Page 12 of Cruel Debts (Killers of Port Wylde #4)
TEN
ASHER
“We need to go over a few things—” Hawke started, but I cut him off, leaning forward, wondering if she recognized me in my mask.
Probably not.
“You’re in safe hands with these three, though they look dangerous,” Minnie started, her grin widening as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
“We are dangerous,” Liam muttered, baring his teeth like a real-life demon ready to strike. “Might be a good idea to listen to what we say, so you don’t get on our bad side.”
The girl said nothing, choosing to nod instead, her lips turning down in a frown. Minnie looked from her to us before continuing.
“She works two nights a week, and one week a month, she picks up a third night for a special feature. I expect you to ensure she has adequate accompaniment to and from the shifts, and that you keep watch while she works.”
I raised a brow but nodded. “St. Clair already informed us of the requirements.”
“She’ll need her own room. Obviously she can’t share with?—”
“She’ll have it,” Hawke snapped, his irritation growing. “What else?”
Minnie handed us an envelope decorated in gold embossed script. The thing had already been opened, but the invitation inside remained intact. “She found this in his office on her way out the door. I think it’ll be of interest to you and your organization.”
Port Wylde had been dealing with some pretty big issues lately, and we’d actually gotten a contract from someone within the office of the mayor, of all people, to deal with it directly.
The police’s hands were tied, Port Wylde being what it was, but people were disappearing.
Women, specifically. And it was putting a dent in the morale of the whole city.
Tourism was taking a hit. Nobody wanted to visit a city where women were snatched off the streets and never seen again.
I flipped the invitation open and hissed.
These fuckers were holding human auctions right under our noses.
“What is it?” Liam asked, and I wordlessly passed the invite to him, my blood boiling.
The fuckers were operating on our turf. They were selling humans at auctions on our doorstep, for fuck’s sake.
That was about to end.
“Who the fuck do these pieces of shit think they are?” He chucked the invite across the room to Hawke, shaking his head as he gnashed his teeth together. “The audacity.”
“I want them taken care of just as much as your boss does,” Minnie muttered, her own face reflecting our irritation. “Make it happen.”
“Oh, don’t you worry bout that. We’ll take care of these sleazebags.” I tucked the invite in my jacket and stood slowly, reaching for her bag at the same time as she did. We bumped foreheads, and I didn’t miss the little swear she let out at the pain as she reared back, rubbing her temple.
I took the bag and slung it over my shoulder in victory. “Let’s get going. The longer we’re here, the longer you’re exposed.”
She nodded slowly, her frown deepening. “Minnie?—”
Minnie leaned forward and hugged her briefly, a soft smile on her lips. “I’ll see you in a few days, girlie. Don’t be late for your first shift, okay?”
The girl smiled softly and nodded, her eyes unfocused and staring. “I won’t be.”
Hawke peeled out of the room first, his mask still firmly in place as he stormed straight through the main entrance, understanding his job as the designated attention catcher.
Liam and I escorted the girl out the back door, using the distraction as a chance to escape entirely unnoticed.
When we got to the car, I slipped her bag onto the floor in the backseat, indicating she should follow it in.
I didn’t expect her to stand there and stare at me like I’d grown a set of horns or something.
Without a word, she marched to the front door and yanked it open, taking the passenger seat as Hawke rounded the corner into the alley. He looked furious, but he had the keys, so I just shrugged and took the seat I’d intended for the girl, wondering how it’d play out when Liam?—
“Oh, hell no. I don’t ride bitch. Get in the back, pipsqueak.”
Hawke slid in the driver’s seat and grinned, settling in for a temper tantrum the likes of which we probably hadn’t seen in a long time from Liam. But we didn’t anticipate that Liam had met his match in the feisty little ball of energy packed into a barely five-foot frame.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see your name on this seat.”
Her voice was low, but there was a hidden layer of distaste and irritation in it that overrode what common sense she might’ve possessed. She stared Liam down like she could see through those stupid goggles he’d put on when we walked into the building.
Maybe she could.
“Listen, I don’t like to manhandle women, so maybe you could make it easier on both of us and just crawl into the backseat where you belong.”
“It’s just a seat,” Hawke started, but I shook my head, stopping him in his tracks. This was on Liam to solve, not him.
Let him fight it out.
“Alright, bitch, if you don’t move, and now, I’ll move you myself.” As if to prove it, he leaned in, his hands inching toward the girl. “I’ll give you five seconds.”
“One,” she said, leaning in closer to his face with a grin of her own. “Two.” Her eyes met his, held them captive, as she stuck a hand on his chest, her finger digging into his pecs. “Three. Uh-oh, mister big bad scary man, looks like your intimidation tactics don’t work here.”
“Four,” he growled, his voice a growl.
Don’t do it, I silently pleaded with her, but it appeared she, like Hawke, sometimes didn’t know when to hedge her bets.
“Five,” she purred, sticking her foot on his abs and shoving him out of the way of the door as she slammed it in his face.
She locked the damn thing, sticking her tongue out at him from the other side of the window.
A window that I was suddenly concerned might not last if Liam did what he looked ready to do and punched straight through it.
“You’re playing with fire, little girl,” Hawke chuckled, starting the car with a smile. “Careful you don’t get too close, or you might get burned.”
“I'm not scared of a little fire,” she retorted, her forehead against the window as Liam crammed into the back seat and slammed the door. “My brother and his friends taught me to hold my own.”
“You’re gonna need that,” I muttered, leaning back against the seat.
It was gonna be a long ride home.
The whole way to the asylum, she peppered me, Hawke, and sometimes Liam with questions, not all of which we actually answered.
“Do you guys wear the masks all the time?”
A question for Hawke, as he leaned away from the finger she’d poked the side of his oni mask with. “Yep. Even shower in them.”
“Weirdos.” She turned to me next, after seeing Liam looked to be in no mood to answer anything she wanted to know about. “Are you guys, like, important in your Guild, or whatever?”
“We’re basically founding members,” I admitted, frowning at her rapid-fire questions. Did she really need to know all of this? “When you get to the Guild, it’s important you listen to what we tell you. It could save your life.”
“You can’t wander around on your own. There are worse assholes than us roaming those halls, and not all of them have a conscience.” Hawke turned onto the drive leading up to the parking garage. “And keep your mouth shut around the rest of the Guild. Sometimes, it’s best not to say anything at all.”
“If you should have any issues, you just tell them you’re with the Gunners, and they’ll leave you alone, or they’ll sign their death certificates.” Liam’s words were harsh, but he said them with a serious tone, no inflection of attitude or assholery in the words.
It looked like she took them seriously, too. She didn’t bother retorting with something witty.
Instead, she turned to face him, her body twisted to face the backseat as Hawke stole glances at her out of the corner of his eye. “Are you guys like the big bads in the asylum?”
“Something like that,” he responded, watching her from behind those goggles. “Are you always this annoying?”
“Maybe.” She turned around in her seat, already tired of him, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.
It’d been a long time since someone had pushed our buttons like she did. Maybe having her underfoot wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.