Emily Kimelman - Sydney Rye 05 - The Devil's Breath (28 page)

“What happened next?”

“I felt your neck.” His gaze rose to my throat and he reached out, placing two fingers over my pulse. “And you were warm,” he said with a smile. “And I could feel your heartbeat.”

He kept his fingers against my skin. “When I bent down to pick you up your eyes opened and,” he licked his lips, “you didn’t see me, Sydney. I don’t know what you saw but you thought it was a threat. You kicked me in the ribs.” He put his hand to his side. “So fucking hard.”

“God, I’m sorry Dan,” I said, leaning toward him. I tried to touch his side but he caught my hand. “It’s okay,” he said. “The crazy thing is, Blue stopped you.”

“What do you mean?”

“He growled at you, and Sydney, you sat back down, turning to him, holding the laptop. That’s when I realized what had happened to you.”

“Datura.”

“Mulberry told you to stand up and you did. I mean you’d do anything we told you to.”

I shuddered at the thought. Dan squeezed my hand.

“We’ve tested your blood and I managed to match what you were given to records in the laptop. You came out of the hallucinations without any memories within the timespan expected. You may have residual effects for another month or more.”

“Residual effects?”

“Hallucinations, vivid dreams, maybe other things.”

I bit my lip, letting the pain ground me for a moment. “Will I ever remember?” I asked, not sure what I wanted the answer to be.

“I don’t know.”

“You look tired,” I said.

He laughed, “You should see yourself.”

I shrugged. “Not my finest moment.”

Dan laughed again. “I don’t know,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for finding me.”

He leaned over and kissed my palm, his warm lips soft against my skin. There was a quick knock on the door and then it cracked open. “Are you decent?” Mulberry’s voice asked.

“Come in,” I said. Dan didn’t let go of my hand. Mulberry walked in and stopped looking at us. He had shaved and wore a light jacket over a black and white checkered shirt. I thought he looked like the picture of Smooth Corporate Private Eye. But as he stared at our linked hands I saw the roughness inside him. The part of him that kept him from becoming too slick, too perfect.

“Sorry,” he said. “Just wanted to see if you were ready. We’ve got a tight schedule.” Mulberry forced a smile.

“Schedule?” I asked.

Dan stood. “Get changed and then come to the Captain’s dining room. It’s at the other end of the hall.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“It will all be explained,” Dan promised.

“If we have time,” Mulberry said, holding the door open.

I
changed quickly into the jeans, T-shirt and hoodie that Malina had left for me. Tying the laces of the sneakers I felt the bass thrumming through the floor from the party down below. Blue’s nose touched my hip rhythmically as I walked along the hall to the Captain’s dining room. I took a deep breath, Blue warbled reassuringly. I reached out and opened the door.

Lenox, Malina, Merl, Mulberry, Dan, and Anita sat around an oval wooden dining table. The view of the ocean out the round portholes behind them shifted as the boat rose and fell. The murmur of conversation halted as they all turned to look at us.

Anita jumped up. She looked great, her skin clear, wearing a blue and white silk kurta that brushed at her knees with a pair of jeans and simple leather sandals. She threw her arms around me in a hug. “You look good,” I said smiling. “I’m glad to see you so well.”

“Thanks to you and Dan,” she said, releasing me and looking over at him. He smiled back at us.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

Dan answered. “This is the project I told you she was working on.”

Mulberry cleared his throat. “She’s been a great help to us. Anita designed our PR strategy.”

I nodded, “Right,” I said. “PR Strategy. Everyone’s got to have one.”

Mulberry cleared his throat again. “Come on, let’s get started.”

Anita returned to her seat. There were a couple of manila envelopes on the table in front of her. I sat between her and Malina. Mulberry was at the far end and Lenox at the other. Dan and Merl sat across the table from me.

“All right,” Mulberry said. “Let’s bring this meeting of the Joyful Justice council to order.”

I laughed. Mulberry’s eyes jumped to my face. “I’m sorry, Sydney,” he said. He ran a hand through his hair. “We didn’t expect you to be awake but since you’re here I thought you should sit in on the meeting.”

“What is this?” I asked.

“Merl’s in charge of combat,” Mulberry said. “Dan is obviously the head of our technology department, Malina has been working on recruiting assets. Anita, PR. And Lenox is the head of our Miami chapter.” I stared at him, my mouth slightly open, my brain slow and confused. “The whole reason we were taking you out tonight is because we are launching our first attack.”

“Attack?”

Malina sat forward, a lock of her deep brown hair falling over her left shoulder as she did so. “Tonight, we will deal with Ivan Zhovra and let the world know that we are here. Once Ivan’s strip clubs close for the night my girls will make their move. There are seven clubs in the area which the women are forced to work, but only four houses where they sleep. We have a plant in each house who will take out the guards with some outside assistance from us.”

Anita interrupted and I turned to look at her. “Once the girls are free we’ve got vans to take them over to a church which will offer them asylum until proper documentation can be obtained.”

Malina started up again. “Once the women are safe-”

“Wait,” I asked. “Who are these shooters?”

“Women we’ve recruited to work for their own freedom. You met one of them.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“The woman in the blue dress,” Lenox said.

I remembered her pale skin against the dresses bright tone. The way it was a little loose on her thin frame and rustled slightly as she shook. The one who spoke English but wouldn’t speak.

“What will they do? Go to the church and hope their act is seen as self defense?”

“No,” Mulberry said.

“Where will they go?” I asked.

Dan answered me. “We’ll fly them to our new training camp in Costa Rica.”

My eyebrows raised. “You’ve been busy,” I said.

He nodded. “Yes, we have.”

Mulberry took control again, asking Merl to fill me in on what came next. “Each of the seven clubs are located in somewhat isolated areas. They are all free-standing buildings with no close neighbors. So,” Merl said, “we are going to blow them up.”

“Wow,” I said.

A boyish smile appeared on Merl’s face for a second and then disappeared just as quickly. “No one will get hurt,” he assured me.

“Then what happens?” I asked.

“They have a choice,” Mulberry said.

“What?”

“Change their ways.”

“Or what?”

Merl answered. “The best threats are those imagined in your opponent’s mind.”

“Besides,” Dan said, “with the testimony of the freed women it shouldn’t be hard to prove human trafficking and a host of other crimes.”

I nodded. “Okay, saving the enslaved women, blowing up the clubs, giving the bad guys an ultimatum. I like it so far, what’s next?”

Anita answered me. “That’s the best part.” She pushed a single typed page across the table to me.

I looked it over. “Joyful Justice takes full responsibility,” “Slavery in plain sight,” “Not going to take it anymore,” “Justice will be served,” and at the bottom, “
Joyfuljustice.com
Join the revolution.”

“Wow,” I said again, my heart beating hard.

“What do you think?” Anita asked. She was biting her lip and looking at me for my approval.

What could I say? “Great,” I answered. “Perfect.” She smiled. When I pushed the paper back to her, my fingers trembled slightly.

“This will go out to every major news venue,” Anita said, returning the paper to one of her files. “And we will release video confessions after the attack from the women leading the escape in Ivan’s houses.”

“Sounds almost like terrorism,” I said.

Anita nodded. “I’m using a lot of their tricks against them,” she said. “Soon, anyone who thinks they can take advantage of those weaker than them will see what the meek can do.” A fire burned in her eyes as she spoke and I could feel her passion and her faith. It frightened me.

“Sydney,” Mulberry said. “We should talk about your role.”

I nodded turning to him. “Great. What can I do?”

He pursed his lips. “Leave.” He held up a hand to block my protest. “Sorry, Sydney, but you’re too exposed. And you don’t need to be here.”

“But I can help,” I said.

“Bobby Maxim is going to lose it when he realizes what we’re doing here.” He put a finger against the polished wood table.

“You think he’ll try to kill me?”

“More like he’ll bring Joy back from the dead.”

I laughed and Mulberry’s brow furrowed. “He did threaten to do that,” I admitted.

“See,” Dan said, sitting forward. “You’ve got to go.”

“Where?” I asked. “Where do you want me to go?”

“Costa Rica,” he said.

Malina jumped in. “You’ll love it, Sydney. It’s all set up. Wait until you see it.”

“You’re stashing me at the training camp?” I asked. “Don’t you think I’m more useful in a fight than most of the people at this table.”

They all looked at each other, none of them at me. Lenox spoke for the first time. “You must recover, Sydney,” his voice was soft but penetrating. I looked over at him. He was nodding at me. There was a knock at the door. “Come,” Lenox said.

It was a sailor, he was tall and broad, his skin tan against the white of his uniform. “The launch is ready,” he said. Lenox stood. “Sydney, it’s time to go.”

Anita stood up and pulled me from my chair into an embrace. Malina hugged me next, then Merl and Dan came around the table. Each enveloped me with their own scent and warmth for a moment.

I felt the ground tremble beneath me and heard the rumble of thunder pass through the space. Blue leaned against my hip sensing that something was wrong. “Are you okay?” Mulberry asked, reaching for my arm, holding me steady. The thunder disappeared.

“Yes,” I said.

“I’ll walk you down,” he said, keeping hold of me as we moved toward the door.

“Thank you, Lenox,” I said.

He bowed gracefully. “I am at your service.”

#

W
e walked back down the stairs, the thumping of the party the only noise. He stopped at the bottom and looked through the porthole to the back deck. He turned to face me in the small space. “You’ll go by boat to Cuba and then we have a plane waiting for you,” Mulberry said.

“When will I see you again?”

He smiled. “We’ll all be down in Costa Rica soon,” he said. “For the next meeting of the Joy-”

I cut him off by placing a finger to his lips. “Just don’t say it,” I said with a small smile.

Mulberry embraced me, I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him close. His hands splayed across my lower back and I felt his heart beating. He kissed my neck and loosened his grip but I didn’t let go. I pulled him closer, pressing my face into his chest, making light dance behind my closed lids, feeling safe and sound and not wanting to let go of the comfort of him.

Mulberry pulled me tighter against him, his breath in my hair, his lips at my ear. “I-” he whispered but didn’t continue.

“I’ll miss you,” I said against his chest, the words coming out sloppy but true, making my heart rise into my throat.

“Oh Sydney,” Mulberry said, burying his face into my neck and kissing me over and over again. His hand cupped the back of my head and he held me still, looking down at my face. “I’ll miss you, too,” he said, “I’ve
missed
you.” His one hand held my head, the other pressed against my lower back, holding my entire body against his making it impossible to escape his gaze.

“Be safe,” I said.

He promised he would.

#

I
was in the air when it happened. The whole thing, not a hitch, and I was 30,000 feet above the surface of the earth. I sipped champagne and watched the news on a flat screen TV.

A group calling itself Joyful Justice has taken responsibility for seven explosions around Miami Dade County tonight. While they call themselves revolutionaries, many are calling them terrorists.

My phone rang. “Bobby,” I said. “How unexpected.”

“What is this?” His voice was even and cold.

“I think that’s been made clear by our press release.”

“You think this will work? That you’re going to change the world? Make it a better place?” His voice was so even I felt a chill run down my spine and was glad we weren’t face to face.

“I’m willing to try.”

“You should have joined me when you had the chance. I’ll destroy you.” His tone never changed. The man could have been offering me eggs.

“Maybe it’s the other way around,” I said, making sure to keep my voice just as even, just as calm, in a way, just as crazy. “You should think about joining me. I could use a man with your connections.”

He laughed, low and sultry. “You can’t run forever, Joy.”

“My name is Sydney Rye, and I’m not running, Bobby, I’m leading.” I hung up the phone and then sipped from my glass, the bubbles tickling my nose. Blue rested his head onto my knee and I used my free hand to pet one of his velvety ears.

––––––––

<<<<>>>>

E
mily splits her time between the Hudson Valley and traveling the world with her husband, Sean, and her dog, Kinsey (named after Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone), researching exciting locations for the Sydney Rye Series. Kimelman has a passion for traveling and spends as much time as possible in the pursuit of adventure.

You can follow along on their adventures through Instagram,
Facebook
, and on
Emily’s blog
.

The Sydney Rye series feature a strong female protagonist and her canine best friend. It is recommended for the 18+ who enjoy some violence, don’t mind dirty language, and are up for a dash of sex. Not to mention an awesome, rollicking good mystery!