Page 64 of Bent Out of Shade
16
It was,of course, an unmitigated disaster.
Laurent, Emmett, and I arrived at the small parking lot above the train tracks by New Brighton Park for the meeting to return Sabrina to the Hastings Mill gang. In summer, it served as overflow parking, accessed from a quiet service road, but on this drizzly September evening, it was deserted.
The sun had already set, and the overcast sky cut down on the moonlight. There weren’t many streetlamps along the road either, providing plenty of shadows, but Emmett and I still hid behind a high clump of prickly blackberry bushes, both of us cloaked. Harley the scary guy couldn’t nix my magic if he didn’t have a line of sight.
The wolf made himself scarce elsewhere.
Emmett nervously fingered a capped syringe. Assuming that Sabrina would be traumatized, Tatiana had obtained a sedative for her from “her guy.” Other than checking that this concoction wouldn’t kill the lawyer, to which I’d received a scoff, I’d chosen not to inquire about the details of what we were giving her. Plausible deniability and all.
Juliette was on standby back at my boss’s home. Hopefully BatXoha would allow Juliette to treat Sabrina before he showed up because it wasn’t fair to expect the young healer to do her best with a powerful vampire menacing over her shoulder.
I shook my head. We’d deal with that if it came to it.
Emmett’s fidgeting was causing his leather jacket to rustle, so I pressed a finger to my lips, scanning the lot.
According to the information I’d overheard back at the dive bar, each of the two men meeting would have one person as backup. If Tom brought Harley, that complicated things. It was worse if Harley surprised us midway through the rescue, though Laurent had thoroughly checked the area and conveyed with a low yip that we were alone.
For now.
We’d get Sabrina back. I could feel it.
Just when I was ready to hold Emmett down to keep him from fidgeting, two vehicles pulled up within minutes of each other.
Tom and some thug with a shaved head got out of a pickup truck, while two men in complementary track suits exited a sports car that had been blasting a bassline through closed windows.
I peered through the bushes, tensing because there was no sign of Sabrina. Did those asshats have the poor woman stashed in the trunk?
Believing themselves alone, the men didn’t bother lowering their voices, and since they stayed a good twenty feet apart, their conversation was loud and clear.
“Well?” Blue Track Suit, the leader of the other gang, stepped forward. BTS. I smothered a laugh, imagining him doing snappy choreography.
Tom crossed his arms over his denim-encased beer belly. “It’s not us and it’s not Suresh’s crew. There’s a new player.”
The track suit dudes exchanged looks.
“Bullshit. No one else has the muscle for this.” BTS ran a tongue over the gold grille on his teeth. “I lost a good man.”
“We both did.”
“No, you lost a couple of lowlife pieces of scum who’d been causing trouble for your people.” BTS moved his jacket away, resting his hand on a gun in his waistband.
The others immediately followed suit, the air sharpening and strung tight. One wrong finger twitch would unleash a maelstrom of violence, but none of the men even blinked.
Emmett grabbed my hand and I held on tightly. Neither of us were bulletproof, and while we could get into the KH, I wasn’t leaving without Sabrina.
“How do we know you weren’t covering up a hit on your own by taking more out?” BTS said. “With Craig gone, your guys are running wild.”
Tom notched his chin up. “You threatening me, son?”
“I’ve got eyes, old man.”
“So do we,” Tom said with a smirk. “In places you can’t imagine.” He let that sit for a moment. “Where’s the bitch?”
A shot cracked through the night and Tom fell backward onto the ground, blood dribbling from his head and down his cheeks to stain his beard.
I swallowed a scream while Emmett slapped his hand over his mouth. BTS’s minion had executed Tom.
