Page 36 of Vengeful Eyes
“You’re the one coming to Yakuza in the middle of the night with intel. I think games are exactly what you’re playing.” His face hardens, challenging me to back away. I don’t.
“Nice that you think of yourself as Yakuza. Shouldn’t you be on the Cane side of things? Your sister certainly seems to be?”
He raises his hand, but he doesn’t strike.
“Easy, Andreas. Let the girl speak.” The woman I recognise from the car approaches, and I wonder if I’ll ever make it out of the park. Who else is here with them? My eyes skit around, looking for more of them in case I need to run, but Andreas backs away at the woman’s order. Seems he’s got a temper like his sister. I wish I knew more about that story. I couldn’t hear what they discussed last night, and getting the operational information was more pertinent.
“You know that anything you give to us will affect Vico,” she says,walking closer to me. “You can’t hurt one without the other.” Andreas smiles at her statement, enjoying this little dance we're waltzing to. I stand straighter, refusing to be seen as weak in front of them. I'm not, and this is my goal.
“I’m hoping that anything past this can be used to bring the Cane world down. As I said, I want them to feel what it’s like to have nothing.” She smiles at me, her eyes looking me over as if she's impressed with my hatred.
“If that’s your aim then I think we could be accommodating. As long as you play your part in this web.” The woman is so calm; her voice sends gooseflesh over my skin. “The Cane brothers took something of ours. Seeing them lose something precious to them would help to right that wrong.” That I can help with.
“There’s a trap. They will feed you information about a large deal. It’s false. They want you there for a specific reason. Death.” She laughs, obviously amused at the thought. “The drugs will be in Philly at a warehouse before then. It’s called crosshatches, and it'll be heavily guarded. You'll have to plan something, but don’t go to the docks on the nineteenth. They'll be waiting for you.” The information sounds substantial, but neither Andreas nor the Yakuza woman react to my words other than her continued expression of amusement.
“Who’s to say we can trust this? You could be part of the trap,” Andreas states.
“I could, but why? There’s no benefit for me.”
“I’m afraid honesty is sorely lacking in our line of work. I guess you’re not being honest about where you are at this very moment.” She stares at me, daring me to bite. I don’t. I check my watch instead, needing to get this done and move.
“Listen, that’s all the information I have. Know that they are smart, and pissed off, and they want to hurt you. You have the details.”
“And we’ll contact you when we need more. You took a big gamble reaching out to us. It could have been anyone's number,” Andreas says, swaggering about as if he’s running the show now. He's not, though. She is. I look at her rather than him, knowing she seeks the same sort of revenge that I do.
“I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to hurt the Canes for years. This is my shot. I’m not going to let a little risk stand in my way.” She nods at me, hopefully accepting my explanation.
“A woman scorned?” Another small laugh comes from her.
“Now, are we done?”
“We are,” she replies, flicking her finger at Andreas to summon him over to her. “Keep the phone close, Miss Winters,” she continues. “This game is far from over.”
They slip back into the shadows of the park, and I’m left in the darkest of places.
I want to burst into tears.
A mixture of relief and regret swamp me when I see I’m alone. Because alone is all I’ll have if this goes wrong.
I pick up my phone and text Torino, telling him I took off early because I couldn’t sleep. He’ll be getting to the building about now. Just as I send the message, the heavens open and the rain begins to pelt the ground, soaking me in the process. I rush in the direction of the small coffee shop on the corner of the park and wait under the awning for it to open.
Ten damp minutes later, I see Torino storming over to me, his feet splashing through the puddles. There’s a young man attempting to open up the shop, and he isn’t in a hurry to get it done.
“For fuck’s sake, Hope. What’s gotten into you?”
“I couldn’t sleep, but now I’m tired. Caffeine stop before we head back.” I bluff my way through the emotions that are wild inside of me. Torino looks at me like I’ve grown a third eye but shakes his head and pushes the door open for me to follow. I take a seat and he goes to the counter to order my usual.
The sunlight hasn’t filtered through the clouds yet, and the outside looks grey and overcast as the morning wakes up.
“Coffee.” Torino passes it to me moodily. His disapproval is evident.
“I’m not a prisoner,” I protest, but feel sick to the stomach about what I’ve set in motion.
“No, but Vico will fucking kill us both for this stunt. Fucking hell, Hope, do you ever think of anyone but yourself?”
“You don’t get to judge me, Torino. I don’t want to hear it.” I sit moodily, warring with the guilt I’ve just dumped on myself. The coffee coats my tongue in bitterness as I force it down my throat. Every fiber of my being is screaming for me to run home, but I can’t. Benjamin might still be knocked out from the pills, and I can’t risk seeing him. Not like this, with guilt dripping from my every pore, saturating me like the raindrops clinging to my clothes. He’ll be able to see right through me and know something’s off.
The silence lingers and I refuse to break it with apologies or excuses. I waste half an hour sipping coffee and feel ready to burst.
