“Still no leads?”
Ashe shook her head, shooting Jessica an apologetic look. “Aside from identifying them as a Russian mercenary outfit, nothing.”
She had changed out of her dress, but her bandaged wound was visible. She’d only been discharged from the hospital an hour earlier. Caralina had taken two of her girls to the hospital, one had taken a bad turn, the other was more a safe than sorry situation. Ashe wished she could have gone with, but her place was at the apartment. Ashe clenched her fists, she would be out for vengeance, because nobody touched her girls and got away with it.
“They aren’t in the country legally,” Keiko said with a frown. “Not that it means much, given how easy it is to traffic girls in this city.”
“That’s the fucking truth,” Brie muttered. Given that most of the girls rescued had been illegally brought over, it was a valid complaint. “So, what are we going to do about these pendejo?”
“The Mayor knows something,” Ashe said, gesturing to the screen where the interaction with Gray had been playing from Keiko’s bodycam. Ashe had been unsure how her mom would handle seeing her kill someone in cold blood, but she hadn’t commented on anything, just sat there stoically and observed. “Gray made that pretty damn clear, but I have a feeling that he isn’t their primary employer, just the front man they’re feeding us.”
“The kid is dead so he can’t be questioned,” Crystal added dryly. “Such a pity and all that tripe.”
Ashe winced, her eyes flicking over to where her mom was sitting and observing, she glared at Crystal, but kept her comments to herself. Technically, she was getting an opportunity to observe the heart of one of the fastest growing gangs in the city, she would be a fool to turn that down.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t had a chance to get an answer from her mom following their conversation. Jessica had arrived shortly after, her arm freshly stitched from where Gray had shot her. She had taken a bit of satisfaction watching the footage of his death, but there was also a sadness for the man that she had dated for the better part of three years.
“The kid might be dead, but the Mayor isn’t,” Jessica said with a frown. “I’d approach him, but I don’t think my presence would go over well.”
“Probably not,” Ashe agreed. “Which leaves us with few options to progress.”
“Um.”
Everyone in the room turned, taking in the sight of Ashe’s mom sitting there, arms still crossed, but her expression was thoughtful. Nervous eyes glanced around the room, and Ashe knew that several didn’t approve of her presence. She was a cop, and Ashe had basically shoehorned her into their strategy meeting and let her see everything. It wasn’t wise, but if she was going to preserve some sort of relationship with her parents, a bit of honesty would be needed.
“Go ahead,” Ashe said softly, sending her mom a tired smile. “You decided to stay, and if you saw something we missed, feel free to share your observations.”
Her mom fidgeted for a moment, which was weird to see in the normally confident woman. Ashe was used to her being a bastion, but she was among criminals and murderers, one of which was her own daughter. She was decidedly out of her own element, and it showed.
“Out with it, we don’t have all day,” Keiko said with a grin. “Ain’t nobody here going to bite, not unless you give us a reason.”
Crystal rolled her eyes. “Keiko, you bit the mail woman last week.”
“She asked me to,” the unrepentant flirt said with a grin. “Pretty sure I have another date with her lined up.”
“A second date?!” Crystal said with a gasp, clutching at her chest. “I’m so proud of you.”
Keiko flipped her off. “Fuck ya too. I’ll have you know I’ve had lots of second dates!”
“Casual fuck buddies don’t count,” Brie added, getting a snort from Crystal and a stuck out tongue from Keiko. “Anyway, you were saying, Mrs. Hamilton?”
“Nothing but a bunch of kids,” Ashe’s mom muttered. “I just, if none of you can approach the Mayor, why can’t I?”
Ashe frowned, but considered it. Her mom was a police officer in good standing, and well known in the city. She could do it, and it wouldn’t look too out of place, but she would need to do so through the department or risk bringing unwanted attention upon herself. She was already keeping things from the official record, never mind that she had just rushed into a firefight just so Ashe wouldn’t be without proper support.
That experience was oddly warm, but that didn’t relieve the red herring that was still sitting between them. This was a secret she couldn’t keep from her wife. Ashe’s mother would have to be told about it, but for the moment they could put it off and work on the problem at hand. Once the city wasn’t on fire, then they could address the elephant in the room.
“Not a bad idea,” Ashe admitted after a moment. “Just do it in a way that doesn’t compromise your job. If the wrong people catch on that you’re working with us, it would be trouble. Alejandro and Yessina know who I am.”
Mom’s eyes went wide. “Shit, and they just took her into custody.”
“She probably won’t talk,” Keiko said with a frown. “If she blabs about one thing, someone will off her before she can blab about more. Snitches and all that.”
“Half the jail will be watching her like a hawk, including several cops,” Crystal said. “Anyone dirty will just be looking for an excuse to slip something into her food, or a shank between her ribs.”
Her mom sat up straighter. “Wait, were you the one to order the hit on Lowell?”
Crystal shook her head. “Pretty sure that was my father, or uncle. Let me guess, you floated my name about the department, even though it was kept off the books?”
“Yeah,” Mom admitted. “It was brought up in a captain’s meeting. Everyone agreed to keep it off the record, if only to protect Ashe.”
“Gotta love nepotism and corruption,” Keiko said. “That would do it though, half the department probably heard within the hour and then it made its way back to whoever called in the hit.”
“It can’t be that bad,” Mom tried.
“Even we have people in the department,” Ashe said, the admission sitting heavily in the air. “And no, I’m not referring to you or Mother. It’s just a fact of life in this city, the cops are for sale, assuming you can afford them.”
“Which we can,” Crystal said. “Our entire operation is profitable and has been for almost a month now.”
Ashe had been surprised to see how profitable their drug trade was. Todd and Jason together had single handedly brought them into the black, and if he wasn’t from a wealthy family, she would be showering him in cash for it. Instead, he had asked to make sure those working for him were well taken care of instead.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
“You’ve been at this for three months,” Mom said with surprise and a touch of horror. “How have you managed to do all of this in such a short time.”
“I have people that rely on me,” Ashe said. “People that I can’t afford to fail, and so I do what I have to in order to keep them safe.”
She could tell that her mom was struggling to wrap her mind around it all. She was off, cast adrift. The revelation about what Ashe had been up to had upended her entire world. Worse, those she would normally confide in weren’t an option for talking through it with.
“Crystal,” Ashe said. “Go with Mom, keep her company while she tries to get answers from our asshole of a Mayor.”
“I can do that,” Crystal said with a nod. “What about you?”
Ashe considered that for a moment before sighing. “I need to call Alejandro, loathe as I am to do so. Appearances need to be kept and all, plus he might have some information about our mystery mercenaries that play into his own plans.”
Crystal nodded, strapping a holster to her shoulder before pulling her jacket back on. Ashe’s mom was still watching her with apprehension, like she wanted to just reach out and wrap her in bubble wrap. She’d been threatened with that once when she had fractured her arm shortly after they adopted her. The guilt was raw, but responsibility was more pressing.
“Keep me updated,” Ashe said, moving down the hall as she fished out her phone and dialed a familiar number, psyching herself up to deal with the rabid badger. Muffled crying was heard on the other line the moment it picked up. “Is this a bad time?”
“Not at all!” Alejandro’s cheerful voice called out. “I was just wrapping things up here.” A single gunshot sounded, and the crying ceased. “That’s better. Now, how can I help the little flame?”
“Shits on fire,” Ashe said bluntly. “We’ve all got our own issues at the moment, I’m sure.”
“Heard about the shitshow at your prom that sparked this mess,” he said. “Your little friend was a delight, by the by. Absolute chaos gremlin after my own heart.”
“Not a friend,” Ashe said, making sure to undersell how she felt about her former bully. “She was useful, and we had a mutual enemy. An enemy who happened to have mercenaries.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end, and when he spoke again, the tone had changed.
“What do you know about them?”
Ashe took a breath, knowing this could all be a setup, but she couldn’t afford to play everything close to the chest, not anymore.
“The killings back in early April,” she said, knowing she didn’t need to repeat how it had been her. “Those were the same mercenaries, or at least the same company.”
“Concerning,” he said. “You’re sure they’ve been targeting the Ellington brat?”
“They wanted him this time too, or someone they could leverage to get him,” Ashe said. “That same mercenary crew paid my territory a visit barely an hour ago.”
She wasn’t about to admit to him how much or little damage was done. He would probably find out through whoever was his secondary spy, but free information was just that, he could work for it.
“They really don’t like you,” he said with a rueful chuckle. “How many have you left dead in your wake now?”
“Lost count after a dozen,” she said, shrugging despite the fact he couldn’t see it. Ashe didn’t want to dwell on how little that actually bothered her, it was a rabbit hole she didn’t have the luxury to lose herself down at the moment. “Point is, we have outsiders making a play in our city. I’ll owe you one if you can help with the expunging.”
“I’ll see what I can dig up,” he said, then once again his tone shifted. “Anything for the little spark of delight. Now, it seems I need to pay some patriots back, and the mail service is a bit lacking at the moment for my associates to make the proper example, so I’m afraid that I must cut our call short.”
“Fair enough,” Ashe said. “Happy hunting.”
“Oh, I can assure you, I’m fucking ecstatic! Bring in the next fucker, daddy’s got to vent some rage.”
The call ended and Ashe couldn’t resist the shiver of revulsion that ran down her spine each and every time she had to speak with that man. One day, they would probably end up trying to kill one another, and one would succeed. Ashe wasn’t looking forward to it, but she could at least acknowledge that was the inevitable outcome.
Stepping back into the living room, she was surprised to see only Brie remained.
“Keiko step out?”
She nodded. “Yeah, she went with Jessica to pick up Rachel. Had everything been a one off, she was content to leave her with her parents, but now…”
“Understandable,” Ashe said, flopping back on the couch. “This is a real fucking mess, and I barely have an idea about how to handle it.”
“You’re doing fine,” Brie said, a smile on her face but her voice was trembling. “I’m the one losing it. Fuck, I think I killed three people tonight.”
Ashe wasn’t sure what to say to that. Brie had asked to help, but she hadn’t even considered that Brie hadn’t killed before. She just assumed that with how the girl acted, she was prepared to do what was needed. Hell, she had seemed so excited down in the tunnels after the firefight, but that could have easily been the adrenaline talking.
“You, uh, sure I’m the best person to talk with?” Ashe asked.
“I don’t really have anyone I can talk to,” Brie whispered. “My usual fuck buddy is our cop informant. I can’t just go confess to him that I murdered people. I might be distraught, but I’m not stupid.”
“I threw up after I killed my first person,” Ashe said, not sure what else she could say, so she rolled with the shared experience angle. “I was questioning a guy and once I got my answers, I paid him with some fentanyl laced cocaine. Guy snorted the whole pack right there.”
“Damn, he probably dropped like a rock,” Brie said, shaking her head.
“Yeah, and seized like a mother fucker as he did,” Ashe said, the memories as vivid as ever, but dulled by experience. “That stuck with me.”
“I’ve been there.” Brie said and Ashe raised an eyebrow, because it sounded like she was insinuating that she had…
“You forget what I did when we torched the warehouse? I’ve killed plenty before.”
Ashe blinked, then slapped her face for having forgotten. Letting out a groan, which only had Brie laughing harder, she felt a bit of the tension leave her.
“Okay, you got me there,” Ashe said, shaking her head.
“I’m fine with killing,” Brie said with a shrug. “It’s the ‘getting shot at’ part that I’m not used to. I’d never been shot at before, not like that, nor had I been able to shoot back. It brought back some unpleasant memories of my old home.”
“Combat,” Ashe said. “That’s what was new, and you aren’t sure how you feel about it.”
Brie nodded. “Yeah, that bit in the tunnels was fun, they weren’t in a position to do much, and my friends weren’t in blatant danger. When they attacked us here? I was so scared. These girls look up to me as a leader and I didn’t want to disappoint them. Hearing about the injuries after? It hit me that we could have lost some of them.”
“Leadership is a responsibility,” Ashe said solemnly. “I didn’t want to step up, but if I hadn’t, who else would?”
“Fuck,” Brie said. “I wish I could argue, but damn. Can’t even get high right now either, can we?”
Ashe chuckled. “Nope. Perk of being one of the responsible ones.”
“Is it too late to turn in my notice?” Brie asked.
Ashe paused, and actually considered that. Brie had made herself an indispensable part of her operations, letting her walk away wasn’t really an option anymore. Still, she refused to go back on her original offer, new circumstances be damned.
“You’re free to quit whenever,” Ashe said. “I’ll even throw in a cushy severance package so you can start back up wherever you wish to go.”
“Generous,” Brie said with a nod. The pair sat for a moment, letting the silence linger. Ashe almost started to doze when Brie’s voice cut through. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
Ashe nodded. “I don’t want to force anyone to work for me. I don’t want to become one of those people that will kill someone when they aren’t of use anymore… I’m afraid that by fighting monsters, I’m becoming one myself.”
Brie stared at her for a moment, then chuckled, pulling her phone out. She flicked through it for a moment, then showed her a picture. It was from a few days prior, where she and Crystal had dozed on the couch together, and apparently Brie had taken the opportunity to grab some candid photos.
“Big scary monster indeed,” Brie said.
There was only one recourse to something like that, so Ashe grabbed the nearest pillows and threw it at Brie’s head, earning a squawk from the girl as she fell back.