Protector: City of Sin Read online

  I was so young when I lost my parents, but I could never forget them. They are still a part of me, burned in my mind. I remember seeing my mom in the kitchen when we got home from school, starting dinner and humming to herself. I remember her singing often, or humming, like music was as much a part of her as breathing.

  Dana and I would rush through the door, dropping our backpacks, and she would already have a plate of cookies and glasses of milk at the table for us. No matter how busy she was, she wanted to stop and hear every detail about our day. About the boy who pulled Dana’s hair, and how she pushed him in retaliation to teach him a lesson. About the sticker I had been given by my teacher for the drawing I had done in art, a bright yellow smiley face I wore like a badge of honor on my shirt. My mom listened to us chatter away as if the daytime activities of two children was the most interesting thing she had ever heard. And to her, it was. Because she loved us so much.

  It was very late when the knock on the front door happened. I didn’t hear it, I only woke up because Dana came into my room shaking and crawled into my bed. I asked her if she couldn’t sleep, she shook her head, her eyes were wide with panic. I heard voices in the living room, our babysitter Patricia talking to someone that was not our mom or dad. But I was young and naive. I didn’t know any better, so I didn’t question it. I told Dana if she wanted to sleep in my bed that was okay, assuming my older sister had a nightmare. I didn’t realize that she already knew our parents were gone, and come morning, the nightmare would become real for both of us.

  The funeral was surreal. I didn’t recognize many of the faces that came to pay their respects during the modest ceremony. Our grandparents were long dead. We had no aunts or uncles, no relatives to take us in. We were orphans, and officially wards of the state. I didn’t own a black dress so I wore blue. Dana seemed as if she became so much older overnight. I couldn’t stop crying, at times finding it hard to breathe. She held my hand, also crying, but trying hard to be strong for me. It was just the two of us now, she was all I had left.

  Foster care was a living nightmare. The house was packed with children, none of us getting much of anything; love, food, attention. If we talked back or misbehaved, we were hit with a heavy leather belt. Being a quiet child, I was never hit, but Dana was on more than one occasion if she questioned our foster parents for letting us go without. The couple that took us in, the Fredericks, were compensated for each child they took in. They collected us like cattle. That’s all we were to them, a livelihood. I often fantastized about Dana and I being adopted by a loving couple who would treat us like their own children, but I learned quickly how useless hopes and dreams were in the face of cold harsh reality.

  Everything changed once Dana turned eighteen and moved out, taking me with her. The Fredericks didn’t care, it meant space for two new children in their horrid home. Things were much better when it was just Dana and I. We didn’t have much and shared a bed in a one room apartment, but it was a million times better than the stacked bunk beds and old mattresses at the Fredericks. For the first time in a long time, I felt safe. Dana compensated for all the pain we had endured over the years by spoiling me. We went to the movies, we shared pizza, and she always came home with gifts for me. New clothes, music, toys. She doted on her little sister like our mother used to, and I loved her fiercely for taking care of me. Looking back, she was still barely more than a child herself, growing up too fast in a cruel world that she shielded me from the best she could. But there comes a point when you need to stop being protected, and you need to be prepared for reality.

  I remember coming home from school one day crying because another girl had called me a worthless orphan; Dana told me to cut it out, her tone was harsher than I was used to. I remember her words, even now; “Life is going to be hard, Ella. You need to be harder. Don’t let them break you.” I had stopped crying like she asked, wiped my face and held my head high. If she believed in me, I could believe in myself - to hell with what anyone else thought of me.

  I stopped being a little girl that night and I grew up; she knew me well enough to know that it was time for me to stop being so vulnerable. I studied hard. I got into college on a scholarship, we celebrated by dressing up and going to a fancy restaurant where Dana snuck me my first sip of wine. Life was finally going well for us. And then, Dana disappeared and a new nightmare started for me. I lost the last person in the world I loved, who loved me. I wish I knew what happened, but in my heart I know she must be dead. If she wasn’t, she would have come back for me.

  I sat curled up in a chair by the window, watching the water ripple and the breeze drifting through tall grass. Paradise. When the first rays of sunlight started to reach out over the horizon, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Beckett at my side.

  “You couldn’t sleep.” It wasn’t a question. I shook my head and leaned into his hand, feeling drained and exhausted. He caressed my cheek. “Come on, let’s get packed up and head back home.”

  We gathered our things, the mood no longer playful as it had been the day before. Beckett made me breakfast but I only managed to push it around my plate, my heart heavy with everything it had endured in my life and continued to endure now. Would it ever end? I sipped my coffee, clinging to my warm mug for a shred of comfort. As we drove to the airport I didn’t feel much like taking, and Beckett didn’t press me. He let me watch the scenery speed by until we arrived and got onto the plane.

  Once we were in the air, I made eye contact with the stewardess.

  “Could I have a double vodka, straight?”

  She obliged, pouring then handing me a generous crystal glass. Beckett watched me but said nothing as I drank it. He said nothing as I drank a second, then a third, the stewardess glancing at him each time she poured just in case her boss told her to stop. He let me dull the pain without interfering, even though I could see the worry on his face. With no food in my stomach, it didn’t take long for the liquor to have the desired effect. I leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes, and mercifully fell into a dark and dreamless sleep.

  8

  Beckett

  After our flight landed and I dropped Ella off at her apartment, I headed home. I wanted to bring her back with me, to keep her close when she was feeling vulnerable, but she told me she needed some time alone and space. I needed something else entirely. The monster in me had been waiting patiently, slowly drumming its fingers, biding time until I would let him out again. Darkness was falling; now it was his turn. I went up to my penthouse and got ready. I knew exactly where I was going to start, and I wasn’t going to be fucking subtle about it either. By threatening a defenseless woman, my woman, Tony Venetti pissed off the wrong man.

  I had done my research. Jeremy Finn was a Venetti enforcer turned police informant. I tracked him through the police system, logging in using stolen credentials. He was still working for the Venetti family, but clearly his loyalty had worn thin. He talked to the cops. Now he was going to talk to me.

  Hiding my mask under my motorcycle helmet, I drove through the busy streets of Vegas to the fleabag motel Jeremy called home. I hid my bike around the corner, then slipped around the back and pulled myself onto the fire escape. Up I crept, floor by floor, until I was outside Jeremy’s window. It was dark inside, no movement. I cracked the corner of the glass, broke the lock, then slid it open. When there was still no noise or movement, I pulled myself inside.

  Room by room, I checked everywhere with my gun drawn. Jeremy wasn’t here. That gave me the upper hand; he would be back soon, and I would be waiting. I took the opportunity to look through his shitty motel for anything useful. He had a few weapons, unregistered I bet, underneath his mattress. In a dresser he had a small amount of cocaine and a stack of cash.

  There was a shoebox in the closet containing papers with names, times, locations, a few phone numbers. It wasn’t hard to figure out what Jeremy was up to. As an enforcer, it was his job to track down and deal with anyone named to him by the Venetti family. Threats
, blackmail, whatever he needed to do to get the point across. None of the names meant anything to me as I flipped through the stack of pages until I found it - a page with Ella James written at the top, followed by her phone number and address. I was pretty sure I found Ella’s mystery caller.

  I heard a key turn in the lock. Good. Now I was pissed off enough and had the proof I needed to act on it. I closed the box and rushed behind the washroom door just in time. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for him, Jeremy was alone. He was wrapping up a phone call as he dropped his keys on the table. While his back was turned, I slowly opened the door with my gun drawn.

  “I tell you, it’s a done deal. I’ll have everything for you by-”

  He turned, seeing me, staring straight down the barrel of my gun.

  “Fuck,” Jeremy groaned.

  “Hang up, now.” He did it without question, holding both his hands in the air.

  “I have some questions for you, and you’re going to answer them. Lie, and you die. Cooperate, and you live. My rules are simple enough - think you can follow them?”

  “I’ll tell you whatever you want.” Jeremy was holding perfectly still. Being a snitch was nothing new to him, he knew the drill.

  “Who are you gathering intel on for the police, is it Marco Venetti or Tony?”

  He paused. I tapped my finger impatiently against the trigger. “Both,” he blurted. “But Tony is smart, his old man was old school. Bolder. Tony doesn’t leave a trail like he did, he’s been harder to officially connect to anything. He’s fucking smart.”

  “The box of names in your closet. Are they targets to threaten, to kill, or both.”

  “I don’t get orders to kill, just to intimidate.” Jeremy kept his hands in the air, my gun in his face. “Like I said, Tony isn’t old school like his dad. He’s more creative with his punishments. He doesn’t just kill someone, he tries to break them. He’s kinda sadistic like that, he enjoys the power trip of ruining the lives of people who piss him off.”

  I needed to be careful here. I couldn’t ask about Ella outright. I couldn’t let anyone know the Vegas Phantom had a special interest in her.

  “So none of the names you have in that box of yours will be killed?”

  “Not by me. I don’t do that man, I swear.”

  “That’s good to know Jeremy.”

  “Yeah. I’m not your guy, Tony has another guy for that.”

  My stomach lurched with those words and I tightened my grip on the gun.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve never met him, this new guy. Tony calls him the Shadow. Word on the street is that he’s a complete maniac, totally unhinged. He’s deadly, leaves no trace, and Tony trusts him with jobs that he tells no one else about. From what I hear, and this is all rumor, but Tony gives the Shadow a name and they’re not alive for long after. He can make it look like an accident. He can make it look like anything he wants. I told the police about this, but they have nothing as far as I know. It’s like this guy doesn’t exist.”

  Fuck. Fuck. Is Ella’s life in danger?! Is Tony planning to escalate his threats and have this Shadow person target her? I took a step closer to Jeremy, pressing the barrel of the gun to his head.

  “Who is his next target?” I shouted inches from his face. Jeremy’s eyes were wide.

  “I swear I don’t know, I don’t fucking know! Tony doesn’t tell me, it’s just between him and the Shadow.”

  There was a bang at the door.

  “Jeremy! Open up!”

  Shit. That was my cue to leave. I backed away, my gun still pointed at Jeremy, then yanked up the window as the door was busted open. I leapt out onto the fire escape, rushing down and landing hard on the pavement below. I whipped around the corner, towards my bike, but then stopped in my tracks.

  “Hold it right there.”

  In my path stood Frank Berkley, the new chief of the LVPD. What the hell was he doing out on the street? His place was in an office, but unfortunately for me, he was here. And his gun was pointed at my head.

  “You know, I’ve wondered when I would run into you,” he continued. “You’re like a goddamn yeti, or the loch ness monster. Criminals in this city talk about you like you’re the bogeyman.”

  Just like that, it was all over. I was going to be exposed before I had a chance to find out more about this Shadow person. Before I could assure myself that Ella would be safe. I glanced around me, trying to think of a plan. Trying to think of anything that could get me out of this. Could I kill him? For all I knew, he wasn’t a dirty cop. Right now it was him or me - could I kill an innocent man?

  “Don’t do anything rash,” Frank read my mind. Then, to my surprise, he carefully lowered his gun. “I just want to talk.”

  “You’re not taking me in?” I was surprised, but wary.

  He shook his head, quickly glancing around the alley to make sure we were alone.

  “I should, you know,” he sighed. “But you don’t spend as many years on the force as I have without seeing your share of scumbags getting away scot free. Officially, we need to take you down. And if you’re ever caught I won’t be able to stop it. But here we are, just you and me, and I’m not going to arrest you.”

  “What do you want in return?” I was no fool, I knew that everything had a price.

  “I want to propose a sort of partnership, Phantom. I want us to share information. I want you to help me make arrests by giving me leads, and I want you to take out the garbage that I can’t touch if we’re absolutely sure they’re guilty but lacking evidence. I want you to help me clean up this city - unofficially, of course.”

  “I can do that.” I wasn’t eager to be his puppet, but what choice did I have right now? Berkley nodded, glancing behind me down the alley.

  “We have a squad car out front, when we heard someone in there with Jeremy and he hung up on us we came right over. Go around the back, I’ll tell them you slipped past me. Did you get what you needed?”

  “I got enough.”

  “Good. Now get out of here, son. Go.”

  Frank holstered his gun, and after a split second of hesitation I ran for my bike, revved it up, and started to pull away. I glanced one last time back at Berkley before he disappeared from sight, then I sped off for home. I was long overdue for a close call with law enforcement. Luckily, it seemed Frank didn’t seem to see justice as a black and white issue. Just like me, the man wandered into the murky greys, and accepted the sometimes messy reality of keeping criminals in check.

  Still, I couldn’t help to wonder. Had I made an unlikely ally tonight? Or was this another sign that my time as the Vegas Phantom, my secrets, my darkness, the double life I lived - was it all coming to an end?

  9

  Ella

  Home. More and more, it felt like just a place where I kept my things. There was no one waiting for me behind the door, no pets, not even a scraggly houseplant that depended on me. But still - it was mine, I had a place in the world, and I was not going to be deterred from living my life. I could choose to be afraid, or I could try to be strong. I decided I would not let myself be intimidated by Tony and his threats.

  When I checked my mailbox, there was a package waiting for me. A large tan envelope, no return address, just my name written in the centre with a thick black marker. I never got mail, other than bills, so I regarded it curiously as I took it inside my apartment and opened it with a sense of excitement. In the envelope was a single typed page.

  Ella James,

  I have information about your sister, Dana James. Given the sensitive nature I would prefer to discuss this with you in person, should you be ready and interested in hearing the details. I’ll stop by Rocket Coffee every night this week, 7pm, if you want to know more. Due to the not entirely legal nature of how I gathered this information, I would prefer if you came alone.

  Mitch

  I stared at the letter in disbelief and re-read it. Where had it come from? When had they left it? Who was Mitch? Then it all
clicked and I remembered Beckett had hired a private investigator for me, that they would follow up with me directly if they found anything, and I felt an overwhelming wave of gratitude that brought tears to my eyes. They must have found something, and quickly, by using tools no one else had access to. Well, not legally, anyways. It didn’t matter. Finally, after all these years, I would be able to close this chapter of my life - one way or another.

  I glanced at the clock. I had just enough time to change and head to Rocket Coffee. I ran into my room, slipped out of my skirt and top, then switched into jeans and a t-shirt. I left the envelope on top of my dresser, I didn’t need it, then grabbed my notebook and bag before running out the door. I bumped into Reya on the landing coming up the stairs with an arm full of groceries. She stepped to the side as I whipped around the corner.

  “Whoa, slow down there! Where’s the fire?”

  “Someone has information about my sister. I’m going to meet them now,” I told her, not slowing my pace.

  “Oh my god,” Reya looked over the railing after me, I was already down another flight of steps. “I’m home all night if you need to talk, okay? Just come by.”

  “Thanks Reya!” I shouted back up the stairs, then I was out the door. Whatever I learned, after I had time to process it, I would need to talk to someone. I wondered if Beckett would be home tonight?

  The entire ride to Rocket Coffee I was tapping my foot nervously. Given the threats Tony had made against me, there was no way I would be meeting a stranger unless it was in a public place, and a popular Las Vegas coffee shop was as busy and public as you could get. I would be safe, I had no doubt. Now all I had to do was mentally prepare myself for the worst. It had to be bad news if they found something so quickly. There was no way this was going to have a happy ending. If Dana was alive, she would have stopped at nothing to contact me. She would have been in touch these past five years, she would never leave me willingly. Something must have happened to her, and once I knew, maybe I would finally be able to say goodbye.