Page 34

Turbo blows the ash off the end of his joint.

“The club isn’t what it was back in the day, Hoppy.

” He fingers his beard. “There was a big bust on the east coast last year. Over a million kilos of cocaine. It blew our major rivals to pieces, put most of them away for a very long time. It also left an opening in the market.”

“And the Banderos walked right into it,” Luke finishes for him, nodding. “So you’re in bed with the Colombians now?”

“Not exactly.” Turbo looks uncomfortable. “They got burned in that raid too, so they’re a lot more careful now. There’s a middleman who serves as our contact for the product. An independent operator, you might say. Uses the triads to run the Colombian powder out of Thailand.”

“Thailand?” I speak before I remember Luke’s warning.

Turbo gives me a sharp look.

Oh well. Too late now.

“I thought the Russians ran Thailand,” I say.

In fact, given that two major bratva pakhans from Bangkok sit on the Mercura board, I fucking know the Russians run Thailand.

“Yeah, well, that’s above my paygrade.” Turbo gives me a wary look. “I just know that’s where our contacts operate from. Problem is, lately they’ve been asking for some favors in return for product that not everyone is happy about.”

Favors like kidnapping Abby?

I glance at Luke, who gives a subtle shake of his head.

Fucking hurry up, then, and ask what we need to know. I don’t want to sit here drinking beer all night, discussing nicknames.

“Are you still in?” Luke asks Turbo quietly.

Huh?

I look between them, confused as to what Luke is asking.

For a minute I think he won’t answer. Then the big man sits back with a resigned expression and swallows the remainder of his can. “No,” he says shortly. “I’m out. Handed in my colors a few months ago.”

Luke nods. “Thought you were a bit more jumpy than usual.”

“Look.” Turbo gives him a fierce look. “I’ve got brothers who are still in, and I’m not a fuckin’ rat, so I’m still not gonna give you the full John Dory.

Story,” he explains, rolling his eyes when he sees my confusion.

“But I’m not the only one who got out, the last few months.

There’s new leadership, some of them from overseas.

They did a recruitment push down in the city and got a lot of hungry youngsters in who’ll do pretty much anything for the right paycheck.

But the old fellas like me remember when our colors stood for something, when the Banderos ran on some pretty strong moral principles.

” His eyes cut to Luke. “Like it was back in the day, when we helped you and your sister get away from your rock spider of a stepfather, even though he wore the Banderos colors, same as we did.”

Luke nods. “I remember. ”

“Dealing happy powder is one thing. We’ve always done it, always will.

It’s just business, same as this stuff.” He holds up his dead joint.

“Running hookers, pills—all that is part of the business.” He spits to one side.

“But there’s shit you gotta draw the line at, and snatching people is where my line sits. Same for a lot of us.”

“ Snatching? ” A cold, dead chill runs down my spine. “Are you saying the Banderos kidnapped Abby?”

Turbo shifts uncomfortably. “I’m not sayin’ nothin’, not directly.”

I lean forward, ignoring Luke’s warning glare. I’ll have this idiot’s shotgun before he’s even out of the chair. “You need to tell us where she is.”

Turbo scowls, but he doesn’t go for his gun.

“Turbo.” Luke speaks calmly, but there’s a certain note in his voice that makes it clear he isn’t fucking about. “You need to talk, brother.”

“Fuck.” Turbo looks at me, then at Luke, who nods at him. He shakes his head. “I’ll talk about what’s relevant,” he says, eyeing me resentfully. “That’s it.”

I just glare at him. Get on with it, asshole.

“A few months ago I got a call from one of these new kids,” he says.

“Ambitious prick who’s trying to make a name for himself.

He’s supposed to be doing small-town deliveries, earning his colors, but he fancies himself as a bit of a trigger man.

Did a job or two back in the city, and now he thinks he’s fucking Carlos the Jackal, you know? ” Turbo spits contemptuously.

I stare daggers at him.

“Anyhow,” he goes on hastily, “he told me there was a chick working in the Leetham pub who had a contract on her head. I thought it was complete bullshit, told him to shut up and do his job. Problem is, this guy was connected, you know? Did some time over in Thailand, knows some of the new leadership. He went over my head, sent this chick’s picture on to someone there.

Next thing I know, I’ve got orders to grab this girl. ”

My fists clench. It’s all I can do not to pull a gun on this fucker.

“I didn’t like it, so I asked why they wanted this chick.

” He says it flatly, meeting my eyes. “All they’d say was that it was orders.

” He scowls. “Well, orders are one thing. Kidnapping a local girl from a town I do business in is something else. Something I wasn’t about to put my hand up for without a damned good fuckin’ reason, and none of them would give me that.

” He shrugs. “So I refused, told them to do their own dirty work.

“It didn’t go down well. Couple of days later, I got orders I’d been demoted.

Told to go pull guard duty out in an abandoned mining camp not far from here.

” He shakes his head, his face dark. “Turns out it was this same girl, along with some others. I did the week, but only because I had a real bad feeling about it.” He glares into the fire.

“Then some young guys turned up, gave me a fat pay packet, and told me that my services were no longer required. I got the fuck out of there.” He shoots Luke an ashamed look.

“There’s been a lot of shallow graves around here lately.

Wasn’t about to find myself in one of them.

I tore my colors off the same day,” he says, as if that makes some kind of fucking difference.

“Sent them in from a town down the road and then came out here. Been lying low ever since.”

He glances sideways at me. “I went back to the mining camp,” he mutters. “A few weeks ago. I just needed to know she was alright, you know? I liked that girl.”

I’m about to wrench him out of his chair when Luke puts a restraining hand on my arm.

“She was gone,” Turbo goes on, staring down at the ground. “They were all gone. Place was empty. ”

“How long?” I shake off Luke’s hand impatiently. “How long since they left?”

“Couldn’t say.” Turbo shakes his head slowly. “Had to take a guess, it’s been a while.”

Fuck.

I want to kill the prick.

Luke clearly knows it. “Abby’s in trouble, Turbo,” he interjects calmly. “Anything you can give us, mate.”

Mate? I clench my fists.

This fucker is a long way from being my mate .

“You need to tell us who they are,” I say tightly. “The ones giving the orders.”

I’m fucking itching to hurt this prick.

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to.” Turbo twists his beer can in his hands, glancing at me uncomfortably. “The only contact I had was by encrypted message, and my access has been cut off. I know they’re based out of Thailand, but that’s all I can tell you.”

Thailand. But the contract Turbo mentioned came out of Colombia, I’m sure of it. And by now, she could be anywhere between here and both of those countries.

If she’s still alive at all.

Cold horror trickles down my spine. I push it away.

That way lies madness.

“You must have a contact in Thailand.” It’s only Luke’s presence that’s stopping me making this interrogation a hell of a lot more physical.

Turbo shakes his head slowly. “Like I said, it was all done through message.”

“But you think that’s where they’ve taken Abby?” Luke presses. “Have they sent girls there before?”

Turbo shakes his head. “As to that, I really couldn’t say.

But the tire tracks out of the camp led south, toward Perth.

I asked around a bit, tried to find out if anyone in the city knew anything, but nobody had seen them.

That means they’re not in the brothels down there, or working any of the poles in town.

Perth’s a small place. If they were there, I’d know about it.

So if I took a guess... yeah. Yeah, Thailand is probably where I’d start. ”

His eyes touch mine then slide away. “I do have something else. I—well, I dunno why I took it.” He fishes around in his pocket and comes up holding a narrow, multicolored woven band.

I stare at the friendship bracelet, pain and longing gripping me so fiercely I can barely breathe.

Abby, laughing in the sun with Darya and Masha at the mountain finca.

Abby, patiently showing Masha how to plait the threads together. “You tie it, myshka... Now we are friends forever, see?”

“I found it when I went back to the mining camp.” Turbo lies the frayed band carefully down on the arm of my chair.

“I remembered that girl of yours wearing it. I figured she dropped it on purpose, to leave a trail, you know?” He turns his beer uncomfortably.

“I thought someone might come asking questions one day.” His eyes touch mine then slide away. “Or maybe I just hoped they would.”

I stare down at the bracelet, my heart thudding slowly.

“I hope you find her,” Turbo says quietly. “I hope you find all the girls they took. It’s not right, what they’re doing.”

I barely manage a civil goodbye. I’m still clutching the woven band when we hit the dirt road that leads to the highway. We’re approaching the main road when Luke finally speaks.

“So—Thailand, then?”

I turn the band over in my hand, rubbing the frayed threads, imagining they still retain some semblance of Abby’s golden warmth.

“Sometimes the best way to find someone is to go backward,” I say slowly.

He gives me a sideways glance. “Didn’t we just do that?”