“Alexei’s done his homework,” he answers. “They’ve got nothing. No body, no dice. Some grainy photos of you, and an informant with a past so checkered it won’t hold up in court.”
He sounds confident, but I still don’t like it. I want to tell Sasha it’s over. But it won’t be over until that witness disappears. A notion I’m not too keen on. I don’t like involving women in our business.
“Who is she?” I ask.
“Some junkie whore,” Rory answers.
A voice from the door behind us replies.
“Yeah, like me,” Scarlett adds. “Nothing more than a whore.”
Rory’s face pales, and he attempts to backtrack quickly, but it’s no use. Scarlett ignores him and comes and sits right down at the table like she has a right to.
“This isn’t your business,” Dom tells her. “Now you best leave.”
She crosses her arms and snaps her gum, shaking her head in refusal. “Nah, I think I’ll stay. Because I have something to say on the matter.”
The room falls silent, and all of the lads look at each other, wondering who’s going to handle her. They all know Rory fancies this girl, so they don’t want to step on toes. But he’s not saying anything either. So I take it upon myself to sort out this headache.
“Tell us what ye have to say and then be on your way. These meetings are for the lads only.”
“Look, all I’m saying is I know this girl. She goes by Shorty on the street. Girl’s got a wicked bad asshole for a pimp. He’s keeping her son from her to keep her in line.”
“Where are ye headed with this?” I ask.
“When I saw her last, she told me that she was getting her son back. That some guy promised he was going to help her. That he’d pay off her pimp if she did what he asked. Set her up with a whole new life.”
The room falls silent, and the lads piece together the information Scarlett just tossed us. Donny must have promised to get her son back if she testified as a supposed witness. And then the feds would set her up with a new identity.
“That plan sounds like it requires an awful lot of chips to fall just right,” Michael remarks.
“Aye,” I agree. “Donny never did think things all the way through.”
“She’s scared shitless,” Scarlett says. “I just thought maybe you don’t have to kill her. Maybe you could help her get her son back instead. And send her on her way to somewhere else. I guarantee you won’t have any more problems with her if you do.”
“Ye can’t guarantee something like that,” Rory says, the irritation in his voice clear. He knows such a guarantee from Scarlett would likely put her at risk if this plan of hers ever did go south.
“I can and I will,” she says. “I know this girl. She’s had it rough, okay? She just wants out of this life. She’s grasping at whatever life vest will keep her afloat.”
The lads all look to me for an answer. Something that would have made me uncomfortable before, but now I take no issue with it. Because it isn’t just me that’s riding on this working out favorably, but Sasha and my child too. And I need to know that the man who comes home to her at the end of the day is one she can actually stomach to look at. But I also need to ensure her safety.
“We need to speak with this girl,” I say. “Then we can sort it out. Dom, you and Scarlett give Alexei the details and he will get us everything we need.”
He nods and stands up to do exactly that. Only his phone rings, and he answers it before he goes. The words are few and quiet, but the expression on his face tells me it isn’t good news he’s just received.
“We’ve got another problem,” he says when he hangs up. “Niall’s just had a massive heart attack.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Sasha
“I don’t want you to go,” I argue, though I know it’s totally unreasonable.
Ronan gives me a frustrated glance. I’m not being fair, but my anxiety is through the roof.
“I have to get this sorted,” he says. “They’re just going to have a wee chat with me, Sasha. It will be okay.”
“But what about their witness?” I ask. “They’re going to arrest you.”
“The witness is here,” Ronan answers me.
I blink at him, not sure I heard him correctly.
“Excuse me?”
“She’s downstairs.”
My stomach lurches. I don’t want to know the details. But I can’t stop myself from asking, anyway. I have to know. I have to know if he’s telling me what I think he is.
“You mean, as in…”
“Alexei is having a word with her,” Ronan explains. “That’s all. No harm will come to her so long as she cooperates.”
“Right.” I blow out a breath and wrap my arms around myself.
Jesus, this world sometimes… it’s too much. But I’m in it for good now, like it or not. It still doesn’t make it any easier to come to terms with all of these mixed emotions inside of me. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. But I also can’t allow Ronan to go to prison.