Surprisingly, he leads us to a run-down vehicle parked half a block down. I eye the battered car warily—it looks like it might fall apart any second. “What is this?”
“Carlo’s your guy for those drugs. He’s got a shop in Midtown. Unless you two wanna walk there in this freezing-ass weather? Think you can make it?”
Katie and I share another glance, and she gives a slight nod. The walk would be less than three miles, but it might get tricky trying to get there on foot while keeping the gun trained on Boa.
“I’ll drive,” Katie tells him. “You can give me directions from the passenger seat.”
As she speaks, I’m already taking a pair of handcuffs out of my coat pocket.
“Kinky.” Boa wiggles his brows at me, but I ignore his pathetic attempt as I secure his wrists. He doesn’t even resist—just grins like he’s enjoying the game—and slides into the passenger seat without a fuss.
I get in behind him, eying him suspiciously as I press my own gun to his side. Just in case he gets any bright ideas.
The drive is mercifully short, about five minutes of Boa giving directions and Katie navigating potholed streets. My pulse quickens as we pull up in front of a run-down grocery store. “Is this seriously the right place?” The building looks more likely to sell expired milk than black market pharmaceuticals.
“What? You expected a neon sign flashing ‘Illegal Meds Sold here’?” Boa asks sassily.
“I’ll go check it out,” Katie says, turning off the ignition. “You two stay here.”
I nod my agreement, and she gets out.
“Ask for Carlo. Tell him you’re from Boa. Might get you a little discount… or a slap across the cheek. Depends on what mood he’s in really.” Boa shrugs. Katie answers by slamming the car door, drawing a chuckle from our captive dealer. “Now it’s just the two of us, sweetie.”
“Shut the fuck up.” I drive the gun harder into his flesh, and to his credit, he actually listens.
But Katie is in there longer than expected. Ten minutes turn into twenty, then thirty. And with every passing minute, the colder the car gets.
I clench my teeth to prevent them from chattering, but there’s nothing I can do about the violent shivers rippling down my spine for the third consecutive time.
“I could k–keep you w–arm, you know,” Boa offers through his own trembling.
I don’t waste energy responding.
The windows are all rolled up, but the heater is dead. Which means the only thing protecting us from the harsh cold is the thin scrap of metal this car calls a frame. The sky has already gone gray, thick with the kind of clouds that promise more snow tonight.
Finally,the grocery door opens and Katie steps out. She signals me with a subtle gesture, and I immediately withdrawmy gun from Boa’s side and get out of the car, my joints stiff from cold and tension.
Not one to go back on my word, I take out the two hundred dollars and toss the bills onto Boa’s lap as I leave.
“Hey! What about the cuffs?” he calls after me, twisting awkwardly to hold up his bound wrists.
I stop, then double back and toss the key onto his lap next to the cash.
His colorful curses follow me as I hurry to Katie’s side. “Please tell me you got something good.”
“The Nightshades’ dirty paws are all over this scheme,” she grumbles.
Of course they are. I doubt an operation as big as this could ever be this successful without them being involved.
“What did you find?”
“The Nightshades aren’t just the major distributors of these medications—they are theonlysuppliers,” she answers, shaking her head a little.
What?
20
RAFAEL
