Kissing the Killer(51)
Brooks came back out a minute later. He marched to the bus and opened the door. “Let’s go, ladies,” he said.
I stood up. “This is it?”
“Sure is. Get them in there.”
“Come on,” I said, gesturing. “Come on. Let’s go.”
The girls slowly got up and followed. We were a sorry-looking bunch of half-starved sex slaves, ex-junkies, and beat-up humans, but we were all survivors.
The girls walked up the steps and slowly filed into the house. I went to follow, but Brooks held me back. “We stay here,” he said.
“What?”
“We have one more stop to make.”
“Why?”
He smiled. “Just wait.”
Once the last girl was in, the door shut. We stood there together in silence, listening to the night’s quiet deepen around us. It felt strange just standing there, but I trusted Brooks more than ever.
Soon, the door opened again.
Louisa Barone stepped out.
“Thanks for coming,” she said.
Brooks nodded. “As you instructed.”
“Hi, Emma,” Louisa said, smiling at me. “I’m glad you made it.”
“Me too. Thanks for helping us.”
She shook her head and leaned up against the door. “No. I should thank you. I’m sorry this happened. Someone must have talked and given away our locations. Whoever it was will be found and dealt with.”
“I don’t care about your internal troubles, Louisa,” Brooks cut in. “I need to know what you plan on doing for us before we walk away from this forever.”
“Well, Brooks, it’s simple. I want you to come to the compound.”
He stared at her silently for a second. “You’re fucking joking, right?”
“I’m not joking.”
“What’s the compound?” I asked.
“It’s what we call the Barone family mansion,” Brooks said. “It’s like the mafia’s fucking home base. It’s the last place we’d ever want to be.”
“It’s the safest place, actually,” Louisa said. “Just listen. Nobody knows what Emma looks like except for Dante. After we took you from the museum, we went to your apartment and cleaned it top to bottom. There’s no trace of Abram in there.”
“So why not let us go?” Brooks asked.
“Dante is still suspicious,” Louisa said. “I can’t just kill him, though. He’s too important.”
“So why would we go to the compound?”
“Gian left a message for you, which I intercepted. He wants a meeting.”
“About what?”
“He didn’t say, but I suspect he wants to promote you.”
Brooks went quiet, his expression intense. Louisa stared at him, unblinking. Finally, he spoke.
“You’re up to something,” he said slowly. “I believe you have good intentions for this city, but I think you’re a liar, and I don’t trust you.”
She smiled. “Good. That’s healthy.” Louisa looked at me. “What about you, Emma?”
“I trust you,” I said, surprised. “I don’t know why, but I do.”
She looked back at Brooks. “Come to the compound. From there, I can provide you with money, documents, anything you need to escape. Meet with Gian, find out what he wants, and then the two of you can escape the city if that’s what you want.”
Brooks shook his head. “I don’t fucking like this.”
“So long as Dante doesn’t know where you are, you’re safe,” Louisa said. “Talk it over and decide soon.” She disappeared back into the house without another word.
Brooks turned to me, frowning. “I know what you’re going to say, but listen. We don’t know Louisa. Going to the compound sounds like a really, really bad idea to me.”
“I want to go,” I said. “If she wanted us dead, we’d be dead.”
“Maybe. Or maybe she wants something from me still. You’ve seen how much power that girl has.”
“I trust her, Brooks.”
He clenched his jaw. “You’re making a mistake. You can’t just trust people.”
“Like I trust you?”
“Yes, like you trust me.” He sighed, crossing his arms. “We can’t keep having this fucking fight.”
“You’re right. Maybe you should trust me the same way I trust you.”
“That’s not the same.”
“Isn’t it?”
“I have more experience with this, Emma. I know how these people work, how this sort of thing happens. And I can promise you, we’re far from the fucking norm here.”
“Nothing in my life is ever normal, Brooks. I’m going with Louisa.”