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“It’s some sort of secret organization,” I say. “The Steel Knights insist that they’re pulling some strings in the city, doing backdoor deals, bribing, extorting powerful people, stuff like that.”
“And what does this Black Hand have to do with what happened to you?”
“Nothing. Not directly, anyway. They think my father is involved with them, either knowingly or unknowingly. They wouldn’t tell me anything more about it, though. They kept saying I wasn’t ready to hear the truth. If there’s any truth to it, it would make sense. I’ve seen what the Steel Knights do, Agent Masterson. They’re not terrorizing the city, and they’re not running heaps of drugs and guns through the district like the media says,” I reply, now regretting that I didn’t push them more on this particular topic. Had I learned more, maybe I could have made a better case in their favor because right now, I’m sounding like a tinfoil hat nut with Stockholm Syndrome.
“What are they doing then?”
“Well, for starters, they’ve got a tip line for people who want to report crimes in Everton but don’t trust the police. Apparently, a lot of uniforms are beholden to the Black Hand. State troopers and the sheriff’s department, too.”
His grip on the wheel tightens until his knuckles turn white. He suddenly looks angry. Or insulted. Or both. “And how does this tip line operate, exactly? Where is it located?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you where they are, but I know for a fact that they pass any credible information that they get over to officers they trust within the local PD,” I say. “And most of their leads have resulted in arrests and convictions. They have a history to prove it.”
“You almost sound like you admire them. Are you trying to protect your kidnappers?”
“I’m just trying to explain that they mean well.”
Masterson briefly looks at me, unabashedly doubtful. We reach a fork in the road and he takes a right turn. We seem to be moving away from the city, and I am left puzzled, staring ahead as my brain scrambles to make sense of it all.
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Ariana. No one should be dragged into somebody else’s mess, especially when I’m the one who has to clean it up.”
My senses flare, my nape tingling as I look around. The road is getting darker as the city lights fade somewhere to our left while deeper and deeper woods rise before us. “Wait, where are we going?”
“I wish I didn’t have to do this,” Masterson says.
Something has changed. His tone is colder. His voice is lower. It’s sending shivers down my spine while all the blood in my body rushes up to my head. “What are you talking about?” I ask, my voice trembling as I unbuckle my seatbelt.
“Had you not been so adamant to advocate for the Steel Knights, I would’ve taken you back to Everton,” he says. “Nobody believes the whole Black Hand story, not without supporting evidence. You have that, though. And I’m going to burn the whole MC to the ground.”
And then it hits me. The cold, hard, and unforgiving truth.
“Oh, God, you’re one of them,” I mumble.
“I’m one of what?”
“The Black Hand.”
“You make it sound like it’s a terrible thing, Ariana, but it’s not. We all do what needs to be done in order to keep this country safe and clean. Freedom isn’t free,” he says.
He seemed so credible up until that wretched fork.
“What are you going to do?” I ask, instantly regretting the question because the blank look on his face is already telling me everything I need to know.
“I can’t let you go back home now,” Masterson says. “I can’t take you back to the clubhouse, either. There are players on the board I cannot expose. I can’t let you talk to anyone about the MC’s activities, especially in relation to the Black Hand. If you want to blame anybody for what I have to do, Ariana, you can blame your father. Had he simply done what we told him to do from the very beginning, none of us would be in the positions we’re in now. And you’d still be at home, soaking in a hot tub with a glass of wine, oblivious to this real world of ours.”
“Does the FBI sanction what you’re planning to do to me?”
“God, no,” he nervously laughs. “But I have to do it anyway. That’s what happens when you’re beholden to the Black Hand. You play their game, or you’re off the board. And when you’re off the board, Ariana, it’s worse than death, trust me. Death would be the sweetest release. Few of their foes were lucky enough to meet such a fate.”
“You sound insane,” I whisper.
“Maybe a tad dramatic, but I’m telling the truth. I have no reason to lie to you,” he says. “You’re going to die tonight, anyway. What would be the point?”
My blood runs cold. Horror washes over me as panic sets in. I keep trying to open the door, despair taking hold of my limbs as I struggle to find freedom again. This time, however, I fear I may have landed in worse trouble than before. This man intends to kill me, and there’s no one around to help me.
Not when there is nobody aware that I escaped in the first place.
15
