Page 45 of Cutter's Hope

“Ruth…” Hope intoned, the warning not to play with the man clear in her tone. The lawyer laughed.

“Now what kind of a name is Ruth for a man?” he asked. Ruth’s face collapsed into a scowl.

“Oh, now Iknowyou ain’t laughing at my name… Saint.”

Saint closed the office door and stood in front of it, crossing his arms. Well shit. I exchanged a look with Radar and Nothing and they gave me barely perceptible nods before fixing their eyes on Hope.

“You bailed out a Faith Dobbins earlier today from the Plaquemines’ Sherriff’s office,” she said and the Lawyer whipped his attention to her impassive face.

“Now where did you hear a thing like that?” he asked, a cocky grin spreading across his face. He crossed his arms, in his too expensive shirt that matched the gray too-expensive suit jacket hanging off the back of his chair. His tie tack glittered real gold in the diffuse light from the banker’s lamp on his desk and Hope huffed a slight laugh. She perched on the edge of his desk and his vision trailed up her long legs. I glanced around and sure enough, everyone was wearing their gloves. My girl was smart.

She gave the lawyer an imperious look, “Doesn’t matter how I know, just matters that I do… at least for you. My sources tell me you and her boyfriend bailed her out. I want his name, and I want an address where I can find them and you’re going to give them to me.”

The lawyer laughed and it was a big mistake because as bulky as Ruth was, he moved fuckin’ fast. He was across the expensive looking carpet, lunged past Hope and had the lawyer slammed face down over his own desk.

“Want to know how I got my name motherfucker?” Ruth asked with a sick grin, “It’s short for somethin’, wanna guess what that it?” The lawyer bleated in fear as Ruth held him pinned and flattened his hand against the mahogany desk.

“Hey Darlin’, you wanna hand me that letter opener?” he asked Hope. She paled slightly, a little sweat dewing her upper lip, but she had no other tell that she was uncomfortable. Her face as impassive as they got. She plucked the letter opener from the fancy holder where it rested with her leather clad fingers and handed it to Ruth by the blade, hilt first. He took it from her and smiled a rictus grin, giving her a nod of appreciation.

“Thank you kindly, now, bottom feeder – how about you tell the lady here what she wants to know? You do that, I’m only gonna hurt yah, I might not kill yah.”

Baines started babbling, “I can’t! You don’t know what they’ll do to me!”

“You ain’t gotta be afraid of what theycoulddo, you gotta be afraid of what Iwilldo,” Ruth snarled and started to drive the point of the letter opener into the back of the lawyer’s hand. Hope, watched, mouth slightly parted her dark eyes fixed on the bead of blood welling around the gold letter opener’s sharp tip.

“Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit, oh shit! You’re crazy! You’re fucking crazy!” The lawyer was afraid now. Ruth gave a nasty little smile.

“No, I’m fucking Ruthless,” he said and drove the letter opener clean through the lawyer’s hand. The man howled like a wounded animal and I almost felt sorry for the prick… who was I kidding? I watched the whole thing going down in front of me and the only thing I felt was worried for Hope, but she was taking this bit of ugly into her soul like a pro. Her soldier showing.

Hope slapped her hand down on the desk beside the lawyer’s face, the sound reverberating through the office. The lawyer shut up, and whimpered, he was sweating and if I had to bet, his hand probably hurt like a bitch, but if he gave up what we needed, he might yet still be able to use it.

“Faith Dobbins…” Hope repeated imperiously.

“Okay! Okay!” The lawyer screamed, frantic, “She’s one of Ivan’s girls! Right? Right!?”

“Ivan who?”

“Vassili!” the man wailed, “You really don’t know who you’re fucking with, you don’t have a clue!”

Hope pulled out her Ruger, checked the chambers and snapped it back into place, she put the gun against the lawyer’s head and her expression even scared me.

“No, you have no idea who you’re dealing with, Princess. I want an address, I want to know where they’re keeping Faith. Do you understand me, Walter?”

The man’s breath sawed in and out of his lungs, he was going to hyperventilate and he wasn’t telling Hope what she wanted to hear. She shot me a wink and cocked the hammer back on the gun and Walter spilled his guts.

“Okay! Okay! I don’t know where they keep the girls! I know where they score their drugs! The heroin! They pump the bitches full of it to keep them compliant! Dealer by the name of Gavrikov! The shit comes in over at the Port. The big one over on the East Bank, it comes in on the shipping containers. Gavrikov has a guy, goes and gets it. Drops it at a titty bar every Thursday night. A place in the Quarter, a place called Objections, that’s all I know! That’s all I know!”

Nothing was taking notes and nodded to Hope that he’d gotten everything. Hope nodded and her eyes met mine. They were raw, pain filled and I nodded slowly. I understood what hearing this bastard’s spew was costing her. She tucked her Ruger away and the lawyer breathed out.

“Oh thank God!”

“No God here, Buddy; no God here… Get you gone Darlin’, you and your boys. We’ll meet up back at ground zero. You feel me?” Ruthless said and I knew exactly what he had planned. Hope faltered at first, uncertain, but then she stared down at the lawyer and her expression crystallized and hardened.

“Make it hurt and make it slow,” she intoned and turned, striding past Saint who shot her a little salute, I was right on her heels, Radar and Nothing backing me up. The lawyer started screaming as we crashed through the door and into the stairwell. The door didn’t shut out the screams fast enough and we slid out the lobby and onto the street, making our way to the alley, the terror and pain echoing inside our skulls. Each of us holding an expression of grim determination as we walked down the block, not one of us expressing any sorry for what Ruth and Saint might be putting that cocksucker through.

I met Hope’s eyes as we got on our bikes, La Croix didn’t comment except to say, “See y’all back at the club.”

We hit the road, Hope riding even with me. We pulled up two by two to a stoplight and she reached out her hand. I took it, and we sat through the light, and just held hands. She needed the grounding and I could do that for her. I saw Nothing and Radar exchange a look in my side view mirror. Neither of them commented but their expressions were resigned. We lived this life. Had been living it for some time now. Our hands had been dirtied and washed clean so many times before, it wasn’t even funny.

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