Page 70 of Heated Rivals
It was tempting to think he was gone for good, but Carrigan knew better. “He’ll be back.” Dmitri wasn’t the kind of man to take defeat lying down, and he’d lost twice now. Carrigan wasn’t marrying him, and James was still alive. She slumped down into her chair. “This isn’t over.”
“Probably not.” Callie’s blue eyes were harder than she’d ever seen them. “But now we know he’s an enemy. He can’t play at being an ally while stabbing us in the back. That’s something.” Maybe. But it wouldn’t be enough. It had taken her all of ten seconds to realize how dangerous Dmitri was, and Carrigan had the feeling that the knowledge was just a drop in an ocean.
He’d be back, and he’d be back for blood.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
James sat on the snow-covered pavement next to his little brother for a long time. Ricky wouldn’t be getting up again. The blow to his head from Michael had killed him. Maybe if they’d been more focused on getting him to a hospital… There were a lot of maybes circling his head right now, and they weren’t doing him any favors.
Both brothers, gone.
He was well and truly alone now.
“Mr. Halloran.”
He looked up. The Sheridan men stood around him in a staggered formation, half of them turned to face any potential outside threat. The black man speaking looked barely in his mid-twenties, but he seemed more than capable of taking care of business. James just wanted him to go away. He shook his head. That wasn’t right. He had to get the fuck out of here. It was a fucking miracle they hadn’t brought any cops down upon themselvesuntil now. He reached out and stopped just short of touching Ricky’s face. “How long have I been sitting here?”
The man looked away. “We can transport your brother for you. What do you want to do with your man?”
His gaze fell to Michael, trussed up and gagged. He’d tried to make a run for it in the middle of the confusion, but Callista’s men had found and retrieved him. “He’s not my man anymore. Bring him. He has a lot to answer for.” Though he doubted Michael had much in the way of information, he couldn’t finish the man off until he knew for sure.
James climbed to his feet, feeling decades older. “Carrigan?”
“She’s at the hospital with her brother—it looks like he might be okay.”
She was safe—or as safe as anyone could be. He nodded. “Good.” He wanted to go to her, to hear her tell him she loved him again, to hold her in his arms and never let go. But there was shit he had to deal with before he could. First order of business was getting these women cared for. He went around to the van and found his phone on the floorboard. A few minutes later, Lisa Marie came on the line. “What do you need, honey?”
“A place for twenty girls. They aren’t going to be able to answer questions until they’re sure they’re safe.”
“Are they safe?”
He listened to soft sobbing coming from the back of the van. “As safe as I can make them. They’ll have their freedom, one way or another.”
“Bring them here. Me and the girls will get it taken care of. I’ll let you know the arrangements once I havethem in place.”
And send me the bill.“Good. I’ll be there in twenty.” He hung up and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat. The Sheridan man was still waiting. “Get that piece of shit”—he jerked his chin at Michael—“and meet me at my place. I have one stop to make first and then I’ll be there.”
The man nodded. “Got it.” Then he was gone, melting into the darkness with the rest of his people.
James took a harsh breath and got into the van. The constant crying couldn’t be escaped and grated on his nerves something fierce, but he didn’t try to make them stop. These women had already seen enough trauma to last them a lifetime—he wasn’t going to add to that if he could help it. He met Lisa Marie at the back of Tit for Tat, and she surveyed him with a critical eye. “Trouble tonight.”
“You could say that.” Betrayal everywhere he turned. Ricky he’d expected, though the loss was still there, waiting for him to drop his guard so it could sucker punch him. But Michael? Michael he’d trusted. He hadn’t seen that coming.No wonder my old man was nuttier than a squirrel.He motioned to the van. “What’s the best way to play this?”
She snubbed out her cigarette. “Stand back and don’t say anything to spook them.” Without waiting to see if he’d done what she asked, she opened the door and spoke softly to the girls. He couldn’t quite catch the words, but the tone was big on soothing—like something a person would use with a wild animal or a rabid dog. Lisa Marie stepped back and, one by one, the girls crawled into the pale light thrown off by the propped-open back door. Two of the dancers—Echo and one he couldn’t place—appeared and led them away. It took all of five minutes, but James held his breath damn near theentire time.
“You did good, honey.” She shook another cigarette out of its pack and lit up. “Some of them won’t survive—it’s the nature of the beast—but most of them will.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “And if we start getting regular shipments of this kind in?” He couldn’t take for granted that Carrigan would be with him, let alone willing to put the fledgling nonprofit plan she’d talked about in place. That would solve a number of problems, but there would always be women who were more comfortable with the life he could offer them—women who didn’t want to go home.
“Regular shipments.” She shot him a sharp look. “James Halloran, I never pegged you for a white knight.” She continued before he could confirm or deny. “We can make it work. We might need another club, or at least more opportunity on the legal side of things for those who want to stay here, but it can be done. Some of them will want to go back to wherever they came from, so you’ll have to figure that shit out.”
He hadn’t realized how tense he was until her words relaxed something inside him. All the bullshit and evil and monstrous things he’d done… this wouldn’t make them right. But it’d be a start. James nodded. “Get me the relevant information from the women and I’ll figure it out.” He had a few feelers he could put out, though his connections weren’t as vast as, say, the Sheridans.I bet Teague knows a thing or two about tracking down this type of information. He’d have to ask the other man the first chance he got.
He got back into the van and drove home, and anotherinterviewthat he desperately didn’t want to haveto go through.
What the fuck am I going to do?
He’d never felt so goddamn alone in his life.
