A lost soul needed my help to find his way home.
Since I couldn’t contact the boss, I chose to call Goose. When his cell rolled over to voicemail, I left a message and told him all of the important details—leaving out the assistance I’d received from Bane, of course—and informed him I’d take a cab as soon as I finished an important errand. I did ask him to tell Disco I was sorry and I would get home as soon as I could.
A small bit of brown nosing never did anyone any harm.
The cold morning air meant I had to wrap myself up in a leather coat, but I was able to forgo gloves. I removed the dagger from the UPS box, shoved the sheathed blade into the back of my pants and covered it with my sweater. I also made sure to collect my other tools of the trade, sliding my butterfly knife and rosary into my pocket before I retrieved the amulet.
The whopping amount of cash in the envelope given to me by Hector prompted me to call a cab instead of traveling by some other method. Two thousand dollars was far more than I’d make at the club after Deena and I split tips. If my former employer wanted to soften the blow with green, I’d let him. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t do exactly what I’d told him. When things settled I would return to the club, talk to him and attempt to get my job back. Even if that didn’t work, I would be able to plead my case. A rash decision wouldn’t go over well with the dancers, and Cletus and Butch were probably as unhappy with Hector’s choice as I was.
Or so I hoped.
Thanks to the cabbie I flagged down, I made it to the warehouse with ten minutes to spare. He glanced around the area, obviously concerned about leaving me behind. The decrepit zone wasn’t a bad place, but it wasn’t known for being entirely safe, either.
“You want me to wait?”
I shook my head and tried to feign a cheery smile. “It might take a while. I’ll call when I’m finished.”
Since he didn’t ask a second time after I paid the fare, I figured he was probably happy I’d declined. He didn’t seem thrilled to be in this area. It made sense. Only the stragglers and drug dealers came to this end of town. That was why it was so safe for deviants to use when they needed a place to lay low for a while.
It was only a few yards to the backdoor of the warehouse, but it felt much shorter. My heart throbbed as I came closer to the building I’d been trapped, tormented, and nearly killed inside. I never intended to return to this place.
After I opened the door and took a cautious step into the building, I paused. Sonja was waiting with a large metal cage containing a chicken and a small pet container that I couldn’t see the inside of, looking over a notebook and gnawing on her bottom lip. She was dressed casually in her school attire, jeans and a NYU sweatshirt. She closed the notebook with a plop and placed it inside her backpack.
“What is the chicken for?” I stared at the cage and the animal inside.
“I’ve tried to do this before without a sacrifice, and it didn’t work.” She tossed the backpack over her shoulder, picked up the cage and grasped the handle to the pet carrier.
“What’s in the other one?”
She shook her head, maneuvering so I couldn’t view the contents. “You’ll see.”