Page 92 of Intrepid

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Feet dangling over the ledge, nearly fifty stories above Washington Boulevard, I sat beside Dax on the roof of Book Tower. There were two quick ways to best reach the top—the fire escape along the side, or right up tall metal scaffolding set by the construction company, anchored at every other floor. It was a straight shot, without having to fuck with any locks or broken glass.

Dax pulled a flask from his coat, tipping back a sip, and passed it to me. “You go after Kutscher yet?”

“Not yet.” I kicked back the bitter whiskey, letting the burn dissolve every damned excuse I’d come up with most of the night.

“I need you to do me a favor, JT. Might throw a bit of a monkey wrench in your plans, but I won’t take no for an answer.”

“What kind of monkey wrench?”

“Girl I know works as a dancer for Spiderz. She gave me some info on Kutscher.” Spiderz had to be the nastiest strip club in all of Detroit. Kind of place a guy could get a lap dance, along with just about any other service he was willing to buy, for the right amount. “Tesarik’s old bookkeeper is a regular there,” Dax continued. “So we tracked him down, and learned that Kutscher is on Tesarik’s payroll.”

“Not surprised.”

“He’s sent payment through cryptocurrency. And from what I understand, all of Kutcher’s transactions are kept on a Nano ledger.”

“You want me to steal the ledger, so you can get the address where payments have been coming from.”

“Ding-ding-ding.” He tipped back the bottle, his throat bobbing with a swallow, and chased it with a drag from his vape pen. “I got a buddy who can turn that shit into some magic and track down his IP address.”

“How do you know he’s not working off a VPN?”

“Fucker’s not that smart. We already tracked down one location, but he’d moved. He’s been sending payments regularly to Kutscher, though.”

I flicked my fingers for another sip, which he obliged by handing over the flask again. “So, what’s the story on Tesarik?”

“You already know that I’m looking for a girl. But it’s more than that. He runs a trafficking ring here in the city. You want to take a predator off the streets?” Vape dangling between his fingers, he prodded my chest. “Get me that ledger. I know it’s a bit of a setback. But as I understand it, you’ve been hanging out with the lawyer’s daughter.”

“Who told you that?”

“Her roommate’s girlfriend. She was the one with the blonde and blue hair? Looked like a mermaid, yeah?”

I hated that he remembered her so easily, as if he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her that night, either. “Yeah. That’s her.”

“You been keeping it business, right?”

“Yeah,” I lied.

“You want to end this, you gotta keep your dick in your pants. Moment you give her that shit, the whole fuckin’ plan is … poof.” His fingers demonstrated an explosion in the air. “Lost. Believe me, I been through this shit before.”

“Got it. Hey, thanks again for the tip on Fox.”

“No problem.” Another drag on his vape sent the skunky scent of what I guessed to be cannabis oil. “Sometimes, you gotta take shit into your own hands.”

I tipped back another sip of the liquor, staring down at the cars almost five hundred feet below. Wasn’t that long ago I’d sat in the same spot, wondering if I had the balls to jump. Things would’ve been different if I had. I wouldn’t have bastardized my father’s name by making myself a murderer.

I wouldn’t have to hear the screams and wake up to the ghost of my best friend staring at me with his accusing eyes every night.

And I sure as fuck wouldn’t have to betray the woman who’d damned near served her heart to me on a silver platter.

32

Sera

Three days had passed since I’d last seen Ty. He’d sent a text the day before, saying he could still smell me in his sheets. Aside from that, I hadn’t heard much from him, at all, and I sure as hell had no intentions of chasing him, if he was so content keeping his distance.

I’d been wrong to think one night with him would be enough. I should’ve known better. And when I’d told him no man could leave his mark on me again? Yeah, I’d lied about that, too, considering every inch of my skin still burned from his touch.