Kissing the Killer(61)

“That was the start of the Spiders, though we weren’t the Spiders back then. Really, we never chose a name; Spiders was given to us. At any rate, what began as a small gang of activist hackers slowly grew into my current organization of dedicated fighters.”

“Are you all women?” I asked.

“No,” she said, “but we are mostly women.”

“How did you put all of this together without leaving the compound?”

She smiled ruefully. “I didn’t. Well, at first I did, but soon it grew too fast and got too large, and I found myself sneaking out more and more.”

This woman was amazing. She said all of these things with a straight face, almost as if nothing was special about what she was saying, but it was actually incredible. Louisa couldn’t have been much older than me, and she was probably actually my age, though it was hard to tell with her. But she had accomplished so much in such a short time.

She was dangerous though, and I could tell there was something she wasn’t saying. I felt comfortable around her, but I knew that might be a dangerous mistake to make.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” I blurted out, unable to stop myself. “I’m nothing, not important. Why are you helping me?”

“You’re not nothing, Emma,” she said, her face intense and serious. “You’re a survivor. After all this, you think you’re nothing?”

I shook my head. “I’ve gotten lucky. Brooks helped me.”

“Yes and yes, all true. But most women in your position would have quit or crawled into a little hole somewhere to die. But not you. Kasia told me what you did back at the safe house.”

“Kasia survived?”

Louisa nodded. “And so did many of the other fighters. But the girls, they survived because you took control of them, you talked to them, you made them understand. That’s an incredibly valuable asset, Emma.”

“I just did what anyone would do.”

“Listen to me. I want you to join my organization. I want you to become a part of us.”

I gaped at her. There it was, the real reason for me being here. I knew there was something she’d been holding back from saying, knew there had to be more to this trip to the compound.

But I would never have guessed this.

“What about Brooks?” I asked her stupidly.

“He’s none of your concern anymore,” Louisa said. “I know you’re fond of each other, but as we speak, Brooks is being offered a serious promotion within the mafia, one I doubt he will turn down.”

I frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. I thought he was in trouble with them.”

Louisa laughed. “He was, or at least he was with Dante. But his real boss, Gian, doesn’t give a shit about any of that stuff. Gian only cares about results, and Brooks gets results, as you’ve seen. Brooks is being offered to run his own territory, and that will make him a very rich and very important person within the mafia.”

I found that hard to believe. Brooks didn’t seem like the type of person who wanted power, or really cared about promotions.

“So what?” I asked her.

“Brooks won’t need you anymore,” she said pointedly. “Come join me. I can give your life meaning. You’ll help people, Emma. You’ll save more women like the girls you helped last night. We can do great things together.”

I shook my head, totally overwhelmed. “I don’t know,” I said.

Louisa stood. “Think about it. Let me know. But please, Emma, be careful around Brooks. He might not be the man you think he is.”

I couldn’t say a word as Louisa turned and left the room. The door shutting behind her felt like a concussion grenade going off in my brain.

I was spinning out of control. Louisa wanted me to join the Spiders, thought that I could be an asset to her. She wanted me to do important work, the sort of thing I never imagined for myself. I always thought I’d end up working in some diner for the rest of my life, maybe get married, maybe pump out a bunch of kids.

But suddenly I was given the opportunity to join a group of women dedicated to giving power to the powerless.

The only thing holding me back was her warning about Brooks. It felt wrong, and I could feel myself rebelling against it. So far, though, Louisa hadn’t lied to me. If Brooks really was being given this promotion, maybe I did need to worry. Would he actually betray me in the end in order to further himself?

That seemed so unlikely, but Louisa’s words kept coming back to me. Maybe Brooks really wasn’t the man I thought he was. Maybe Brooks really was more dangerous than I thought.

I had a lot to think about, and I felt like I was totally trapped. I returned to the couch, not hungry anymore. The novelty of ordering food had completely worn off.