There was more than one vigilante working for this city, and that was why so many different rumors circulated about his appearance and size. More than once he’d spoken of “us” and “we”. She now understood why.
One of the shadows, the biggest one, came forward. “White escaped with his surviving men. We need to finish it.”
The vigilante looked back. “Rack off!”
Orla blinked at the expression, but the biggest shadow wasn’t deterred, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll take care of her. Go now. Quickly.”
The vigilante looked at her for a long time, hesitating, before letting her go. Without a backward glance, he started running with the other men and in a blink of an eye, was gone.
Now alone with the one that seemed to be the boss, Orla got to her feet and was glad to find them steadier than she’d expected. If the vigilante trusted this man now towering over her, she could try to do the same.
“Are you all right?” No voice modulator on this one. His voice was deep and soothing, concerned even.
“I am. I will be. Where’s White? And his men?”
“Gone, on the run with what’s left of his men. What you did back there was courageous, Ms. Karlsen. Bargaining for your friend’s life. Trying to track the Phantom distributor. You helped us find Mr.White, or whatever his name really is. We may not be able to prevent the immediate distribution of that awful drug on the streets, but we’re making giant leaps. Because of you. Come, I’ll take you home.”
At his words her body, turned into a puppet, and she followed like a docile puppy. She was safe now.
“It’s not over, not until White is stopped.”
The giant didn’t stop walking. “He’s carrying the briefcase with the GPS inside, so until he opens it and realizes it’s empty, we have a chance of tracking him down, discovering his plans and stopping them.”
The man was leading her away from where she’d initially parked, and in less than five minutes, they reached a clearing where a black pick-up truck was waiting.
Gallantly, he went to the passenger’s side and opened the door.
Orla put a hand on his. “I can’t stop. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop. I don’t want that drug to overtake this city. This is my home. I’ll never be willing or capable of staying on the sidelines and not fighting. I want to thank you, thank him, whoever he is, for your support and for saving my life. I know you have no reason to trust me, I’m a journalist after all, but you have my word. I’ll never betray him, or any of you.” And then she couldn’t help but smile. “Unless you do something really, really stupid.”
There was no way to know what the man thought, but she was getting better at detecting body language, and she could decipher amusement. “We sometimes do bad things, but we’re never stupid. Like you, we can’t stop. But what we do must be done in secret.”
Orla recognized a request, even when spoken as an order. For the first time since she’d become a journalist, she was ready to let a story go. “You have my word.”
A brief bow of his head confirmed they had an understanding, but as she went to sit in the car, it was he who stopped her this time. “You know it would be ill-advised to see him again.”
The sudden force of emotions that gripped her throat almost prevented her from speaking. “Is it an order?”
Several seconds passed, nearly a minute before the giant spoke again. “There is much you don’t know. Some of us don’t have the luxury of leading a normal life, maybe not ever. Sometimes it’s because of what we have to do. Sometimes it’s because of what we can’t help but do. That’s why unless you’re willing to accept never having a normal life, I’d advise you to forget about him.”
ChapterSeventeen
No wayin hell could Orla sleep. That was a certainty the moment she locked the door of her apartment behind her. However, she knew when she needed a break and went to retrieve the bottle of white wine she kept in the fridge for such emergencies.
A full glass in one hand and the bottle in the other, she sat cross-legged on her sofa. The semi-darkness of her apartment combined with the first sip of alcohol was divine. It was probably the worst idea ever to mix her meds with wine, but on the other hand, after what had happened, she didn’t give a fuck. She was alive, and Kelli was safe, and the only ones killed were the bad guys. To top it off, if she’d was extremely lucky, White would be taken care of, thanks to the vigilantes.
That didn’t mean it would stop the spread of Phantom throughout the city, but if one head was dead, and the second followed him to the grave, it could lead to another round of negotiation with all new players, which would delay the release and give her more time to track down who was behind Phantom.
A scratching at her door drew her attention from her mental list, and before she could get to her feet to investigate, the lock turned, and the vigilante stepped in, tall and in full dark attire.
“I need to change the locks on that door, they suck. As does this building’s security.”
The man didn’t say a word and stood still as she took a bigger gulp from her glass, fearing she’d need it. Would he just stand there without a word, an ominous presence in her apartment? “Yes?”
“I only wanted to make sure you were OK. Everything was so quiet, I was worried.”
How she loved his deep voice, but this time, the tone revealed an underlying meaning. “I’m fine, and as soon as I finish this bottle, I’ll be in fighting form for the next round.”
Still, he stood there as she downed her first glass. “Do you want a glass? You can drink from the bottle if you want.”
