Outlaws by Matt Rogers (phonics books TXT) 📕

behind? You go there to salvage it, and they’ll spring a trap.’

King shrugged. ‘I don’t much care.’

‘Jason.’

‘I left three of them alive,’ King said. ‘I didn’t turn them in, because I didn’t understand what I was dealing with. Now I find out the one who took me to the port — Quinn — knew he was leading me to the wrong container the whole time.’

‘That doesn’t matter.’

‘Yes,’ King said. ‘It does.’

She fell silent.

He said, ‘I see a problem, I fix it.’

‘You won’t just be fighting those Cali gangsters,’ she said. ‘You’ll be fighting legitimate tier-one operatives from our own military. They’ll be lying in wait — you know they will be.’

‘Didn’t seem to be a problem in Great Kills.’

‘Why keep throwing yourself in danger like this?’

‘Because that’s the story of my life.’

Slater said, ‘You’re not going to change his mind.’

She held her tongue instead of retorting. She rose, crossed to the window, and looked out through the see-through curtains. ‘I know.’

‘I’m going,’ King said. ‘I’ll finish it.’

She turned. ‘We still have time until they realise I’m not being held against my will. I’m in the system. I have access to my team. I can get us the resources we need.’

He said, ‘You’ll come?’

‘What else am I going to do?’

Slater sat forward. ‘Where is Beckham?’

She froze in place. King saw the pain and tension on her face. It was probably the first time someone else had muttered the man’s name since the falling out. Her dark secret, out there for all to see.

She said, ‘Why?’

‘Because you have time,’ Slater said. ‘But not much of it.’

She looked at him.

He said, ‘You told us you found out the address of his disability home, but you said it wouldn’t do you any good. Because you can’t rescue him if the whole shadow world’s coming to neutralise him. Because you’re not a wrecking ball with a death wish.’

Silence.

He said, ‘I am.’

She said, ‘No.’

‘Eventually they’ll find out you left voluntarily. You think they won’t follow through on their promise to execute him when you blatantly betrayed them?’

Her eyes rapidly calculated possibilities, landing on the conclusion he’d reached five minutes earlier.

Slater said, ‘Sounds like you and King have business in California. So let me get Beckham. Let me protect him.’

‘Why would you do that for me?’ she said.

‘Because you care about him,’ he said. ‘And I care about you.’

‘I was complicit in an attempt on your life.’

‘Water under the bridge.’

‘How do you do this?’ she said, putting her hands on her hips. Then she turned from Slater to King. ‘How do either of you do this?’

‘We’ve seen it all,’ Slater said.

Which said enough.

She said, ‘I’m not comfortable with it. You don’t owe me anything.’

‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I don’t. Now where’s Beckham?’

She thought about it.

But not for long.

Time was of the essence.

‘Richmond, Virginia,’ she said. ‘Five hour drive. The place is the Hooper Quadriplegic Centre. It’s a state-owned facility that permanently houses its residents. Beckham’s name there is Jonathan Powell. You know, WITSEC…’

Slater nodded slowly.

She said, ‘It’s being watched. Twenty-four-seven. You don’t have a hope in hell of getting him out of there without a war.’

Slater said, ‘Then it’s a good thing I’m an expert on war.’

70

After that, the next steps were straightforward.

Dangerous. Possibly fatal. But straightforward.

Violetta got on the phone to Alonzo, and laid out what she needed, and he set to work implementing it. At the end of the conversation, Slater overheard her explicitly tell the tech guru not to pass this information up the chain. He heard Alonzo ask, ‘Why?’ through the tinny handheld speaker.

Violetta said, ‘Because I’m asking. Please.’

‘Okay.’

That was all it took.

There was little more to be said. A flight awaited. Violetta and King nodded to Slater and Alexis in turn, who both nodded back. Then they were gone, Violetta leading the way, slipping out of the tiny apartment.

Leaving Slater and Alexis alone to deal with the chaos of the last twenty-four hours.

She turned to him, pierced him with her green eyes. ‘I can’t believe you offered to do that for her.’

‘Are you mad at me?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘Quite the contrary.’

‘I’m putting myself in danger again.’

‘If I was mad at that, I never would have agreed to a first date.’

‘You knew what I was,’ he said. ‘The first time we met, you knew.’

‘Not what you are,’ she said. ‘Who you are. You’re not a monster.’

‘Sometimes I don’t know where the line is.’

‘That’s bullshit,’ she said. ‘You’ve never even eased a toe over that line. You were going to die this morning to protect my family. People you’ve never met.’

He didn’t respond.

She said, ‘I’ve never met anyone who had more of an understanding of where the line is.’

‘That means more than you know.’

She hugged him, looping her arms over his shoulders, drawing him in. He savoured the warm embrace for a few seconds, and then methodically flipped a switch in his brain. When he stepped back, he was imperturbable.

He said, ‘Let’s go.’

Everything was already crammed into Alexis’s backpack — they’d used the room as a meeting place, nothing more. All that was left to do was step out and move forward. So they did. They left the room behind, what was supposed to be their sanctuary for weeks or months of quiet, peaceful existence. And now he was thrust straight back into a hostile world.

Really, he felt ridiculous for assuming he could stay away for any considerable length of time.

They hovered on the landing for a beat, staring down at the lot below. The Land Rover was gone — King and Violetta had commandeered it.

Alexis said, ‘So we steal a car?’

Slater shook his head. ‘I have identities the shadow world still doesn’t know about. We use one of those to rent a car. If we steal a ride, it’ll be reported before we make it to Richmond. We need to be discreet.’

She put her hands on his shoulders and turned him to face her. ‘And then what?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We rescue Beckham, rendezvous with King and Violetta — provided they’re not dead