Thorn
I jumped a little, hearing the knock on the door. I was groggy from the nap I'd been taking, but I quickly pulled myself up and went to answer it, hoping it wasn't another unpleasant visitor. When I looked through the peep hole, though, it was just housekeeping. I breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door.
“We don't need anything cleaned right now,” I told the woman quietly, mindful of Jess still sleeping on the bed.
“Okay,” the woman said, nodding and moving on to the next room. I picked up the Do Not Disturb sign where it had fallen on the ground and hung it back on the doorknob. Then, looking back indecisively at Jess for a moment, I left the room, shutting the door behind me. I went down to the lobby, pulling out my phone as I went. It was quiet and empty in the lobby; even the receptionist was somewhere in the back, out of earshot.
I dialed Dorian's number.
“Is the mission complete?” he asked when he picked up the phone.
“Not quite,” I said. I glanced around again and lowered my voice. “Look, we've met with Gabi, and she has a plan for how I'm supposed to get the packages into the jail, but—”
“You're responsible for getting the packages into jail?” Dorian asked incredulously. “It's bad enough that you've transported the things, but do you realize what could happen to you if you get caught smuggling weapons into a federal prison?”
“I know, I know,” I said. I scrubbed a hand over my face, wondering what I wanted to say. “Dorian, I feel like I'm in this over my head,” I admitted.
Dorian sighed. “Well, it's good to hear you finally realize that. My offer from before still stands—we can make you disappear.”
“I don't like that plan,” I said frankly. “I've brought the packages this far. I don't want to put someone else in danger trying to dispose of them. I think it's best that I just hand the packages over to Gabi and let her deal with it. Maybe find someone else to smuggle the packages into the prison—I'm sure they've got other connections.”
“Hmm,” Dorian said, clearly thinking it over. “I do think that's the safest option. If you're nervous about this, you're not the best person to be smuggling them in anyway. It's in their best interest to find someone else. A nervous man makes stupid mistakes and is really obvious to those trained to look out for nervous ticks.”
“Exactly,” I said. I sighed. “Now the question is just convincing Gabi to come pick up the packages—sooner, rather than later. And convincing her that Jess isn't a liability.”
“Except that she is, and she'll remain one—even if the plan is executed successfully. She knows exactly who was involved, at every step of the way.”
“So what, you think she deserves to be killed off as well?” I asked, surprised. Dorian had a reputation for being fair and merciful; that he would order Jess's death, when she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, didn't seem like him.
“Of course I don't think she deserves to be killed,” Dorian said, sounding exasperated. “I'm appalled that you would think that. But I do understand where Gabi is coming from if that's what she thinks. Jess is a liability, and you need to remember that.”
“So what happens to her, then?” I asked.
“Do you have feelings for her?” Dorian asked, a strange note in his voice. “You sound very reluctant to have anything bad happen to her. Protective, even.”
I scowled. “Of course I don't have feelings for her,” I snapped, even though that statement didn't exactly ring true. I shook my head. “I just feel guilty for dragging her into this mess, that's all.”
“All right,” Dorian said, but he didn't sound convinced. “She'll need to disappear. I'm sure we can help her out with that. But you would need to figure out some way of ensuring her silence over the whole thing—especially if you don't plan on going into hiding. You don't want her guilt to someday overwhelm her and have her send the police after you in ten or twenty years.”
“No,” I agreed. I frowned. “I'm not sure how we would keep her from talking, though. She's...actually a good person, Dorian. Money's not the thing that keeps her going.”
“Then you'll need to find out what is,” Dorian said simply. “In the meantime, I'd suggest having Gabi come to the hotel and take the packages off your hands. Then get yourself out of there as soon as you can.”
I hung up with Dorian and called Gabi, not sure if she would pick up since I knew she was probably still at work. But she did answer. “What?” she bit out.
“I don't think this plan is going to work,” I said, beginning to pace a little with agitation.
There was silence on the line for a moment, and I wondered if maybe she was moving to a more secure location. “I'll be there in five minutes,” she said.
When she stormed into the hotel lobby, she didn't look happy. “This had better be important,” she said. “I'm on my lunch break.” I looked around and decided that we were too exposed, so I dragged her into an empty room down the hall and shut the door behind us.
“Look,” I said, “I signed up to transport a delivery. I didn't sign up to smuggle things into a federal prison. This is insane.”
“You signed up to deliver a package,” Gabi corrected. “You knew all along that that package was destined to end up in the hands of Katia Sin. You must have known you were meant to deliver it into a prison!”
“Except that as far as I was told, I was meant to deliver the packages to you,” I said. “And that's what I want to do. The packages are upstairs in the room. I'll give them to you now. And you can handle having them smuggled into the jail in some other way. Get someone else to do it. Or do it yourself. I don't care, but I'm not going to be involved in this any further.”
Gabi sneered at me. “What, got cold feet? I would have expected better from you, Thorn. Dorian always talked so highly about you.”
“Don't bring Dorian into this,” I snapped. “I don't care if you think I'm chickenshit or whatever else; there's nothing you can do to make me bring those packages in to the jail.”
“Oh really?” Gabi asked. “You don't think that Katia has ways of dealing with people she's displeased with? We have to follow her orders or else everyone loses. I don't get my sister back, and you probably lose your life. So does Jessica Harper. You should have thought things through a little more, maybe, before you accepted this mission, but it's too late to change anything now.”
“Katia isn't stupid,” I persisted. “She must know that this is a risky plan. All we have to do is come up with some other sort of plan. It shouldn't be that difficult; she has you as an access point, and she has Romeo as well. I'm sure she has other ways of getting this package smuggled into the jail.”
“She gave these orders!” Gabi exclaimed. “She told us that this was the way it was going to be done. You have to uphold your end of the bargain—or else face the consequences.”
“Just take the god-damned packages,” I snarled. “Take the packages, talk to Katia, and figure out some other way!”
Gabi narrowed her eyes at me. “I'm not taking those packages,” she snarled. “I will talk to Katia, but I'm not taking them. I'll let you know when you can deliver them.” With that, she turned and stalked out of the room. I was tempted to go after her, to grab her, to force her to listen, but I could tell that wouldn't do any good. She was just going to continue to refuse to take the packages.
She was more scared of Katia than I was, that much was clear. So I had to make sure that Katia herself changed the plans. And that meant that I had to go see Katia in prison.
I sighed and scrubbed a hand over my face, debating calling Dorian back. But I didn't want him to be even more entangled in this than he already was. Anyway, it was about time I went upstairs to check on Jess and let her know the latest.