“Relax, Pete. You’re not going to fall.” He paused then added, “As long as you don’t move too much.”
Pete sent a fast look around them. “How did I get here?”
“I brought you here. Wanted to have an uninterrupted chat with you.”
“Couldn’t we have talked at the apartment?”
“Not my favorite place.”
“And this is?”
Max looked down at the ravine. “It’s one of them.”
“What are we talking about?”
“About my friend’s girlfriend who was kidnapped a few hours ago.”
“How would I know anything about that?”
Max shrugged. “You’re more plugged in than I am.”
“I’ll ask around. Come see me tomorrow. Who’s your friend?”
“He’s one of the Feds down the street.” Actually, they were private defense contractors, but that was one and the same to the WKB.
“Why would I care what happens to a Fed? You forget who I am?”
Max smiled and shook his head. “I haven’t forgotten our agreement either.” Max had promised to give Pete fair warning when the government was coming for him—time enough to OD so he wouldn’t have to face prison. “I need info.”
He settled near Pete on the big boulder. “My friend loves his girl like you love your smack. It’s killing him not having her.” He looked out into the black ravine. “Our women and kids are not part of the mix. You know no man fucks with the other’s family. Whoever did this broke the code. Tell me what you know.”
“I know Senator Whiddon bit the dust.”
“Yeah. Tell me something I don’t know.”
“You guys do it?”
Max shook his head. “No.”
“I hear his suicide note was full of interesting info.”
“It was.”
“Am I in it?”
“No.”
Pete leaned his head back against the hard stone behind them. “Jafaar’s been odd lately. Said he was doing a special project for King. Thought it meant he was working with one of the Mexican gangs to move his heroin. Maybe he had something to do with what happened to your friend’s girl.”
“Maybe. One thing’s for sure. I’m going to find who’s involved. And when I do, they’ll be wearing their tongue for a tie. What’s the word from Lion?”
“Haven’t heard a thing about him or from him. King keeps things compartmentalized.”
“Who’s guarding the tunnels?”
“Couple of our officers. They got ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ orders.”
“I hope King doesn’t mind empty vaults.”
“What’re you sayin’?”
“If I wanted my eggs protected, I wouldn’t put foxes in the coop.”
He stood and started to climb back up the rocky ledge.
“Wait! What about me?”
Max gave Pete a lopsided smile. “Turn around and climb up. I’m leaving you the truck. It’s still running. Guess you have about a quarter of a tank left before you got a long walk home.”
*
Fiona woke in an unfamiliar room. The bare walls looked as if they’d last seen new paint about a century ago. Bars were on the window, dimming what light the filthy panes allowed in. Daylight. How long had she been unconscious? Had they drugged her?
It wasn’t a very large space she was in. There was a room divider midway that didn’t quite reach to the ceiling. She moved, relieved to discover she was no longer restrained. Her hand went to her neck, feeling for the team’s security necklace. It was gone, as was the security bracelet Kelan gave her. And the garnet earrings he’d surprised her with after her first week at school. Her feet were cold…and bare. At least she still had her clothes on.
She sat up and the world began to spin around her. She groaned and braced her head in her hands.
The floors creaked as three young women crowded the opening of her alcove. “She’s awake!” one of them announced.
She tried to speak, but her voice was drier than a dirt road. “Water, please,” was all she could manage to say.
The youngest of the girls left then came back with a plastic cup full of tap water. Fiona guzzled it down as she looked at the four women staring at her. Their expressions ranged from tension to boredom.
Who were they, and where was she?
“What is this place?” she asked them.
“Typical,” the bored girl huffed. “They never know.”
The girl standing next to her was barely more helpful. “It’s a place your old self would never know and your new self will wanna forget.”
Fiona frowned at that cryptic announcement.
The bored girl rolled her eyes. “You’re in a cathouse, honey. Out in the middle of Colorado’s big, empty nowhere.”
Two dogs started to bark outside. The youngest girl jumped. Her eyes got big, then glazed over. The dogs ran from one side of the house around to the front, snarling at something.
Fiona went to the window, but whatever was happening was on the other side of the house. There was a mechanical sound like a garage door opening. The dogs were going crazy.
“Do yourself a favor,” the bored girl said as the group left her room. “Stay put in here and don’t make a sound.” She shook her head. “No matter what you hear.”
Someone came into the house. “Haley, girl, I’m early today. Couldn’t wait,” a man announced. “You don’t look happy to see me.” There was some shuffling of feet. One of the girls was being shoved into the alcove next to Fiona’s. “Don’t matter. Seems whatever you do works for me.”
Fiona’s heart started to beat hard. There was a scuffle. A bed creaked. She heard the man’s heavy breathing, then the bed creaked in time with his grunts.
Fiona covered her mouth with her hand. It seemed to go on and on. No one screamed. No one fought. You’re in a cathouse, honey, the girl had said. Were they prostitutes? None of them looked even as old as she was.