I typed, “He’s gone.”
“We know you trust him, but he is the enemy.”
“He’s not my enemy. Please, the mafia thinks I have information on you people. If I can give them something, they might spare my life.”
“Why would we give you information?”
“To save me. It doesn’t have to be true.”
“Why would we save you?”
I stared at that for a second. “Because Dasha would have wanted you to.”
There was a long pause, and for a second I thought I had lost them. Fear began to build in my chest.
But then a message came.
“Yes, she would have. She was an idealist, and now she is gone.”
“Give me something. Help me.”
“We will help, but we will want your help in return.”
“What do you want?”
“Nothing from you. We want Rafa Allegri’s help.”
“I thought you didn’t trust him.”
“We don’t. We trust you to make him follow through.”
“Okay. I will try. What do you want?”
“Nothing yet. We will tell you when we need it.”
“Fine. Please hurry.”
“Come to the drop point we mentioned before tomorrow. You will find what you need there.”
I wracked my brain for a second before remembering what they had said during the first conversation. They wanted me to go to the corner of South Wales and Arch streets.
“Okay. I remember.”
“Goodbye, Cassidy, and good luck.”
My screen returned to normal.
I stared at it for a second, my mind running circles around itself.
I was sure that the Spiders were monitoring their searches, or at least they were monitoring me. Which meant they were probably more powerful then we realized, if they could pick that sort of data out of the storm that was all the internet traffic. They had some serious internet skills.
I closed my laptop lid and got up. I opened the door and found Rafa leaning up against the wall right outside.
“Well?” he asked.
“They agreed to give us something,” I said.
He grinned. “Great. You’re one sexy piece of ass. You know that?”
“Don’t get too excited. They want something in exchange.”
“Of course they do. What is it?”
“They want you to do them a favor.”
He frowned. “What favor?”
“They didn’t specify.”
“I assume you told them to fuck off.”
“I told them you’d be more than happy.”
He sighed, grumbling. “Of course you did.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“It’s fine. What did they give you?”
“We have to go get it. They gave me an address.”
“Fucking hell,” he said. “This gets worse and worse.”
“What’s wrong?”
“We’ll be exposed. This could be a trap.”
“I don’t think it is.”
“Maybe, but it still could be.” He started walking, and I quickly caught up. “We’ll figure it out.”
“I did the best I could,” I said.
He stopped and let me run right into him. He grabbed my hips and kissed me on the lips. “You did good, kid.”
“Shut up.” I pushed him back, smiling. “You jerk.”
“Come on. Let’s go celebrate.”
“Celebrate what?”
“You kicking ass.”
“I do kick ass, don’t I?”
He laughed and took me by the hand, dragging me behind him.
I felt good. I felt like I had done something worthwhile. I wasn’t just sitting around waiting for Rafa to save me; I was making deals and getting involved.
I wasn’t just dead weight. I wasn’t just a burden.
I smiled to myself, excited beyond what I would have guessed.
Mostly because I knew exactly how he wanted to celebrate, and it was what I’d been thinking about since I first met him.
22
Rafa
I pushed my way back into our room and head toward the landline set back against the far wall. I grabbed the receiver and quickly ordered room service as Cassidy followed me in.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Like I said, we’re celebrating.”
“I can’t drink, remember?”
“I know. You’re carrying my baby too, you know.”
She shrugged and sat on the couch. “Good point.”
“Do you understand what this means?”
She shook her head. “Not really.”
“We have a direct line to the Spiders.”
“So?”
I sighed. “We’ve never been able to communicate with them. They’re like fucking ghosts.”
She nodded. “So now you have a way to get them a message.”