Ghosts, Matt Rogers [reading the story of the .txt] 📗

would have got away.’

‘No,’ King said. ‘You wouldn’t have.’

‘You left her there,’ Slater said. ‘You left her there to die.’

‘I panicked.’

Slater understood.

And he didn’t blame the man. The only way to dissipate anger is to be objective and think rationally, and he did both. Ward was a junior officer, green to the force, overwhelmed by insipid corruption under the surface, far bigger than he could comprehend. There was nothing he could have done to get her out of there, not when it was twelve or thirteen against one and there were seconds to spare before Ray’s goons shot him to pieces as he reached for Alexis.

There were few on earth who had Slater and King’s experience.

Slater made to turn the Bentley around.

‘What are you doing?’ Ward said.

King was quiet.

Slater said, ‘You tell us where that warehouse is.’

‘Ray’s alive,’ Ward said. ‘And he’s coked to the eyeballs.’

King bowed his head. ‘Christ. Him too?’

Ward didn’t answer. He was confused.

King said, ‘The man Ray’s in a war with is just as unhinged.’

Slater muttered under his breath, ‘And we started this.’

He didn’t follow up with the inevitable, but he saw King understood.

We’re responsible. We need to finish it.

Ward said, ‘Man, I’m telling you. You storm that warehouse and your girlfriend is dead. Ray has half a dozen guys left who are indoctrinated enough to die for him, and they only need to keep you at bay for seconds. He’s probably calling more people in as we speak. Ray will kill her the moment he thinks things are going south. He’s not going to be rational about it. He’ll clean house before you can touch him.’

Slater didn’t turn the wheel.

But he kept his hands on it.

Indecision plagued him.

King said, ‘He’s right.’

Silence.

King said, ‘Think logically.’

Slater did.

He looked over at King, who saw the pain in his eyes.

Slater said, ‘She can’t die. I can’t let it happen. Not her, too.’

Ruby Nazarian resurfaced in his memories.

He knew he’d never be able to handle another loss of that magnitude. Not after everything they’d been through. Not after they’d wiped the slate clean, escaped the government, started anew.

King said, ‘Her best chance of survival is for us to be smart.’

Slater didn’t respond.

King said, ‘I know how to play this.’

‘You do?’

‘We have someone Ray needs. He has someone we need.’

Slater raised an eyebrow.

King said, ‘We trade Kerr.’

‘You have the DA?!’ Ward spluttered from the back seat. He curled up again. ‘What am I involved in?’

King didn’t answer.

Ward said, ‘This is too big. You’ve started something you can’t stop. If this thing gets exposed, the city’s going to get thrown into turmoil. There’s going to be a crisis.’

‘The cat’s not out of the bag yet,’ King said. ‘No one even knows Kerr is missing. She’s neck-deep in this world, and she doesn’t want it to get out either. This gives her an out, and it gives us a chance to get Alexis.’

Slater said, ‘And then they all get away with it.’

‘No,’ King said.

‘No?’

‘As soon as we get Alexis out of the crossfire, we get every single one of them. However long it takes.’

Slater liked the sound of that.

He said, ‘Okay.’

He twisted in his seat again. ‘You know how to contact Ray?’

Ward nodded reluctantly.

Slater made up his mind.

He put the car in gear and headed back for the estate.

Trying not to think about what Ray was doing to the woman he loved.

45

Violetta knew exactly where Keith Ray and all his thugs were hiding out.

It hadn’t taken her long to track the commotion unfolding in plain sight across Vegas. Ray was in Arden, occupying a warehouse abandoned by its tenants three months previously. He’d probably put in a few calls to make sure the place remained untouched.

From what she could gather, there’d been barely an inkling of official police response. Either the entire department were slacking on the job, or Ray still had friends in high places. She was coming down on the side of the latter.

She looked up from her laptop on the kitchen island when King and Slater stormed into the house, dragging a bloodied junior officer behind them. The guy was shellshocked, and she didn’t blame him. He was a herbivore in a jungle of predators. When he’d woken up this morning, there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d expected this was how the day would unfold.

Slater roughhoused the cop over to the island and pushed him down on one of the stools. His hands were cable-tied behind his back, but Violetta figured even that was unnecessary. The guy wasn’t going anywhere. Defeat and dark thoughts clouded his face. He didn’t know if he’d live to see the sun rise the next morning.

Outside, the sky darkened. Early evening had come quickly — the day had passed like a speeding bullet train. Everything that had happened since they’d stepped out of the house that morning, everything they’d uncovered…

She couldn’t comprehend it herself.

She looked at King. ‘Is this Alan Ward?’

‘The one and only,’ King said.

Ward didn’t entertain a response. He stared at the countertop, his eyes glazed over, wanting to be anywhere else.

Slater said, ‘He took Alexis.’

Violetta’s face darkened. ‘You’re sure?’

Slowly, Ward nodded. ‘I had no choice.’

‘I’m sure.’ Violetta swivelled the laptop screen around. ‘I know where Ray is keeping her. You two should—’

‘We know,’ Slater said. ‘Ward was just there. He told us where she is.’

Violetta paused. ‘Then why aren’t you—?’

King said, ‘Keith Ray’s a heavier coke addict than Armando Gates. He’s not interested in playing this smart. If he hears a single hostile bullet he’ll cut his losses and put a bullet in Alexis’ head to get her out of the way.’

‘You don’t know that,’ Violetta said. ‘If you hit it fast and hard—’

‘Violetta,’ Slater said, silencing her.

She looked at him.

His eyes told her so much.

He said, ‘It’s not the right call. You don’t know what it took for me to agree to that.’

She said nothing.

He said, ‘What Ray might be doing to her right now. What she might be going through. It’s better than getting her killed.’

She nodded.

He said,