Bitter Arrangement: Chapter 25

My shoulder aches from the damn gunshot wound as I drive slowly toward the Pomegranate House. I have a meeting with my new crew to discuss a few jobs we’re planning, but my head’s somewhere else entirely.

Mantis’s money.

I doubt this is the only copy of the watch. I’m sure there are backups and fail-safes. But right now, I can use the passcodes stored on the encrypted hard drive to access those crypto wallets.

I could drain away over half a billion dollars instantly if I wanted.

That would bring down the full force of the Mantis organization. Every single one of them would be after me, instead of just Iron Head. Sooner or later though, that’ll happen anyway, when Iron Head’s superiors realize how badly he fucked up.

No wonder he wants it back so badly. I figured it was something serious, but this is even worse than I could’ve imagined.

I slow at a stop sign and rub my bandaged arm. Riley wanted me to take the pain pills, but that stuff always dulls my head, and I need to be sharp right now. I can survive pain, but I can’t live if I make a mistake all messed up on oxycontin.

I keep seeing Riley running across that parking lot. The fear on her face. Her determination. Her body, glorious and strong. There was no way she was going to make it over that fence in time, but she was so damn impressive. The way she maced that fucker. How fast she went.

It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have tried to do two things at once. That situation is exactly why most heists are split into multiple team members. If I weren’t trying so desperately hard to keep this watch thing a secret, I could’ve brought in some help to cover my ass while I was hacking Iron Head’s laptop. I needed all my concentration, and that nearly got Riley killed.

I’d take a thousand more bullets for her. I knew it the second she came running out of that side door. I saw the fear on her face, and instinct took over.

I’ve never been protective or possessive, but it was like I became a different person.

I had to save her or die trying.

We got lucky. The two guards that saw her are both dead, so they won’t be talking. The security system was under my control, so none of the cameras were recording. There’s a vanishingly small chance that Mantis will be able to identify either of us.

But Iron Head knows someone broke into his office now.

If the heist had gone down the way I had planned, nobody would’ve ever realized we were in there. I’m good at covering my tracks.

Hard to hide all that blood.

I’m distracted as I head over to the Brotherhood restaurant, enough that I nearly don’t notice the van following me again.

But they make a little mistake. Instead of staying a few cars back, they drift right up behind me at a light when I’m about to turn right. When they have a chance to go around, they don’t take it. Instead, they wait for me to move, and then they follow.

Blatant as hell.

I don’t know why I do it.

Normally, I’d ignore the tail like I have been recently. Except there’s something about it now.

An implicit threat.

And the threat isn’t only aimed at me—it’ll extend to my wife too, even if they don’t know she’s involved in all this for sure.

I lead the van away from Brotherhood territory. I take the long way toward a neighborhood the McGraths control. It’s a heavily Irish area with lots of people out in the middle of the morning.

I make a quick turn down an alley, roll forward, and quickly kill the engine.

The van follows and only realizes that it’s a narrow dead end when it’s too late.

I get out of my car. My gun is held loosely in my hand. I stare at the tinted front window and wait for them to make a move. Maybe they reverse and drive off, or maybe they get out and we talk. I don’t know what I want to happen, but I feel a sudden surge of anger.

“You want to know what I’m up to?” I call out, taking a step forward. I keep my gun down and aimed at the ground. “Then come and find out.”

Still nothing. Just the van rumbling.

Then abruptly the engine cuts off and a man gets out of the front driver’s side.

He’s older. Balding head, tan skin. I’d guess Taiwanese, probably a direct Mantis member. He’s in jeans and a faded denim shirt with a gun tucked right into his belt, but he doesn’t reach for it. Instead, he chews something and spits on the ground.

“Good job catching me here,” he says, looking very unhappy.

“Why are you following me?”

“Boss’s orders, that’s all.”

“What do you want?”

He shrugs and gestures with his chin. “You tell me. You’re the one that cornered me.”

I take a breath. Anger swells in my chest. I keep seeing those guards trying to catch Riley. Trying to hurt her.

I know this man had nothing to do with what happened back at the office, but I can’t help myself.

They’re all fucking Mantis.

I take a step closer. “Stop tailing me. Tell your boss he can either trust me or he can find the fucking item himself.”

The guy shrugs and spits again. “Won’t make much of a difference. I’ll still have to follow you.”

“Then we’ll have this conversation again, and I won’t be as nice next time.”

Another shrug. Another spit. “Fuck you.”

I raise my gun and shoot him in the knee.

He gasps. The gun’s bark is like a crack in the sky. But I doubt anyone around here will so much as blink. As he falls, he starts reaching for his weapon. I dart forward and grab his wrist before he can draw. I twist, making him groan in agony, as he falls to the ground.

His leg’s bleeding. “You fucker,” he moans.

I quickly release his gun’s magazine, remove the bullet from the chamber, and toss them all into a dumpster. He tries crawling back to his van, but I walk over and stand on his shattered knee.

He turns white with agony.

“Tell Iron Head to stop following me.” I lean down toward him. “Remind him that he hired me for a job. That doesn’t mean he gets to fucking tail me whenever he wants.”

“You ruined my knee,” the man gasps.

“You’re lucky I didn’t do worse.”

I step back. He moans in pain. I walk past him and climb into his van. It smells like stale beer. The back’s covered in a layer of trash. Fast food, coffee cups, standard stake-out fare. There are binoculars and a nice camera on the passenger seat.

The fucker’s been watching me very closely.

I delete the camera’s memory card then pull the van away. I double park it in the street before returning to the alley. My friend is sitting with his back against the wall, breathing hard. His phone is in his hands and he’s typing out a message.

“You’re dead for this,” he says, sucking air between his teeth.

“I doubt you’re that important.”

I get in my car and drive off.

That was impulsive. At worst, it was suicidal. Iron Head is going to be annoyed I shot his soldier like that, but he understands the game. He knows the sort of man he’s working with.

But still, under other circumstances, I never would’ve tried something like that.

Normally, I like to keep a good relationship with a client.

I’m past caring.

Riley must be rubbing off on me because I’m making choices with my heart instead of my head, and that might be very dangerous right now.

Still, I think that stunt will buy me some more time. Iron Head will be cautious about following me and approaching next time. Which means I’ll be able to move freely for a little while.

I just have to figure out how I can use this to my advantage.