Page 18 of Broken
I hadn’t been in this area very often lately, since it was out of the Cobras’territory and it was harder for my guards to come with me and protect me, but I’d been here before. “Yeah, um. There’s a bar two blocks away from here. I used to go there, but that was like centuries ago. I haven’t been there for over a year. Do you think he’s going there?”
“He might be checking out every place where you might show up.”
“But how would he even know about that? And if he’sbeen here before, then maybe he has some other business to do.”
“You can find out anything if you know how and where to look,” he said. “I’ll go check that bar. You stay here.”
“Wait, shouldn’t we go together? You can use me as bait and catch him.”
He shook his head. “No way.”
“But you can’t kill him in a bar full of people. Someone will get hurt or you’ll cause panic. Not to mentionthis might be a trap of some kind. Why would Walter believe I’d come to this bar and not any other? Don’t you think that’s weird? If he’s around here all the time, then he’d know I’m not going to suddenly appear there.”
“You’re right. This is probably related to a job he has to do for the Spiders, but it doesn’t matter why he’s here. I can get him.” Theo started for the door.
I droppedthe binoculars to the floor and ran after him, and I was really glad we were wearing gloves so we could ditch things we no longer needed without worrying about our prints getting into the wrong hands.
He turned around to face me. “I told you to stay here.”
“I have an idea.”
“We don’t have time for this. He’s going to get away.”
“That bar has a back exit, and if nothing has changedsince the last time I was there, then the door’s unlocked.”
“Okay.” He broke into a run, but I wasn’t done yet, so I rushed after him and caught his arm.
“Maybe I could go inside for a few moments and pretend to grab myself a drink, then head out if no one’s around the back exit. You can wait for him there if he follows me. Well, provided he’s actually at that bar and not busy with someoneelse. But if he doesn’t really expect me there, then maybe he’ll be surprised and won’t be overly careful. He shouldn’t even assume you’re with me.”
“I’m not going to let you do that. It’s too risky.”
“It’s risky for you to go after him alone too. The Spiders might be there with him. If I show up really briefly and don’t go too far away from the exit, I can catch someone’s attention andthey’ll follow me. I won’t be in there long enough for them to get to me, and I doubt they’ll start shooting at me, because then I could get away and they’d have the cops on their backs. If Walter is there for someone else, then he won’t want to draw too much attention to himself. Trust me. I can do this. In the worst-case scenario, I can duck behind the bar and get to the exit. I’ve been thereenough times to know how to avoid any bullets coming my way.”
“Let’s just get closer to that bar first and then we’ll decide what to do.” He pushed the door open, and we headed downstairs. “Are there any alternative ways to get to that bar from here?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I tried to remember. “Yeah. I know how to get straight to the alley behind the bar, but there aren’tmany places to hide if the Spiders are waiting there.”
“Good.” Theo was right in front of me, inspecting every corner before we burst out onto the street and disappeared into the crowd. I nodded my head toward a store, and we entered, passing through it quickly, and coming out on the other side. The traffic wasn’t as busy here and there weren’t as many flashing lights. We kept close to thebuildings, and I turned my head away every time someone passed us by. Theo caught my arm and pulled me behind a tree trunk. His body was pressed closely to mine, and for a second, I forgot what we were doing.
“One of the Spiders is here,” he whispered into my ear. “I don’t think he saw us.”
“How do you know it’s one of them?” I asked as he took a quick peek around the trunk.
“The guyhas a cobweb tattoo on his neck. He didn’t hide it well enough.”
“Is he coming our way?” We had to find a better hiding place, because even though it was dark, it wasn’t dark enough. If Walter had shown the Spiders my photo or even Theo’s, then they’d know who to look out for.
“No. He’s walking away.”
“Toward the bar?” If the Spiders were having a meeting there, then I so wasn’t goingto go inside.
He shook his head. “It’s possible he’s just on patrol and stupid enough to let himself be seen.”
Yeah, well, neck tattoos were great for showing off but they were a bit complicated when you didn’t want anyone to see them. “Is that why you decided to put your Rosa Nera tattoo on your shoulder blade instead of on your neck or somewhere more visible?”
His gaze met mine.“Yeah.”
“Smart. Do you have any other tattoos?” I hadn’t exactly seen him naked yet, so what did I know?