Page 160 of Strays
Another pause.
Then the voice shifts, more annoyed. “It’s on you, Miles. I’ll make sure Gussy knows you requested the nyra personally. And I want my share in my account tonight.”
“The client will wait two hours maximum,” Aranya presses.
“She’ll be there,” the man answers, and the line goes dead.
Shane steps out of the office without a word. We watch him through the tinted glass as he crosses to the far wall of the warehouse. He rifles through a utility shelf, kicks open a steel cabinet, and starts digging inside.
I pull out my phone and start typing.
Need help. We have Aranya. Jo’s being brought here. Two hours. Need quiet perimeter.
I attach the warehouse location and hit send.
Five seconds later, the screen lights up. Josh Solomon’s reply:On our way.
I pocket the phone. Now, all we can do is wait. But I’ll put that time to good use.
Shane comes back with zip ties looped around one wrist, duct tape in the other. He tosses them on the desk.
Jay kicks the chair toward the center of the room with Aranya still in it. He jolts from the impact, clutching his ruined hand to his chest. Shane zip-ties his ankles to the chair legs, tight enough to bite. Jay grabs both his wrists and ties them both to the chair arms, Aranya howling like a wounded dog when Jay forces his broken hand down.
I drag another chair across the floor and place it in front of Aranya. Then I sit.
“Now,” I say. “Our plan is to wait and trade your life for Jo’s.”
It’s a lie. I’ll use him, sure. If things go sideways and we need a bargaining chip, or a shield, or a distraction, I’ll put him in play. But the only way he’s leaving this warehouse is in handcuffs or dead.
He’s still panting from the pain in his hand, skin damp with sweat.
I lean forward. “But we don’t need all of you for that. So I’ve got no problem delivering you with a few missing pieces.”
“Maybe an eye,” I offer. “You’ve got two. I’m sure you can spare one.”
I tilt my head slightly. “Maybe your cock. I don’t think a man who does what you do to women should ever have the chance to be inside one.”
He flinches.
“So if you want to stay a whole man, you’d better start sweetening the deal. You can talk,” I say, voice flat. “Or I can start tearing off whatever part I don’t think you deserve.”
Shane steps up behind me. His voice is like ice. “Why did you take Jo?”
Aranya blinks, then swallows. “Nyras are profitable,” he says. “The price is high. But they’re hard to get. Too protected. You were going to be arrested, so—”
So she’d be vulnerable. Alone.
We thought they took her to break us, to make us back off once convicting us failed, but we were wrong. They would’ve taken her either way. They tried to bury us in court, yeah, but taking Jo wasn’t just about stopping us; it was about money too.
“How long ago did you plan it?” I ask.
Aranya shifts. He tries to roll his shoulders but can’t with Jay’s hand pressing down. “A couple of weeks. Since you started calling the U.S. Attorney. We knew we’d have to… handle the trial.”
So they had someone inside listening. How else would they know we were even making those calls?
“But we won the case,” Jay says, voice sharp. “We weren’t arrested.”
“The plan was already in motion,” Aranya mutters. His eyes flick to mine, then away. “The offer was too high to walk away from.”
