Packing Heat(60)

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. This beautiful, strange girl had gone from a talented computer hacker to running a deadly and highly trained organization of freedom fighters, all because her father wouldn’t let her join the mob. She was either the craziest person I’d ever met or the most dangerous.

She smiled at me. “So now you know. I’m the leader of the Spiders and my father’s greatest enemy.”

“I still don’t understand what you want from me.”

“It’s simple. I want you to broker a peace between my people and my father’s people.”

“I can’t do that. I don’t have any power.”

“Sure you do. He thinks you can contact the Spiders, correct?

I nodded slowly. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” she said, smiling. “It was me.” She shrugged and then continued. “Tell them we contacted you and want to meet to make peace. Tell them whatever you need to.”

“I don’t think they’ll make peace with you, Louisa.”

“They will,” she said. “The Russians are still out for blood, remember. We’re already in talks with them to end our bloodshed. Arturo will have to come around sooner or later.”

“Does your father know?”

“Of course not,” she said, laughing. “That old fool doesn’t know anything.”

“Why do you think he’ll listen to me?”

“He won’t. But he might be willing to listen to Rafa. Or at least he’ll come to the table, even if he comes to kill us all.”

“You’d walk into a trap.”

“Maybe.” She smiled. “I’m very good with traps.”

I shook my head, overwhelmed. I didn’t know how to take all of this in.

“Does Rafa know?”

“You’re the only person who knows. You cannot tell a single person about my involvement with the Spiders. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

She stared at me. “If you think you can get revenge for what we did to Rafa, think again. Despite what you think, I’ve done a lot of good for this city, and I won’t let you torch that.”

“I understand,” I repeated.

“Good.” She began to walk to the far bank. “Go tell Arturo you got in contact with us, and ask for a peace. I’ll know if he agrees.”

“Why me?” I called after her again.

“Because I like you.” She reached the far side and smiled at me. “Good luck, Cassidy. Don’t let me down.” She waved and then disappeared into the trees.

I stood there in the freezing water, not sure what to think.

That was so much to take in. Louisa Barone ran the Spiders, and she wanted me and Rafa to try to broker a peace. And I was the only person in the mob who knew her real identity.

I began to trudge back to my shoes, my mind whirling. I knew I wasn’t going to betray her trust, but I didn’t know if I could make this peace happen. I didn’t fully trust her, and I didn’t believe that she really wanted a peace deal.

Still, this was her father. It was her own damn family. She was a member of the Barone family, even if she wasn’t allowed to actually join the mafia. Could she really kill her own people?

I had no clue what to do. I sat down and tied my shoes, and I just stayed sitting. I stared out over the water, my mind running through the possibilities.

I had wanted to help, and now I had the perfect chance. If I could broker this peace and stop the war, maybe I could help save lives. But then again, the Spiders were the only ones fighting against human trafficking in the city. Maybe I’d be helping to create another violent gang and the sex slaves would lose their only ally.

Louisa did say that she wanted to turn them into a real organization, but I didn’t know what that meant. Maybe she wanted to keep saving the city, but she wanted to do it on a larger scale.

It was too much for me to handle. I needed Rafa’s input, but I couldn’t tell him the most important parts.

I took a deep breath.

It was up to me. I didn’t know why Louisa had put it up to me, but she had.

I had to make the choice. I had to decide if I wanted to trust Louisa and help the Spiders, or if I would betray her and help the mafia.

I shook my head and stared at the water, lost in thought.





30





Rafa





Of course I was fucking skeptical of this peace deal. It just made no sense. I hated to admit it to myself, but as far as I could tell, the Spiders were winning. Sure, we’d killed a few of them and finally interrogated one, but we still knew nothing about them.

They were the terror in the night. They had the whole mob on edge, and if that was what they wanted, they had succeeded. We couldn’t hit them back because we didn’t know where to hit. There had been that one safe house a couple months back, but that had been a fluke. Since then, nothing.