Chapter Eight
Slade
"You look like a million bucks, but I'd be happy with whatever spare change you got." The rumpled man heaved himself up from the sidewalk and shuffled over to me.
I stopped, my eyes still on the bodega, still intent on finding Darren as fast as I could. I felt in my pockets and grabbed the first money I felt. "Yeah, sure. Here you go, man."
He took the folded bill and sighed. "Bet you want a little information for that amount, huh, Slade?"
I felt a twinge of shame when he said my name. Of course I knew him, if I had only bothered to look past his dusty clothes and overgrown beard. "Samuel. I'm such a dick. How are you? How have you been?"
The old bum chuckled and punched my shoulder. "Don't sweat it, Slade, no one looks at me. One of the perks of the job. Besides, you look like you've got a lot on your mind."
"That's no excuse," I said. "I was here the other day and I should have thought to look for you."
Samuel narrowed his eyes and peered up into my face. "Why were you here the other day? You were on your way to bigger and better things. I'm not gonna stand for a backslide, kid."
"You always could kick my ass with a comment," I said.
"Seriously, Slade. You got out. No one gets out, so why in the hell would you be back here?" Samuel asked.
"I'm looking for someone who probably reminds you a lot of me," I told my old friend. "Young kid from the streets, Balducci's got his hooks in now. Name's Darren."
The old bum grimaced. "Heard that name on the street a few times now. Nothing good."
"I'll pay you for every word," I said, digging out my wallet.
Samuel slapped my hand. "Don't you know no better? I can't be living my good life with that shit dragging me down. Besides, you're a good kid. I'll tell you what I heard for free."
I ground my teeth in frustration. Samuel was a stubborn man, a hard-core paranoid determined to live on the fringes where the government couldn't get him. Still, he was the happiest man I knew, and the best impartial informant in the neighborhood. Even Balducci couldn't get to him because the old bum didn't want anything but a sunny corner and a few scraps of food that he found himself.
"I need to get to Darren before Balducci does. Before the mobster hands him over and I have to hold up my end of a bad deal," I admitted.
Samuel spit on the sidewalk. "Makes me sick to hear you saying his name again, kid. I hope to god you aren't doing something stupid here. This Darren ain't a bright one either. Word on the street is he was inspired by your clean break and tried it for himself. Told that greedy bastard he was quitting but he didn't think about the leverage. Balducci got a beat on his girl and you know how it ends."
I nodded, swallowing a wave of sick guilt. "Do you know where Darren is staying? I've seen him around here before but I don't know where he lives."
The old bum glanced up and down the street. "He comes and goes from that door over there during broad daylight but it's a cover. He's getting smarter the hard way. Still, he figures no one's looking at night. I saw him around the corner, two alleys down. There's a few cheap rooms over the dry cleaner's there."
I shook Samuel's gnarled hand. "I'm bringing you a steak one of these nights."
He laughed. "Only if you can stand searing it over a can fire. I ain't changing my ways for no one. Not even you."
"Glad to hear it, Samuel. Thanks."
The old bum's hand tightened like a vice. "Thank me by never coming this way again. Go live a good life before you get yourself killed."
I shook on it and headed in the direction Samuel had nodded. I was back to my circling thoughts when I heard him whistle. I whipped my head around and saw Christine jump out of a cab. She raced toward me without a second glance at the appreciative Samuel and his wide grin.
I was not smiling when she caught up with me. "What in the hell are you doing here? Again?!"
Christine gave me a pert sneer. "I enabled GPS on your phone. What are you doing here?"
"You're kidding me." I made a note to do the same to her phone. "I'm putting you right back in a cab to the club."
She had a slicing remark all ready to go but there was no need. There wasn't a cab in sight, and I knew by the time one came, she would have convinced me I couldn't get rid of her.
"Fine, but I don't think I'm any closer than I was before," I lied.
Christine shrugged. "Which way were you heading? This way?"
I almost let her keep going in the opposite direction from Darren's apartment, but the neighborhood got rougher that way. "No. I'm actually heading to the bodega to ask a few questions."
"Liar," Christine said, her chin raised up defiantly. "The GPS said you were already in the bodega. That's how I got the address."
My shoulders sagged as I slipped my hands in my pockets. "He might live over here somewhere."
"I hope it's not too far," she muttered.
She followed along behind me and I noticed she was limping slightly. "What's wrong with you?"
Christine frowned and wouldn't meet my eyes. "I twisted an ankle on the stairs back at the club."
I slowed my pace so she could keep up, even though Darren would probably be long gone by the time we found the alley behind his apartment. "You know, I had no choice. I knew you'd be stubborn like this."
"No choice in what?" Christine stopped at the mouth of the first alley and crossed her arms tight.
I swore at myself for the slip-up. "I'm trying to help, Christine. And protect you. At least let me do that."
She started walking again with a sharp wince and marched up to stick a finger in my chest. "I know you've done something. You made a deal, didn't you?"
"I didn't notice that limp when you got out of the cab. Are you sure you're all right?" I asked her.
Christine shook her head. "Oh, no, you don't. You're not changing the subject. What did you do?"
"It won't matter if we can find Darren in time. Is there any way you can speed up? This is ridiculous," I said.
"No. You're right. I don't want any part of this. Take me back to the club. Right now," Christine said.
That was it, plus the bratty stamp of her foot. If her ankle was really hurt she would have cried out in pain but she didn't even blink. "What are you playing at? Are you trying to keep me from finding Darren?"
She brushed her hair back with an irritated swipe. "Why would I do that? I mean, maybe you got me thinking about what jail time could do to someone so young. It's not what my sister would have wanted."
I held up both hands. "Oh, whoa. Now I know you're up to something. This is a total one-eighty from what we talked about the last time we were in this neighborhood."
"It's just—ouch! My ankle. Oh, Slade, ow, give me your arm." Christine collapsed against me.
I grabbed her before she toppled over but a flash in the cracked shop window next to us made me turn. Darren had appeared at the mouth of the second alley and was peering at us. As soon as I hauled Christine back up to standing, he took off running.
"Don't, Slade, please," Christine said.
Her fingers clutched at my arm but I twisted free. If I got Darren off the streets and hidden from Balducci, then the deal was useless. I would be holding all the cards again and could get Christine what she wanted. She didn't understand how Balducci used leverage like a demon that could force people to do what he wanted. But I did, and I was going to use it against him.
I wasn't surprised when Christine caught up with me at the next corner. Her ankle was fine, and she almost overtook me on the turn. Then there was a crash and I caught her back just before she toppled over Darren. He sprawled on the sidewalk, tripped up by a crate of beer. Shattered bottles crunched as he scrambled to his feet and tried to keep running.
I dove and tackled him on the sidewalk. "We're trying to help you," I growled as I hauled the young man up to his feet.
Darren sunk to his knees like a dead-weight, and I had to drop him or rip his shirt collar. "Please. Kill me. I can't stand it anymore. I want to pay for what I did. I killed her. I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry."
"Well, we can't have him yelling that while we drag him into a cab." I cocked my arm back and was about to knock him out when Christine grabbed my arm.
She threw herself in front of Darren and held out both arms. "No. I want to hear him out."
Darren was up on his feet before she was done. He sprinted across two lanes of traffic and disappeared down another narrow alley.
"You let him get away," I yelled.
"Don't blame me for this," she said over her shoulder as she headed back to the bodega.
I watched her go, certain she had tricked me. Now, like Christine, all I wanted to know was why.