Disruptor (4 page)

There was no embarrassment in his face those
few seconds they’d stood close. Instead, she’d seen shock,
gratitude, and something that might have been curiosity.

Now her own curiosity was up and running. Why
didn’t he include her presence in his statement to the police? At
least report his phone stolen? He’d taken it out of his car so it
was likely a spare – maybe that’s why he didn’t mention it. But
that didn’t explain why he’d kept her secret.

Dani took the phone out of her pocket and
checked the display. Two missed calls and a voice mail.

Toss the phone, or sell it for cash. That’s
what she needed to do. She had no business listening to that voice
mail.

She did it anyway.

“Uh. I don’t know if you still have this
phone. I assume you probably got rid of it. In case you still have
it, and are inclined to check my voice mail, I thought I’d leave a
message.”

He paused and she could hear him
drinking.

“Thank you for what you did last night. I’ve
exchanged punches a few times, one on one, but I’ve never had
anything like that happen to me.”

Something about his tone suggested that he
wasn’t always so formal when speaking. An undercurrent of
nervousness that she found intriguing.

“I don’t think it was a routine mugging. I
think it was a gang initiation. The way the older one talked…I
think they meant to kill me.” He paused for several seconds. “I
mean, I don’t know. I could be wrong. But there were six or eight
of them.”

Nine. All with weapons. Kicking him while he
was curled up in a ball on the pavement was just a start for them.
They were part of a crew so dangerous, other bad guys in the South
Side were scared of them. She’d seen them do a lot of damage in her
short time in Cabrini.

“I do know I’m lucky to just have a couple of
broken ribs.”

That was an understatement.

“Anyway, thank you. You probably saved my
life, and I wanted to thank you for that. So I hope you still have
this phone, and that you listen to this message.”

Something warm and golden like sunshine
pierced the worry and exhaustion and hunger that had wrapped around
her like a sweltering blanket she couldn’t escape from. It lit her
up inside, however briefly, and she let it.

“I saw you at the shelter. I don’t know what
your circumstances are, but if you need any help, please let me
help you. It’s the least I can do. Just call me back. If you have
to leave a message, I promise I will get back to you.”

It was a tempting offer. She could damn sure
use a break. But she didn’t want to risk leading anyone from the
lab who might be searching for her to an innocent.

“Oh, my name is Kevin, by the way.” He
cleared his throat, and she was positive it was a nervous gesture.
“Again, thank you. I hope you get back to me. I’d like to thank you
in person.”

Message over, Dani put the phone back in her
pocket. It was so, so tempting to accept help from this guy. He
didn’t have to know anything about her, even her real name. It
would get her out of Point Sable much sooner. Depending on just how
much
help
he offered, it might get her to the other side of
the world. From what she’d read online, it sounded like the guy had
an obscene trust fund.

But was it right to take payment for helping
someone? Even though she probably had saved his life – the Dogtown
crew killed as easily as other people changed their clothes. It
wasn’t like she’d be handing him an invoice. He’d offered any help
she might need. He knew she’d been at the shelter, so he knew she
had nothing. And while he may not have specifically mentioned
money, that’s what he meant.

The rain intensified, coming in hard enough
that she had to move further away from the window to keep from
getting soaked. She didn’t like being too far from an easy exit,
but she didn’t want to spend the night in sodden clothes
either.

God, she hated being on the streets again.
Kevin’s offer of help stayed in her mind all night.

Laughter. That was the sound Kevin remembered
most. Not the words spoken by the attackers, but the way they
laughed while kicking him. It echoed in his head at odd moments.
Usually in quiet lulls but sometimes when someone was speaking to
him. Like right now, as two of his friends carried on a
conversation in front of him, apparently unaware that Kevin hadn’t
said anything for several minutes.

One of them laughed. Kevin’s body jerked at
the sound, the movement sending a wave of pain outward from his
broken ribs. He placed a hand on his chest and tried to focus on
the here and now instead of memories.

“Hey,” said Brandon. “You okay, man?”

Brandon Hodge and Tyler Kincaid were his
oldest friends. Brandon was the son of college professors, neither
of whom knew what to do with the fact that their son had gone into
corporate law. Tall and muscular, wearing jeans and a white button
down shirt that glowed against his reddish-brown skin, he had an
easy smile and a generally carefree attitude despite his high
pressure job. He’d worked elsewhere his first couple of years out
of law school until Sean had finally convinced him to work at
Moynihan Consolidated. Those two could talk business for hours, a
fact that had always amused Kevin, who could spend just as many
hours talking books and history with Brandon’s parents.

“Yeah,” Kevin said. “My ribs hurt, that’s
all.”

Tyler said, “You run out of the prescription
stuff, I can hook you up. No problem.”

And that just about summed up Tyler. He’d
always been the one to provide the booze, the drugs, the impetus to
make bad decisions for the sake of a good time. He came from a
similar background as Kevin, at least money-wise. Tyler’s father
went through wives like some men did accountants, changing every
few years as the mood struck. Tyler seemed determined to repeat the
pattern, only without marriage and confining his relationships to
weeks instead of years. Tonight his partying lifestyle showed hard
on his face, heavy purple bags under his eyes and the angles of his
sharp bone structure drawn in harsh lines.

“No, thanks.” Kevin had always preferred
booze to the hard stuff and after his latest run-in with the law,
he was rethinking even going that far, at least for a while.
“Besides, I think you actually look worse than I do. We know why I
look like crap. What’s your excuse?” He smiled broadly because
laughing would have hurt like hell.

Tyler nodded. “Yeah. Let’s just say, there’s
more to opening a club than I expected.”

Brandon said, “Don’t you have people who can
take care of things for you? What’s the point of being a debauched
playboy if you can’t play?”

“Some things can only be handled by the
owner,” Tyler said. “Especially since I have some very particular
attractions in mind for my clientele.”

Brandon waved a hand dismissively. “A good
deejay, a bartender who knows how to water down the overpriced
drinks, and some hot girls dancing in cages is all you need. Nobody
goes to a club expecting anything else.”

“One of my investors had the idea to make
part of the club private, just for members. If people are going to
pay for memberships, they need to feel like they’re getting their
money’s worth.” Tyler’s lascivious grin told Kevin everything he
needed to know about the kind of entertainment that would be on
hand.

But there was one thing that didn’t make
sense. “Why do you need investors?”

Tyler’s grin wavered for a beat. “Ah, you
know how business is.”

Kevin exchanged a look with Brandon. “Just
make sure we’re always on your VIP list, buddy.”

Tyler nodded and stood. “You know it. Glad to
see you’re okay, man, but I gotta run or I’ll be late for a
meeting.”

They said their goodbyes and Tyler left.
Brandon raised his eyebrows. “So what do you think it is this
time?”

Kevin shifted into a more comfortable
position. “I think he’d tell us if he was cut off again. Maybe his
old man put him on an allowance instead of taking everything
away.”

“Did you ever go with him to those poker
games in Lincoln Heights?” Lincoln Heights was a South Side
neighborhood adjacent to Cabrini.

Kevin shook his head. “Poker with Russian
gangsters is not my idea of a good time.”

“I went with him once,” said Brandon. “It was
right after I broke up with Lia, so my head wasn’t on straight.
Wouldn’t have gone otherwise. That was some spooky shit, man. Tyler
lost big, didn’t have enough cash to cover it and they wouldn’t let
him go get the money and bring it back. They took his fucking car.
We had to call a cab to get the hell out of there.”

“I would laugh if I just hadn’t had my ass
handed to me in Cabrini.”

“It’s a damn lucky thing that old man from
the shelter came out when he did and ran those guys off.”

“Yeah.” Kevin blinked, and the face of the
Cabrini Ghost hovered in his vision. “Very lucky.”

Brandon spoke again but Kevin heard only
laughter. The muffled impact of shoes slamming into his body, and
his own gasps of pain.

“Hey. Did you hear me? You okay?”

Kevin started, embarrassed when he realized
what had happened. “Yeah, just a little out of it. Percocet makes
me woozy.”

Brandon looked doubtful but offered no
challenge. “I’m having dinner with the folks tonight. You up to
coming? They’d love to see you.”

“Another time. Give my love to your mom.”

“Just warning you now, she’s likely to send
me back here tomorrow with a casserole.”

Kevin grinned. “I’ll be happy to eat it.”

A few minutes later Kevin was alone.

Not long ago he would have been happy to take
another pain pill and climb into bed. There were only two left in
the bottle and he was ready to move on to ibuprofen whether his
body was or not. He’d never say it to Tyler, or even Brandon, but
Tyler’s casual offer to supply him with drugs spooked him. It was
one thing to score some molly for a long night of clubbing back
when they were in college, but this felt different.

Coasting through life the way Tyler did just
didn’t have the same appeal as it used to, and it hadn’t for a
while now. But Kevin couldn’t see himself adapting to the corporate
lifestyle, spending his days trapped in an office like Sean and
Brandon. Olivia had a thriving pediatric practice, and she
volunteered at a free clinic on a regular basis. Maybe volunteer
work was something Kevin should consider, until he figured out what
he wanted for the long term.

The big apartment felt too empty. Normally
that feeling sent Kevin out into the night, to see friends, to flit
from one nightspot to another. Tonight his melancholy mood and his
battered body kept him in. The city lights beckoned from the floor
to ceiling glass that separated the living room from the
balcony.

Kevin picked up his new cell phone and
crossed the room. A cool spring breeze greeted him as he stepped
out onto the balcony. Point Sable blazed with light, a vivid
painting against the black backdrop of night. His corner penthouse
had views of the north and west sides of the city. When he’d moved
in he’d had a choice between this apartment and one with a view of
the lake. Beyond the pretty lights of the harbor lay only gloom,
dotted with the occasional light of a ship or pleasure boat. Too
lonely for him, too dark. He liked the brightness and cheer of the
downtown view, full of color and life.

Tonight all that light made him wonder about
the slivers of darkness in between. Who lived there? Were they safe
tonight? From his vantage point he couldn’t see the South Side but
he knew that area was darker than the rest of the city. It was the
first major difference he’d noticed when he crossed
110
^th
Street on his way to the shelter. Fewer
streetlights, many of which didn’t even work. Fewer businesses with
lights. Long stretches of unnerving darkness lit only by the
headlights of his car. It made the occasional orange flares of a
pedestrian’s cigarette all the more unsettling.

Was the Ghost out in that darkness tonight?
Did she have somewhere safe to sleep, or was she more concerned
with the safety of others? She hadn’t responded to his message. The
temptation to leave another was great. Feeling a mixture of morose
and lonely and curious, he gave in and placed the call.

Kevin wasn’t expecting her to answer and he
wasn’t wrong. “It’s me again. Just calling to check on you. I
wanted you to know that my offer is still open, if you need any
help with anything. You seemed okay when you ran away but I was
worried about you being injured. That was a lot of guys you took
on, all by yourself.” He paused, not sure how to broach the
subject. “If you’d like to tell me how you managed that, I’d love
to hear it.” A nervous laugh slipped out.

“The city lights are beautiful tonight. It’s
a little chilly. The breeze is off the lake and strong enough that
it pushed some of the haze away. So the lights are bright, the
colors really vivid. Like a digital painting in a video game. I
hope you’re safe tonight, and that it’s not too dark wherever you
are.”

Suddenly feeling ridiculous, he hung up. It
was a long time before he went back inside.

Dani watched from the shadows as the police
completed their roust. The old, abandoned factory was an easy place
to make an arrest quota. At any given time, drug addicts and
dealers, pimps and prostitutes and johns, could be found in the
many nooks and crannies of the large industrial space. Except, of
course, for right after a raid. Cops rounded people up, confiscated
drugs and cash, and left. That’s when Dani moved in.

She crept in slowly, dialing up her hearing
and doing a thorough sweep. Other than a few rats in the walls and
birds in the rafters, she was alone. That wouldn’t last long but
she’d have time to get in a good workout. She found a piece of
machinery that wasn’t too rusty and left her hoodie and t-shirt
draped over it. Down to a tank top and jeans, she did some warm-up
exercises to start.