Better When He's Brave
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Chapter 18
Titus
I was surprised when the big, lifted-up truck rolled to a stop next to the GTO where it was parked up on a hill overlooking the battered and long-abandoned warehouse that Novak and his now defunct crew used to work out of. I had been standing there for a while, just waiting and watching, kicking myself for not putting the pieces together sooner, which seemed to be how I handled everything dealing with Roark. Sometime the bad guys were just better than I was. When the driver climbed out of the beast of a machine, some of the surprise wore off and I figured I should’ve known he had to be lurking around waiting to make whatever move he was planning after the attack. The way he had watched those video cameras so that we couldn’t miss seeing that he was tied into Roark’s plans was telling. The entire way Booker had acted when he was in Race’s building had hinted that something was up, that he was maneuvering pieces around the game board we couldn’t see. It was just like an ex-con to make up his own rules and forget to clue the rest of the players what they were.
If I was surprised to see him I don’t think he was at all shocked when I was on him before his feet hit the ground. I wanted to rip his head off and spit down his throat for the danger he had put Reeve in. I was happy I hadn’t called in for backup yet. I couldn’t drop-kick him across the Point if I had witnesses.
He thumped against the side of the truck as I barreled into him but we were evenly matched in the size and bulk department, so it wasn’t long before I had a fist in my ribs and we were both rolling around on the asphalt exchanging heavy blows and grunting with exertion. He got in a good shot to my cheek and I was pretty sure I broke his nose when I slammed my forehead into the center of his face. I took an elbow to the sternum, which knocked the wind out of me, so I retaliated with a kidney punch that finally had the other man rolling away from me. We both staggered to our feet, bloodied and furious, as we continued to circle one another like fighting dogs.
“She could have died, asshole.” I spit a mouthful of blood toward his feet, making him step back and swear at me.
“She has a gun and she knows how to use it. It was the only way any of us were going to get close to Roark. Someone needed to get in on the inside and the only way to do that was to give him something he wants.”
“Reeve’s corpse?” Just saying the words made my blood heat even more and I took another threatening step toward the other man. Booker held his hands up in front of him in a gesture of surrender and shook his head slowly.
“No. He wants you, but in order to convince him that I was trustworthy, that I would follow through, I had to show him how far I would go. Why do you think I let the cameras catch me? I know every fucking blind spot in that building. I wanted you guys to see me. Race is smart and it’s your fucking job to figure shit out. I wanted you to know something was up.”
“The bastard cut her, almost raped her. It wasn’t worth the risk. She isn’t yours to play with like that.”
“We don’t have a choice. Sacrifices have to be made because so far Roark is winning and we’re all just dangling on the end of his string waiting around like a bunch of dumb shits to see who he goes after next. I believed Reeve could take care of herself and it got us exactly where we needed to be. I followed you when you left the house so I could talk to you, even though I knew you were going to take a crack at me. Roark won’t show himself, but he will let me bring you to him now that I’ve proven myself to him. He’ll think I took you down just like he believed I wanted to let Zero in the building. It’s the only shot we have at getting close, Titus. He’s too smart. He knows the way this shit works from the inside. He’s better at it than we are and more people we care about are going to get hurt. We can stop it if you trust me.”
I crossed my arms over my chest as he let his hands fall. “Why does he want me?”
Booker heaved a deep breath and lifted a finger to wipe at the steady trickle of blood leaking out of his nose. My side was aching and my jaw throbbed. We had done a number on each other. “Because the girl loves you. It’s obvious to anyone that sees the two of you together. He doesn’t want her gone, he wants her to suffer. In his own sick and maniacal way he really did care about her. He thought the two of them were a match made in heaven when she told him about how she asked Novak to take care of the sister’s boyfriend. He thought she was as brutal and as violent as he was. He thought revenge would tie them together forever. I think she let him down by proving she has a heart and actually cares about other people, and he wants to make her pay for it. She disappointed him, so she deserves to feel that same kind of pain.”
“Zero tried to kill her, Booker.”
The scarred man shook his head and I winced as it sent blood flying. “Roark is malicious and devious, Titus. Zero didn’t know she was armed, but Roark did. He sent the guy in after her knowing she was going to fight back. Knowing she would pull the trigger. Why do you think the guy only had a knife? Roark wants her to be like him. He wants her to be a killer. He sent his man in there to die by her hand.”
“The gun was downstairs. Zero could’ve stabbed her the second she got out of the shower. He surprised her and she had to fight. She fought hard to stay alive. There are too many what-ifs in that scenario.”
“It’s win-win for Roark. She kills his guy and he feels like he has proven to himself that she is exactly what he wants her to be, or she ends up dead and she’s out of the way while he continues to torture the rest of us. Like I said, he’s better at this than we are, so the only way to stop him is from the inside. I told him that I could get to you, that I would arrange to have you meet me, and that you would show just to take a chunk out of my hide for betraying the family by letting Zero in. I told him you would do your job and the opportunity to take me in for violating my bond and disappearing couldn’t be passed up. I told him I would take you down and bring you to him. He believed me . . . only after I let Zero in the building.” ”
“How did he contact you in the first place?”
Booker wiped a hand across his face, smearing more blood and glowering at me as he poked his swollen and quickly bruising nose. “Zero was waiting for me when I got out of jail. Literally right outside of the police station. He asked if I needed a ride back to the condo and made it clear the only answer I had better have was yes. He asked me about Karsen. He knew I went into the school after her. She’s just a kid, dammit. She should have no part in anything that goes down in this place. She has a shot at having a normal life. I told him to leave her alone and he mentioned that Roark was always looking for good help. It was very ‘come to the dark side.’ He made it sound like they would leave the kid alone if I did what they wanted, so I told him there was always a right price for things, and that’s when he told me about getting into the building to go after your girl.”
Titus
I was surprised when the big, lifted-up truck rolled to a stop next to the GTO where it was parked up on a hill overlooking the battered and long-abandoned warehouse that Novak and his now defunct crew used to work out of. I had been standing there for a while, just waiting and watching, kicking myself for not putting the pieces together sooner, which seemed to be how I handled everything dealing with Roark. Sometime the bad guys were just better than I was. When the driver climbed out of the beast of a machine, some of the surprise wore off and I figured I should’ve known he had to be lurking around waiting to make whatever move he was planning after the attack. The way he had watched those video cameras so that we couldn’t miss seeing that he was tied into Roark’s plans was telling. The entire way Booker had acted when he was in Race’s building had hinted that something was up, that he was maneuvering pieces around the game board we couldn’t see. It was just like an ex-con to make up his own rules and forget to clue the rest of the players what they were.
If I was surprised to see him I don’t think he was at all shocked when I was on him before his feet hit the ground. I wanted to rip his head off and spit down his throat for the danger he had put Reeve in. I was happy I hadn’t called in for backup yet. I couldn’t drop-kick him across the Point if I had witnesses.
He thumped against the side of the truck as I barreled into him but we were evenly matched in the size and bulk department, so it wasn’t long before I had a fist in my ribs and we were both rolling around on the asphalt exchanging heavy blows and grunting with exertion. He got in a good shot to my cheek and I was pretty sure I broke his nose when I slammed my forehead into the center of his face. I took an elbow to the sternum, which knocked the wind out of me, so I retaliated with a kidney punch that finally had the other man rolling away from me. We both staggered to our feet, bloodied and furious, as we continued to circle one another like fighting dogs.
“She could have died, asshole.” I spit a mouthful of blood toward his feet, making him step back and swear at me.
“She has a gun and she knows how to use it. It was the only way any of us were going to get close to Roark. Someone needed to get in on the inside and the only way to do that was to give him something he wants.”
“Reeve’s corpse?” Just saying the words made my blood heat even more and I took another threatening step toward the other man. Booker held his hands up in front of him in a gesture of surrender and shook his head slowly.
“No. He wants you, but in order to convince him that I was trustworthy, that I would follow through, I had to show him how far I would go. Why do you think I let the cameras catch me? I know every fucking blind spot in that building. I wanted you guys to see me. Race is smart and it’s your fucking job to figure shit out. I wanted you to know something was up.”
“The bastard cut her, almost raped her. It wasn’t worth the risk. She isn’t yours to play with like that.”
“We don’t have a choice. Sacrifices have to be made because so far Roark is winning and we’re all just dangling on the end of his string waiting around like a bunch of dumb shits to see who he goes after next. I believed Reeve could take care of herself and it got us exactly where we needed to be. I followed you when you left the house so I could talk to you, even though I knew you were going to take a crack at me. Roark won’t show himself, but he will let me bring you to him now that I’ve proven myself to him. He’ll think I took you down just like he believed I wanted to let Zero in the building. It’s the only shot we have at getting close, Titus. He’s too smart. He knows the way this shit works from the inside. He’s better at it than we are and more people we care about are going to get hurt. We can stop it if you trust me.”
I crossed my arms over my chest as he let his hands fall. “Why does he want me?”
Booker heaved a deep breath and lifted a finger to wipe at the steady trickle of blood leaking out of his nose. My side was aching and my jaw throbbed. We had done a number on each other. “Because the girl loves you. It’s obvious to anyone that sees the two of you together. He doesn’t want her gone, he wants her to suffer. In his own sick and maniacal way he really did care about her. He thought the two of them were a match made in heaven when she told him about how she asked Novak to take care of the sister’s boyfriend. He thought she was as brutal and as violent as he was. He thought revenge would tie them together forever. I think she let him down by proving she has a heart and actually cares about other people, and he wants to make her pay for it. She disappointed him, so she deserves to feel that same kind of pain.”
“Zero tried to kill her, Booker.”
The scarred man shook his head and I winced as it sent blood flying. “Roark is malicious and devious, Titus. Zero didn’t know she was armed, but Roark did. He sent the guy in after her knowing she was going to fight back. Knowing she would pull the trigger. Why do you think the guy only had a knife? Roark wants her to be like him. He wants her to be a killer. He sent his man in there to die by her hand.”
“The gun was downstairs. Zero could’ve stabbed her the second she got out of the shower. He surprised her and she had to fight. She fought hard to stay alive. There are too many what-ifs in that scenario.”
“It’s win-win for Roark. She kills his guy and he feels like he has proven to himself that she is exactly what he wants her to be, or she ends up dead and she’s out of the way while he continues to torture the rest of us. Like I said, he’s better at this than we are, so the only way to stop him is from the inside. I told him that I could get to you, that I would arrange to have you meet me, and that you would show just to take a chunk out of my hide for betraying the family by letting Zero in. I told him you would do your job and the opportunity to take me in for violating my bond and disappearing couldn’t be passed up. I told him I would take you down and bring you to him. He believed me . . . only after I let Zero in the building.” ”
“How did he contact you in the first place?”
Booker wiped a hand across his face, smearing more blood and glowering at me as he poked his swollen and quickly bruising nose. “Zero was waiting for me when I got out of jail. Literally right outside of the police station. He asked if I needed a ride back to the condo and made it clear the only answer I had better have was yes. He asked me about Karsen. He knew I went into the school after her. She’s just a kid, dammit. She should have no part in anything that goes down in this place. She has a shot at having a normal life. I told him to leave her alone and he mentioned that Roark was always looking for good help. It was very ‘come to the dark side.’ He made it sound like they would leave the kid alone if I did what they wanted, so I told him there was always a right price for things, and that’s when he told me about getting into the building to go after your girl.”
