Red Right Hand

37.

WE NEED TO TALK.”

The voice was male and had a smoker’s rasp. The number was Cameron’s.

“Where did you find this phone?” Hendricks asked.

“That’s what we need to talk about. See, I’ve got your girl.”

Hendricks’s stomach dropped. “What girl?”

“C’mon, jackass. You know what girl. Cute little thing. Fresh-faced, resourceful. Well, a little less fresh-faced than she was before I got my hands on her, to own the truth. Anyway, she’s got your number in her contacts and no one else’s.”

“That chick doesn’t mean a thing to me,” Hendricks bluffed. “She’s a groupie. A dilettante. A spoiled little rich kid looking for a thrill. I’ve been trying to shake her all week.”

“Is that right.”

“Yeah.”

“Then why are there twelve missed calls from you on her phone?”

Hendricks took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Why don’t we skip to the part where you tell me what you want?”

“It’s simple, really. I’ve got someone you’re interested in. You’ve got someone I’m interested in. Seems to me we ought to make a swap.”

“What makes you think I’ll give up Segreti that easily?”

“If you don’t, this little bitch’ll die slow.”

“So you say. For all I know, she’s dead already.”

There was a rustling on the other end of the line. Then, away from the phone’s mike: “Say hello to your buddy, darlin’.”

“M-M-Michael?” Hendricks’s heart ached when he heard the tremor in Cameron’s voice.

“Hey, kid. You okay?”

“Whatever Yancey tells you, don’t believe hi-”

Cameron’s words came out in a rush, and just as quickly, Yancey yanked the phone away. “I think that’s enough for now,” he said. “So, where and when you wanna make the swap?”

“I haven’t said I’ll do it, yet.”

“Oh, you’ll do it, but if I were you, I wouldn’t take too long to come to that conclusion. If I don’t hear from you soon, I’m liable to get bored.”

“Keep this phone on,” Hendricks said. “I’ll be in touch.”

He hung up before Yancey had a chance to reply. When he tried to slide the phone back into his pocket, he realized he was trembling. The air around him suddenly felt too close, too stale, too musty. He leaned heavily on the boat beside him for a second. Then he decided he needed to get the hell out of the warehouse. Without a moment’s concern over who might see him, he pushed out into the darkness, gulping air as he walked down the pier.

The night was cool, silent. The fog was even thicker than before. Hendricks could feel it part around him. It smelled of ocean-salt, sulfur, and rot-and blunted the lights along the waterfront, reducing Hendricks’s world to ten square feet of murky gray. He felt trapped, floating in the void between day and night, life and death, between his desire to avenge Lester and his wish that no one else be sacrificed for his cause.

Close behind him, a throat cleared.

Hendricks wheeled and drew his gun. He was unaccustomed to being snuck up on. Fever had rendered him weak. Distracted. Off his game.

It was Segreti. Hands in pockets. A sympathetic frown on his face. He didn’t flinch when the.45 came to a stop an inch from the bridge of his nose. He just stared calmly down the barrel until Hendricks lowered it.

“You okay?” Segreti asked.

“Honestly? Not really.”

“Lemme guess: Yancey’s got your friend.”

“She’s not my friend,” Hendricks replied. “The truth is, I hardly know her.”

“Clearly, Yancey sees things differently, and whatever else he is, he ain’t stupid.”

“Yancey can go fuck himself.”

“No argument here, but that don’t help the girl none.”

“Hey, she sought me out, not the other way around. I never asked for her to get involved. I came here to find out what you know about the Council so I can take them down. The smart play would be for you and me to walk away and not look back.”

“Guys like us ain’t always cut out for the smart play. Besides, I’m not sure taking on the Council qualifies as one. What’s your beef with them anyway?”

“Last year, they hired a hitter to come after me. He killed my partner.”

“I’m sorry to hear it. Listen, not for nothing, but I know a thing or two about the Council, and betrayal, and revenge. The path you’re on…no good ever comes of it.”

“So what do you suggest I do instead?”

“Big picture? No fucking clue. But there’s a girl out there who could really use your help. That seems as good a place to start as any.”

“You know he wants me to trade you for her, right?”

“Yeah, I figured. Just like you probably figured he plans to screw you over and kill all three of us.”

“The thought had crossed my mind.”

“Then I guess the question is, what’re we gonna do about it?”

“Actually,” Hendricks said, “I have an idea-but it’s not a good one. You’d be nuts to go along with it.”

“Will it save the kid?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“Do I get to live?”

“If you’re very, very lucky.”

Segreti laughed. Genuine and unself-conscious, it echoed loudly through the night, blunted only slightly by the fog. “Easy, pal,” Segreti said eventually. “Try not to oversell it.”

“I don’t want to bullshit you. I want you going in eyes open.”

“Fair enough,” Segreti said. “Let’s hear it.”