CHAPTER 44

Bobby was, as Joey had promised, in his usual place, pretending very hard to be losing at a hand of poker. The men around him were different from the last time I'd visited, but still had the same air of desperation and despair.

"Hey Bobby," I didn't kick the door in this time—I didn't have the money to spare—but I did let myself in, slapping the door in the face of the body guard standing at the entrance. He wasn't much of a guard, obviously, but hell, Bobby was moving up in the world. Or, I thought looking at a few of his opponents, maybe he'd pissed someone off and was taking precautions.

Bobby frowned and squinted at me. There was a half finished line in front of him, so it was possible he didn't recognize me right off.

"Raven?" he blurted after a moment. "I thought I told you not to come around anymore."

I smiled at Bobby, and his friends.

"Aww, don't be like that Bobs," I raised both hands to show that I was harmless, "just looking to have a nice chat, you know, all friendly like."

Bobby must have been feeling brave because he set his cards down in front of him.

"You aren't my friend, Raven, what have you ever done for me?"

So far the other men in the room hadn't reached for their weapons, but they were watching me will all the trust of a rat cornered by a viper.

I grinned, my eyes narrowed on him.

"I think it's more of a question of what I haven't done...Say, do you still use that deck with the seven mermaids on the front?"

A panicked looked came across Bobby's face. Some of the men turned their cards over. The fronts had mermaids, but not seven of them, fortunately for Bobby.

"You know the one, special gift, from the holidays three years ago?"

I was making a reference to the first and last time I had a game of poker with Bobby. I'd realized he was cheating, the deck was marked with subtle signs. Some tears, some scents and a few dirt stains that no one would notice if they didn't have the hyper senses of my wolf. Basically he knew all the cards in play at all times. I'd threatened his life, got my money back, and that was that.

"She's talking about a gag gift," Bobby laughed at the others nervously, "real prankster this one. Yeah, I guess we do have a bit of history, let's discuss it in my office," he stood. "I guess I fold this round fella's, he put his hand on the table, but I saw the signal he gave the body guard. My guess was this deck was just as rigged as the other and the body guard was going to cause enough of a distraction none of the now suspicious players would figure it out.

"You have an office?" I asked as we pushed back into the main room of Sally's.

"Of course not, but we cant go through the back, Simon has his men back there and now that you've set them off..." he turned angry little eyes back toward me, "why the hell'd you have to do that anyway? What the fuck do I have to do to get you off my case?"

"I need a ride," I told him. We'd crossed the main floor and were nearly out the door, but he stopped in his tracks and looked at me.

"You want my fucking car?"

I shrugged. I was out of options and the forty cash I had in my pocket wasn't nearly enough to catch a cab all the way to Newcomb.

"I need to get somewhere. Trust me I wouldn't ask if it wasn't urgent." Plus, what Bobby had said the last time we met was true. With Rob gone his ties to the organization were weakened, if not severed. Which meant he wasn't likely to go running to Anthony the second I left.

We were blocking the door now and some rough looking types were snarling at us from just outside.

"It's my car Raven, not fifty bucks. That's my baby! I'm not going to let you take it and do god knows what with it. You'll probably scratch the paint."

The crowd finally broke through, shoving both me and Bobby around like leaves caught in the eddie of a rapid stream, when we finally broke through the doors and into the street Bobby was making a break for it toward a darkened parking lot down the street.

Dammit. I was hoping not to have to do this.

"I'll owe you a favor," I called.

Bobby stopped so fast it was nearly comical. He whipped around, suspicion and sudden calculation on his face.

"No killing, nothing heavy illegal."

"You can't put conditions on a favor," he pointed at me.

"I can, and I will. I'm not going to jail for you Bobby. Give me something I'm good at, getting in somewhere no one else can, or something and it's granted."

He thought for a long time, and as much as I wanted to push him, the image of Darius hung on a pole like so much meat screaming at me from the back of my mind, I waited.

"Fine," he said at last, "it's a deal."

He strode the rest of the way to the parking lot and to the 1971 oldmobile waiting in the back corner. Oddly enough this parking lot was known for its violence and so remained mostly empty, a quick payoff to the local streetgang ensured your vehicle was as safe as it could be anywhere in downtown Boston. He unlocked the vehicle and slid into the driver's seat.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, standing outside the driver's door like an idiot.

"Driving, if you think I'm leaving you alone with my baby you're even more insane than I thought."

"Bobby..."

"You made conditions, so do I. This car goes nowhere without me. Now, you want the ride or not?"

I took the time to run a hand over my face, trying desperately to erase the stress I knew was digging deep crevasses beneath my eyes.

I went around the other side of the car and let myself in.

"I'll take the ride."