is Piers now?”

I switched my gaze to the phone. “Moving fast up River Street. Must be in a taxi.”

Shade indicated out of the street and onto an intercept course. “Next question. Who do ye want to kill?”

Gripping my seat, I told him my predator-hunter idea. How I’d get anonymous tip-offs to find my prey.

When I was done, he pursed his lips. “Your plan is too broad. You’ll fuck around and waste time. Pick a specialism and you’ll advance faster. Give the work of investigating reports to someone else.”

I blinked. “Thanks for the career advice. I’ll get myself an admin person. I guess for ye the work of sorting has been done already as they are ex-cons. How do I pick from my list?”

“Who do ye hate the most?”

I didn’t even need to consider my answer. “Men in power, like my father. Okay, that was easy. I’ll prioritise the wealthy.”

A muscle ticked in Shade’s jaw. “The men I take out are rarely rich arseholes. Even if prosecuted, those types don’t go to jail. They frequent the same clubs as the judges. They have friends in the same circles.”

“Ye want in on my plan. Maybe I’ll let ye come along as muscle if Riordan is busy.” I checked my nails, hiding a smile.

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