Page 40 of Carry Your Debt

Please don’t ask to see the tape.

Please don’t ask to see the tape.

Please don’t ask to see the tape.

“Andwhatexactly were they meeting about?” he asks instead.

As soon as we get out of here, I swear I’m having Dio stop off at the nearest gas station so I can buy myself some scratch-offs.

“We could only pull bits and pieces of the conversation, which is how we got names, but there really wasn’t a lot there for Brannon to work with. We do know that whoever their boss is, is pleased with them, and that he thought they’d run into more trouble with the Aces.”

I don’t addor the Gray Men.

The cogs are working overtime behind his rimy gaze, and after another breathless wait, he reclines—dark and languid as a panther. He lifts two of his fingers, finally clearing the wait staff to approach. In unison they all rush back in, setting out crystal-cut tumblers and enough top-shelf liquor to fill the giant hourglass outside.

“Champagne?” a ruddy-facedBrian Stellars, 36,offers me from over my shoulder.

“She’ll have water.” Sebastian’s decree only sinks my heart further.

Should have fucking insisted on that one drinkbeforewe headed in here.

“So a possible connection with a Northern Mafia,” he muses aloud, as he examines his drink. “Who have you seen them with tonight?”

I down half the glass of iced water Brian serves me in one aggressive gulp, temples pinching with pain. The attendant attempts a polite refill from his carafe, but Sebastian waves him off. And not for the first time, I wonder at the exact manner of my inevitable demise.

Would the autopsy report readDeath by Ball GownorDeath by Cottonmouth?

The single-serving platter of delicately wrapped sashimi that appears in front of me certainly doesn’t do my growing nausea any favors.

Looks I don’t get to order my own food tonight, either.

“I haven’t seen them speak with anybody of note. Just watching and learning the ropes by the looks of it,” I hedge, roughly. It’s up for debate these days as to whether or not he still considersmesomeone ‘of note’.

“If they’re as promising as they look on paper,” he hums, “and so keen to wade right in, then we won’t stop them from getting their feet wet.”

I nod, dumbly.Yes, that’s totally who they are; just an eager set of future prospects.

“I believe it’s time for you to get closer to them, maybe ply them with a little insider knowledge if you have to.”

I tense, waiting for it.

“I trust you will use discretion,” he sniffs. “Turn on the charm—ifyou can.”

Ouch, there it is.“Of course, sir.”

A full minute goes by with his disapproving silence bearing down on me. I don’t know if my lungs even inflate.

And then another.

The edges of my periphery start to go gray.

When he’s finally satisfied with my acquiescence, Sebastian turns, eyes blessedly moving away. He takes a measured sip from his tumbler, but he won’t touch any part of the food spread before him. The Gray Man never eats in public.

I pick half-heartedly at a tempura prawn entrée. My normally healthy appetite is being completely strangled by the close proximity of the man next to me. Perhaps keeping my hands occupied and trying to catalog those diners I can still get a good look at might help stave off the creeping noise in my head a little longer.

With each minute that slowly passes in silence, a little more of the strain in my chest eases. My neck and traps start to loosen. I don’t think I’ll be able tofullyrelax until I’m safely away from here and locked inside my hotel room—several drinks deep—but at least the incessant urge to scream is finally beginning to abate.

I’m sifting through an ancillary table of Strange Aces, each of them Spades by the look of the ink on their necks, when there’s a masculine scream from the front section, followed by raucous laughter. I press my spine against the ornate backrest of my seat, trying not to smirk. Unlike the Sovereignty tables, which are split into their respective factions, the Neutral diners are each seated individually. And by the sounds of it, some unlucky fucker just got stuck sharing a table with the Whitechapel Four.

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