Artyom is speaking to Katana now. I don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. Artyom is suggesting a deal with the three of them working together in a commission.
“…there is something I want,” Sonomi says
“What is that?” Artyom asks
“The Yumikos,” she says.
Fuck!
“Seize Blondie!” Sonomi yells. I punch and break the first man’s jaw as soon as he gets close. A series of guns click their hammers back. One fist hits my gut, and then another hits my kidney. I hate kidney punches.
“Alright,” I say and put my hands up. My arms get twisted behind me by another two of the Siren’s thugs.
“We have Blondie handcuffed now. He put up a little resistance, but don’t worry, my men didn’t damage your prize too much,” Sonomi says into the radio.
Katana comes over and slaps me with an open hand. I’m about to spit in his face when my head twists back to him, but he winks at me. I’m not sure if he’s mocking me, but this is the first sign of any emotion he’s shown since we were in my shed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Marika,” Katana says with no question of mockery this time, “I’ll take care of her just like you took care of that little Native American girl. You didn’t think I knew about that. I wanted to bang her, but I’ll just have to settle for your girl instead.”
All this is fucking with my head. I called him to let him know I let Connie go, but to spread the word that I killed her so no one would go after her. Even though I know Katana is just selling this story to the Siren, it still has me in a rage.
“Ahh!” I yell and move to headbutt Katana. He moves back and punches me in the gut causing me to double over.
“And this one is for never thanking me for that vegetarian candy I gave you,” Katana says and slaps me across the face again. The candy wasn’t vegetarian, and I did thank him for it.
“Hahaha,” Sonomi cackles. I want to see that hag dead so fucking much now. I don’t have any choice but to trust Katana. He has become the closest thing to a friend I have.
Another one of the Siren’s men runs up to her, “Ma’am, the pumps aren’t handling all the water coming in. We are sinking!” I did a better job grounding this boat than I thought.
“Fuck! Put Blondie on the dinghy,” She says, then uses the radio. “I’m putting the former up-and-comer on a boat and sending him to you. I want to see the Yumikos on one heading this way. Alright, Avtoriet?”
“Da, right away, Sonomi,” Artyom answers.
“Wait!” I call out.
“What do you want? I’m sorry, Blondie, but Artyom is the better deal now. And I don’t have to play games with him. He can get it up,” Sonomi says with a snicker.
“What about the Southside Smack?” I ask, trying to get my adversary to make a mistake.
“We can find it on our own,” she says. “It can’t be that hard. Hahaha.”
“You won’t get to it in one piece. Some of my explosives are still on the Maximum Splash. TNT is hidden there, waiting for some asshole to try the wrong combo and blow their head off along with the H.”
“Blondie, you are finished. You know it. Die with a little dignity,” she argues.
“Take the old man, let the rest of the Yumikos go, and I’ll tell you how to get passed the trap. All you need is for the father to change the beneficiary to you alone. Then he can die in an accident or whatever. Let them keep the insurance money only. Your team of lawyers would demolish them in court, and they would never be dumb enough to challenge you anyway. You know that.”
“Okay, you know I like to make deals. Tell me where the smack is.”
“Ha,” I grunt out. “Like I’m going to trust you to keep your word.”
“Fine,” she replies, then gets back on the radio. “Just send me Yuuto alone. The girls and their uncle aren’t to be touched.”
“Very well, partner,” Artyom answers. Sonomi opens her hand to show me she’s not keying the radio,
“Under the fire button,” I tell her. “There’s a keypad. Only the right combination will open the hidden cabinet without setting off the charge. Once I’m there, tell Artyom to let me talk to you, and I'll give you the numbers, and you can get the smack whenever you want.”
“We don’t have much time,” the pump guy informs the Siren. “Maybe an hour before this whole ship goes under.”
