Dark reckoning, p.5
Dark Reckoning, page 5
Two Days Later
As usual on a Friday afternoon, Happy Jack’s Martini Bar was a hub of loud revelry. Patrons of every size and shape filled the popular watering hole, intent on starting their weekend with a bang. The bartenders were doing all they could to keep up. Some poured drinks and updated tabs, while others engaged in small talk with those who had come by themselves.
Drenna Steel sat alone at the bar, but she had no desire to chat with the staff or anyone else. When out in public, she tended to avoid small talk unless it was absolutely necessary. She was even less inclined to engage in such talk at the moment, and that was because she was in a state of severe irritation.
She and Lucca had decided to celebrate their recent takedown of Landon Kellam. Lucca suggested they meet for a couple of drinks late in the afternoon, followed by dinner at one of Manchester’s popular restaurants. Drenna hadn’t liked his choice of a bar—Happy Jack’s was much too young and trendy for her taste—but she had decided not to argue about it. After all, he was the one who had invited her.
But he was forty-five minutes late. Not only that, but he wasn’t even responding to her texts. How is that even possible? He’d had an entire day to get ready. She wished she could say his tardiness was an exception to the rule. Unfortunately, tardiness was the rule.
Lucca Borelli was extremely disciplined when working in the field. He was always on time, and he was always well prepared. It was the reason she liked having him at her side. If the going got tough, she could count on him to have her back.
Unfortunately, he was the exact opposite in his private life. He was rarely on time for social events, something that frustrated Drenna to no end. She always added fifteen minutes to whatever time they had agreed on, but even that didn’t seem like enough anymore.
He was also a heavy drinker, a habit that often led to bad decisions. That lack of discipline worsened when attractive women were involved. He hadn’t seemed to grasp the concept that operatives could never let their guard down, even when doing something as simple as going out for a drink.
Drenna let out a frustrated sigh and took a sip of scotch. If he didn’t show up in the next ten minutes, she would get up and go home.
“Is this seat taken?” a male voice asked.
Pulled out of her thoughts, Drenna turned to see a tall man standing behind her. He was dressed in a button-down shirt and dark-gray sports coat, which certainly fit the vibe at Happy Jack’s. He had receding blond hair and a face covered with razor stubble. She guessed he was on the younger end of middle age, perhaps early to mid-forties.
She considered his request to sit next to her. Earlier, she had asked one of the bartenders for an extra napkin and a glass of water, which she used to hold the seat for Lucca. Looking back, she should have put her coat on the chair to eliminate any confusion.
Drenna gestured at the chair. “It’s all yours.”
She doubted Lucca was going to show up anytime soon. And even if he did, then he could just stand.
The man nodded at the napkin and water. “You sure you’re not saving it for someone?”
“I was, but my partner’s running late. We’ll be headed out as soon as he gets here.”
“Well, thank you.”
To the man’s credit, he moved the seat a bit farther away from her before sitting down. He probably assumed the reference to a partner meant boyfriend. And that was a good thing because it meant he would likely leave her alone.
“Do I detect an American accent?” he asked after settling in.
So much for leaving me alone.
Drenna nodded. “Yes, we’re here on vacation.”
“Your first time at Happy Jack’s?”
She nodded again. “To be honest, I’m not sure it was the best choice. A little too loud for me.”
“Jack makes great cocktails, but it does get a little unruly on Friday afternoons. And beware the wankers. Once the booze gets flowing, they can be quite obnoxious around attractive women.”
“Thanks for the warning. Hopefully, we’ll be long gone before the naughty behavior begins.”
The man turned and gestured to one of the bartenders.
Speaking of wankers, where is Lucca?
Almost immediately, Drenna felt a pinch of guilt for associating the vulgar expression with her friend. Despite his personal flaws, Lucca was basically a good guy. Who knew? Maybe he had a good reason for running late.
She frowned as a troubling thought entered her mind. What if some emergency came up? Worse yet, what if he got into an accident? She had been so frustrated with him that she hadn’t even considered the possibility that he might have run into trouble.
She didn’t think they needed to worry about Landon Kellam. After verifying the information on the drive, they had injected the gangster with a tranquilizer that would keep him unconscious for several hours. That gave them plenty of time to clean up and depart.
And even if he wanted to come after them, she doubted he would follow through. Men like Kellam didn’t want to admit they’d been duped by a woman. He certainly wouldn’t tell his goons what had happened. That would be way too embarrassing. He would likely write it off as a loss and move on.
Drenna glanced at her watch—5:03. Lucca was over an hour late. She needed to reach out. She had tried texting him earlier, but it was time for an actual call.
As she pulled out her phone, three women came up beside her. All three spoke English with foreign accents. Drenna guessed they were Eastern European. One of them squeezed into the space between Drenna and the British man who had arrived a few minutes earlier, bumping clumsily into Drenna. The woman was either drunk or on her way to being drunk.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a thickly accented voice. “I’m going to grab a drink, then I’ll be out of your way.”
Drenna nodded. “No problem.”
The hard bump had irritated her, but she knew there was no need to start an argument in a public place. Keep your head low and your mouth shut. It was a code she tried to live by unless there was a very good reason not to.
The woman waved over one of the bartenders and ordered a martini. Drenna turned her focus back to Lucca. She was starting to worry that something might have happened. Yes, tardiness was his middle name. But she had never known him to be over an hour late, particularly when he’d had all day to get ready.
She dialed his number and placed the phone to her ear. It was going to be difficult to carry on a conversation with all the noise around her. But if she could just hear his voice, that would put her mind at ease.
Lucca picked up after one ring. “Don’t kill me.”
Drenna felt an odd combination of relief and irritation wash through her. “The thought did cross my mind. Where are you?”
“I’m still here at the hotel. Look, I—”
“At the hotel? What the hell, Lucca?”
“I know, I know. Hear me out.”
Lucca spent the next several minutes explaining what had happened. According to him, he had just undressed to take a shower when someone called him about the possibility of doing some intelligence work in Poland. The job was going to pay well, so Lucca had decided to hear the man out.
“My contact went into all sorts of detail,” Lucca said. “He’s one of those long-winded chaps that can’t stop talking. Long story short, I just hung up five minutes ago. I had no idea we had talked so long.”
“You were on the phone for almost two hours?”
“Mi dispiace. Please forgive me. I thought this was a job that you and I could do together.”
“You could’ve at least responded to my texts.”
“I didn’t know I had any until after I got off the phone.”
Something in Lucca’s voice suggested he might be lying. That or he had at least embellished the story. Drenna decided not to make a big deal about it. They would be parting ways soon anyway.
“Why don’t I hop in the shower and head your way?” he continued. “I can be there in an hour.”
“An hour?”
“Maybe forty-five minutes.”
Drenna shook her head. She was already in a foul mood, so perhaps it might be better to postpone their dinner. “You said you were leaving on Sunday, so why don’t we just do this tomorrow instead?”
“Are you mad at me?”
“Do you want to do it tomorrow or not?”
“I was going to get to bed early tomorrow night, but I owe you one.” He paused. “I’ll call the restaurant and change our reservation.”
“Let’s talk in the morning.”
“I’ll fill you in on the job in Poland. And again, I’m truly sorry.”
As Drenna disconnected the call, she wondered if she should’ve waited for him to take a shower and meet her at the restaurant. It wasn’t like she had to be back at her rental by a certain hour. But the more she thought about it, the more she was glad she had canceled their dinner plans. Her current mood wasn’t conducive to pleasant conversation. She would return to her flat, order takeout, and spend a quiet evening watching television.
Drenna put her phone away then glanced around. The three women with foreign accents were gone, and the man who had come in earlier was talking to a woman on his right.
Time to go.
Drenna waved at the bartender. “Can I settle up, please?”
“Certainly. Be there in a sec.”
Drenna slipped on her jacket and reached into her pocket. After moving her fingers around, she froze. Her money clip wasn’t there. She checked the other pocket, but that was also empty.
What the…?
She was meticulous about putting all her belongings in the same place each time she went out. Confused, she thought back over all that had happened in the last fifteen minutes. What happened to my money? The answer came to mind almost immediately. The women with the foreign accents. They must have stolen the clip when they crowded in beside her. The woman ordering the drink had bumped up against her as a distraction so that one of the others could reach into the jacket pocket.
Like taking candy from a baby, and I’m the baby.
Rage grew inside of Drenna. Not because of the money. She had additional funds stashed elsewhere. She was mostly angry at herself for allowing the whole thing to happen. It was a sign she had let her frustration with Lucca distract her.
Leaning forward, Drenna reached into her boot and pulled out a second clip with a small amount of cash and her credit card. She always kept funds in two locations in case of incidents like the one that had just taken place.
The bartender dropped off her receipt and said he would be back to take her card. Drenna didn’t have time to wait for him to return, so she pulled out enough pounds to pay her tab. After tossing the bills onto the bar, she stood up and scanned the room. As she suspected, the three women were nowhere in sight. They were professional pickpockets, which meant they had probably hit the road as soon as the money was in hand.
Her blood boiling, Drenna made her way through the crowd and exited onto the street. Not surprisingly, the Deansgate district was a beehive of activity. Throngs of people streamed along the sidewalks. She looked in both directions, hoping to catch a glimpse of the women. About two blocks to the north, three female heads bobbed among the crowd. All three were brunettes.
As Drenna watched, the women continued walking for several seconds then turned left down a side street. Having noted their appearances earlier, Drenna was certain they were the three pickpockets from Happy Jack’s.
Got you.
Drenna marked the spot where the three had turned and hurried after them. It was time to teach the little thieves a lesson.
Chapter 8
Drenna caught up with the female pickpockets two minutes later. She could tell right away that their demeanors had changed. At the bar, they had been talkative and jovial. But now they wore stern expressions. They were all business.
Interestingly, none of them seemed to be watching for tails. Drenna didn’t think that was due to ineptitude or sloppiness. They were simply confident that their crimes hadn’t been noticed. They would soon find out they were wrong about that. They had picked the wrong pocket.
Drenna knew how such theft rings operated. The women would enter a bar or crowded restaurant, take one or two items, then quickly depart. The speed of their exit was the key to success. By the time the drunken patrons realized they had been victimized, the perpetrators were long gone.
Drenna knew she had been lucky. She happened to ask for the bill a minute or two after her money clip had been taken. Had she waited another half hour, she wouldn’t have had a snowball’s chance in hell of finding the thieves.
Ten minutes later, the women entered another bar. Once they were out of sight, Drenna went to one of the windows and peered through the glass. The watering hole was packed to the rafters, which made it the perfect place for the women to ply their trade. It was likely one of their frequent stops.
Despite the temptation to observe the women up close, Drenna decided not to enter. She didn’t want to risk losing them in the crowd. That would be the worst possible outcome. She decided to make the safer play and wait for them to come out, even if it took a while.
Since she didn’t want to be close to the entrance when the women came out, Drenna crossed the street and stood underneath the awning of a gift shop that catered to tourists. While killing time, she glanced inside the store and noticed a carousel of hats near the front checkout counter. Hit with an idea, she went inside and found a knit cap that matched her jacket. She didn’t think the pickpockets would recognize her, but she figured it was better not to take any chances.
After making her purchase, she exited back onto the street and pulled the cap down over her head. She then leaned back against a nearby wall and pretended to stare at something on her phone screen while keeping an eye on the bar across the street.
Fortunately, she didn’t have long to wait. The three women came out four minutes later. As Drenna fell in behind them, she quickly realized their mood had changed. They seemed more relaxed than before. At one point, the three of them burst out in laughter. Drenna wondered if their more jovial mood was an indication they were done for the evening.
Her suspicion was confirmed when the three stopped and hailed a cab. Fortunately for Drenna, several other taxis were also moving along the street. She flagged one down and told the driver she wanted to follow her friends in the other vehicle. The cabbie, a Middle Eastern man with a bushy beard, mumbled something that sounded like an affirmation. He then started the meter and pulled out into traffic.
Over the next several minutes, the lead taxi took several left turns before finally heading south. Drenna took out her phone and followed the route on Google Maps. If they continued in the same general direction, they would eventually go past the home turf of the Moss Side Bosses, Landon Kellam’s gang.
Kellam. She frowned as a troubling possibility surfaced in her thoughts. What if the three pickpockets work for the gangster? If they do, am I being lured into a trap? Drenna quickly dismissed the idea. Kellam had no way of uncovering her identity. And even if he knew who she was, she didn’t know how he would have managed to track her down in Manchester.
Still, she needed to be cautious. Even if the women didn’t work for Kellam, they could be dangerous. They were street-smart, and they also possessed a toughness that the average person didn’t have. They might even be armed with small weapons such as knives or pepper spray.
Drenna was certain the women were part of a larger crime syndicate. Such groups were known to have a specific hierarchy. The men usually handled the flow of illegal drugs, while the women were sent out to make money as prostitutes and pickpockets. Many of the syndicate’s members were heavily armed, and they wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone who threatened their sources of income.
Drenna looked out the window. The urban scenery was drastically different from the Deansgate district they had been in before. Rows of run-down apartment buildings and council houses flanked either side of the street. Graffiti covered every patch of concrete and brick as far as the eye could see.
Five minutes later, Drenna’s cab slowed. She looked through the front windshield. Just ahead, the cab carrying the three women had pulled over to the side of the road. They had reached their destination.
“Keep going,” Drenna told the driver.
He held up a hand in exasperation. “I thought you tell me you were with—”
“I said keep going!” she snapped.
After glaring at her briefly in the rearview mirror, the man shook his head and continued on.
Drenna hunkered down in her seat as they went past the other taxi. The women were being let out at the entrance to a pedestrian street that ran between two rows of sketchy town houses. She guessed they lived in one of the units. That or they were dropping off the stolen goods with one of the syndicate’s collectors.
Once her taxi was past the other vehicle, Drenna leaned forward and said, “Go to the next intersection and take a left.”
The cabbie mumbled something unintelligible but did as told.
“Okay, you can drop me here,” Drenna said after they had taken the turn.
The man pulled over to the side of the road. Drenna paid him in cash, making sure to give him a generous tip. He said nothing in response. She couldn’t blame him. Not only had she made him drive into a dangerous neighborhood, but she had also snapped at him.
Drenna stepped out onto the sidewalk and closed the door behind her. The night air was cool and crisp. As the cab drove off, she hurried to the main road and looked north in time to see the other taxi make a U-turn and head toward town. The women were nowhere in sight, but Drenna didn’t panic. She knew where they had gone.
As she jogged toward the spot where the women had been dropped off, Drenna considered her next move. Since she was operating on their turf, she needed to get her little act of retribution over with as quickly as possible. She would approach the women and ask for directions. Once their guard was down, she would launch a quick and vicious attack.
