Black On Black (Quentin Black Mystery #3) by JC Andrijeski Read Free Book Online Page A

and ultimately a good sign I was working through things.
    Personally, I wasn’t so sure.
    I couldn’t tell Roger that though, or anyone else really...   including the two people sitting across from me now.
    I’d asked them to meet me down here, at a small, family-owned Italian restaurant across the street from the office building on California Street. So far, it looked like I was completely wasting my time.
    “You’ve been talking to him more than us, doc.” Dex’s voice remained studiously casual, but I felt him watching me warily with his coffee-colored eyes. “I’m not sure what you expect us to do about it. If you want him to come home, tell him to come home.”
    I bit my lip, looking between the two of them.
    “Do you know who he’s working for right now?” I said.
    Silence. I sat back in my chair, forcing my expression still.
    “Do you?” I said.
    “No, doc,” Dex sighed. “And frankly, it’s none of our––”
    “––He’s working for Mr. Lucky.”
    Ignoring Dex’s annoyed scowl, I looked between them, noting recognition even as I used my psychic ability to read them to confirm the extent of it.
    “He got bullied into a minimum six month contract with him,” I added. “...doing God knows what. So...   you understand my concern, right? He’s working for a mafia lord based out of Russia. A human and drug trafficker who’s rumored to cut his opponents into pieces and feed them to his dogs when they piss him off. I’ve been reading about him...   this ‘Mr. Lucky.’ In your very own files. They say he keeps children as pets. That he has women chained to his dining room floor to give blowjobs to the guests at dinner parties...”
    Seeing Kiko in particular wince and grimace, glancing around us in the restaurant, I glared between the two of them, ignoring her unspoken request to keep my voice down.
    “If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Lucky is the human trafficker operating out of Europe these days. Maybe in the whole world. You really think Black would work for him willingly?”
    Could that be true? I heard Kiko think. Why the hell would Black tell her that, even if it was true? Adjusting her butt on the seat, she glanced around the restaurant again nervously. Black wouldn’t work for that psychopath...   would he?
    I felt her doubt, even as she wondered at possible angles.
    Dex’s thoughts made it more swiftly to his lips.
    “No way Black would work for that piece of shit, doc,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t know where you got that information, but it’s wrong. And yes, I know who ‘Mr. Lucky’ is. You don’t know Black at all if you think Black would work for him...   for any reason.”
    “You’re not listening to me,” I said coldly.
    “I’m listening just fine––”
    “No,” I cut in. “...You’re not. I just said he was doing it under duress. Do you get what under fucking duress means? It means he’s not doing it of his own volition.”
    I saw Dex’s jaw harden, enough to push out the muscles in his face.
    He glanced at Kiko, and again I didn’t need to read him to pick up his thoughts.
    I bit my lip, controlling my anger with an effort.
    “...Or were you going to give me another condescending speech about how that could never happen? Even given what I just told you about who’s putting pressure on him?”
    “How could you possibly know that, doc?” Dex said, holding up his hands. “How? You wanna enlighten us on your source?”
    “Black admitted it to me,” I snapped. “He fucking admitted he’s working for him. He cut a deal with him in Bangkok...   not only for me, but for his friend Lawless, too. And for those kids he’s been protecting through his organization. He thinks it’s the only way to keep us alive.”
    Kiko held up a hand, looking between me and Dex.
    “You need to talk about this quieter, doc,” she said, her voice warning.
    She looked worried now as she stared at me, though.
    She really believes that, I heard her think. She