Page 50 of Edge

“Wrong,” Phoenix said and pointed to one of the cameras mounted in the corner of the room. “You’ve got two seconds to get your boss on the phone for me before I send the videos of this shitshow to every media outlet in existence.” Phoenix crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the little weasel. “The cameras record in high definition and include audio.”

He brought his phone to his ear and glared at Phoenix. “And who, shall I say, is calling?”

“It doesn’t matter since you haven’t actually called anyone,” Phoenix said and tapped at the screen on his own phone. “You might be new, but I’m not.”

He stared at the guy while he waited for his call to be answered. Then he smiled, but it wasn’t friendly. “Hey, Charlie. I’m down here at Irene’s Diner. There was a break-in this morning, and the guy running the show has got innocent people and victims restrained on the floor. And by people, I meanmy people. Pretty sure he’s delayed care for victims with critical injuries.”

Even I could hear the man on the other end of Phoenix’s phone yelling and cursing. Phoenix covered the mouthpiece with his hand and leaned toward the shitshow runner. “What’s your name?”

Shitshow grimaced. “Roger Pond.”

Phoenix relayed the man’s name, followed by, “Thanks, Charlie. See you in a few.”

As soon as Phoenix’s call ended, Shitshow’s phone rang. Once again, I could hear Charlie yelling through the phone. Shitshow said, “Yes, sir,” and “Sorry, sir,” about fifteen times before the call was over. Then he said the words I’d been waiting for. “Let them go.”

“And be quick about it,” Phoenix added.

I was on my feet and pulling Evie into my arms seconds after they released me. She melted into me and buried her face against my chest. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not hurt, but I’m not okay,” she said.

I tightened my hold on her. “I won’t let anything else happen to you.”

“Is Irene alive?” she asked, and the despair in her voice broke my heart.

“Can you find out about Irene?” I asked Phoenix.

Byte appeared next to Phoenix. “She was taken to the hospital, but I don’t know anything other than that,” he said.

“Who’d you talk to?” Phoenix asked.

“No one,” Byte said with disgust. “After the third fucker refused to tell me anything, I looked at the surveillance footage and saw the paramedics leave with her. Tony and Bart were also taken to the hospital.”

Phoenix gently placed his hand on the back of Evie’s head and leaned down to speak softly to her. “Do you want to go to the hospital to be with Irene?”

“Am I allowed to?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah. This bozo has screwed up so badly that you can do whatever you want. They will be kissing your ass for the remainder of this investigation.”

“Yes, I want to go. I don’t know what’s wrong with her or how badly she’s hurt. They wouldn’t tell me anything,” she cried.

“And they’re going to pay for that,” Phoenix said and stepped back. “Go ahead and take her to the hospital. Byte and Dice will go with you. I’ll handle everything here. We’ll discuss dinner plans later. I was thinking Italian.”

“Sounds good,” I said and directed my attention to Evie. “You ready to go?”

She nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes.

I tossed my keys to Phoenix. “My bike’s out front.”

Phoenix chuckled. “I saw it.”

With Evie’s hand in mine, I led her to the SUV one of the brothers had driven to the diner. Once we were inside, she asked, “Why was Phoenix talking about dinner?”

I smiled at her question and almost laughed. It was so unexpected. “He was referring to Luca,” I explained. “He was covertly telling me we’d meet up with Luca later today.”

“Why?”

“To deal with Muzzle.”