Total pages in book: 227
Estimated words: 220940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1105(@200wpm)___ 884(@250wpm)___ 736(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 220940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1105(@200wpm)___ 884(@250wpm)___ 736(@300wpm)
“Nolan got rid of it.”
“Oh, so Nolan knew about it too?” I ask. “The fuck, Brad?”
“What did you want me to do, Danny?”
“Talk to me!”
“Oh, like you talked to me when Rose got inside your head? Like you talked to me when you fucked off to Winstable to meet the Romanians on your fucking own?”
I back down instantly. Fuck. I was protecting Rose. Protecting him. God, how is that nearly four years ago? I remember Brad looking like he was having a fit on the driveway as I drove away. I push my lips out, sulking. “Rose was planted. I was worried you’d kill her if I told you all the sordid details.”
“Well, Pearl wasn’t planted. She was seeking fucking asylum. Safety.”
“You didn’t know that then.”
“No, but something wasn’t adding up. I also knew she was twenty-one, and I’m a lot fucking older than twenty-one.”
“And you didn’t know she was a virgin?”
He reaches for his nose, pinching the bridge, inhaling. “No, I already told you that. Not the first time.”
“But the—”
“Second, third, fourth, fifth time?” He throws his arms up. “Yes. I found out after the first time. Am I on trial?”
“Just trying to understand—”
“I have something.” Otto gets up from the couch and walks across the office with his laptop open, taking it to Brad. “The guy who turned up at the club looking for Pearl. Is that him?”
Brad frowns at the screen. “Yeah, that’s him.”
Otto appears dazed. “That’s Hector Gillingham. Abductor and contract killer.”
“Excuse me?” Brad looks at me, like I can confirm what Otto’s said.
“The image you sent me wasn’t great after you’d made mash potato out of his face, so I started scanning face shapes in the system.”
“What the fuck?”
I couldn’t agree more. “How did you get that information?”
“I have my ways.” Otto goes back to his laptop, tapping furiously at the keys.
“Are you joking?” Ringo laughs. “Is there some kind of online store you browse when you’re in the market for a killer?”
“Hire a killer dot com,” I say dryly, seeing James holding back a smile. Because he knows. Of course he knows. “Were you verified, James? Did you have a blue tick to confirm you were legit The Enigma and not someone posing as you?”
“Do the killers offer guarantees?” Ringo goes on, astounded. “This is a joke, right?”
Goldie’s also holding back a smile. Because she knows too. “No joke,” she says.
“Someone hired him to kill Pearl?” Brad asks. “Then why the fuck would he be asking after her at the club? Sounds like a pretty stupid thing to do if you’re planning on killing someone.”
“Not if you don’t care,” I muse, my brain about to explode. “And why would he? He’s a ghost. We only found out who he is because James is a former member of hire a killer dot com.”
“I wasn’t a member, actually.”
“Were you too expensive?”
“I didn’t charge.”
No, because his mission was personal.
“Fuck this.” Brad laughs over his words as he heads for the door.
I rush over and block it, shaking my head, and his lips twist. “Screw your head on straight,” I order.
“Fuck!” He swings around and yells at the ceiling.
I cast a worried look James’s way. He agrees. He’s getting too emotional. “We’ve got this,” I say, laying a palm on his shoulder and squeezing. “Sit down.” I guide him to the chair and push him down, pouring him a drink and putting it in his hand.
“King wouldn’t have hired a hitman,” Brad breathes, taking his drink. “He needs Pearl alive.”
Right. God, my head. “The questions we need answering,” I say, getting myself a top-up.
“Who killed the Mexicans and Russians and engraved the Black family emblem on their chests?” James kicks things off.
“Not a fucking clue,” I answer.
“Who did the drive-by on Brad?” he goes on.
“Maybe King.” I take a swig of my drink.
“Why?” Brad asks. “It doesn’t make any sense. Why bother with the Russians and Mexicans if he’s going to try and take us down himself?”
“Who hired Gillingham to kill Pearl?” James continues.
“Or kidnap her,” I add. “In which case, it definitely could have been King. Abduction isn’t killing.”
“Again, doesn’t make sense,” Brad mumbles. “King went to Sandy and Luis. Promised them guns in exchange for their back up. He knows he can’t take us on alone, so why suddenly start trying?”
“He can take us on if he’s got Nolan,” I say, putting that out there. Brad gives me the eye.
“Do Sandy and Luis know King’s got Nolan?” James asks. “And if Anya knows Pearl’s not a virgin, why doesn’t King? Surely she told Sandy.” He gives his attention to Otto. “Anything on her phone?”
“Working on it,” Otto replies, not looking up.
“The guy in the alley who mugged Pearl?” I prompt, like there’s not enough fucking unanswered questions.
Brad snorts. “That’s a question I do have the answer to.”