"That was fucking slick, little sis," Eddie said, giving Belle a smile.
"Prefer you didn't put yourself in harm's way," I added, "but I have to agree. You cut short what was bound to be a long and tense standoff."
"I know you guys are having a meeting, but can I get some of the foo—" Shy said, coming down the stairs, then freezing. "What the hell is going on?"
"It looks like the fuckers who took Belle took another girl. This one, only ten years old," I told her, watching as her eyes went huge. "Her brother came here tonight using Arty as a shield," I went on.
"Ten?" Shy repeated, pressing a hand to her throat.
"And just to pile it all on at once because we got some work to do now," I went on, "Belle was the one to save Arty and disarm the potential shooter. There. That's it. Start processing," I invited as her lips parted.
"Belle!" she hissed out, looking at her sister.
"Someone had to save him," Belle said, taking up the stairs, ramming her sister in the arm as she passed by.
"I...what?" Shy asked, looking at me, clearly lost.
"See if you can talk to her," I suggested. "We have to talk to this guy, see if he has more than we already do to go on. We—"
"Shy," Huck called, making her jolt. "We need you."
"For what?" I asked, moving to stand between him and Shy, a move he didn't miss, but also didn't comment on.
"He doesn't believe us about Shy and Belle. We need her to convince him."
"I don't—" I started.
"It's okay. I can do it," Shy cut me off. "It's the least I can do. I mean, Belle saved the whole day. I can at least talk to the poor guy," she said, moving past me.
"You have to let me go!" The guy was pleading as we made our way into the kitchen where Donovan and Che had the guy caged in at the table.
"Hey," Shy said, voice a little choked. "My name is Shy. What's yours?" she asked, moving forward.
"Joss," the guy supplied.
"Joss. I know how you're feeling right now—"
"Yeah, right."
"No, really. I was you a couple weeks ago. I came in here with a gun that those assholes gave me. And I shot this guy in the arm," she said, pulling me forward by my shirt, then yanking up my sleeve. "See? I mean it has healed a lot, but you can see it, right?"
Joss looked over at my arm, then Shy. "I see it, but—"
"They took my sister too. She's not as young as your sister, but she's my baby sister too," Shy told him, eyes getting a little glassy. "I'm the only person here who knows how you are feeling right now."
"Your sister..."
"She's the one who kind of ruined your plans," I told him. "We got her back. And we can get your sister back too. But we have to stop wasting time, and start working together, okay?" she asked, sitting down across from him, reaching for his hands, holding them in hers.
"You think we can really save her?"
"If there is anyone who can, it is these guys. Hopefully you can think of or remember something that I haven't been able to."
"Okay," Joss said, nodding.
"Okay. Where did they approach you?" she asked.
"I was leaving work."
"That seems to be their MO," Shy agreed. "Okay, where do you work?"
"At the Sip & Smoke."
"It's a liquor store and smoke shop in Miami," Teddy supplied, the only one of us who still lived and frequented that area since we'd gotten our new clubhouse.
"Get Arty in here," Huck demanded.
"Your store would have cameras, right? Since you sell liquor," Shy asked.
"Yes."
"Arty, now!" Huck barked, likely thinking about his kids, about Che's kids, about how they would feel if this was one of their kids who was being held captive. Every minute counted.
"What do you remember about what they said?" Shy asked.
"It was just the one guy," Joss said, shaking his head. "There's not much to note about him."
"Yeah, I know," Shy agreed. "Did he say anything?"
"Just what I had to do, or my sister would be killed."
Just killed.
That was a good sign, wasn't it? Because they'd told Shy that they would rape and torture her sister first.
"Did he give you anything?"
"He showed me a picture, but he didn't give it to me."
"Okay. I know your sister was in the picture, but can you think of anything else that might have been in the background?"
"Arty, thank fuck. Sip & Smoke cameras," Huck demanded as Arty put his messenger bag on the counter, pulling out his laptop, already slipping out of the real world, and into his head.
"On it," he agreed. "When?"
We all looked back at Joss.
"Last night. Just after ten. And, no. The background was black in the picture. There was hardly enough light to see Betty."
"Betty. That's a pretty name. Do you have a picture of Betty?" she asked.
"I, ah, yeah," Joss agreed, going into his pocket for his phone, swiping through to find one, and turning to show us a pretty strawberry blonde with eyes much like his and a smattering of freckles over her nose and cheeks.
"Do you have any idea where your sister was when she was taken?"
"Home," Joss said.
"Did your mom or dad see anything? Anyone?"
To that, Joss snorted. "If either of them were even around, they'd have been too busy shooting up or withdrawing to notice anything or anyone. They haven't even realized she's gone," he added, voice rough. "I'm all she has. She's counting on me."
"I know. I know she is," Shy said, reaching for his hand again, squeezing it tightly. "But you're not all she has now. She has all of us. Do you know who the Henchmen are?" she asked, waving toward us.
"Not really."
"They're arms dealers. They do this kind of thing for a living. Dangerous stuff like this," she clarified since, clearly, we weren't in the business of saving kidnapping victims. "You have a lot of help now. And that guy," she said, stopping short of adding something to the effect of That you used as a human shield, "he is a really good hacker. So he is looking up your work, and is going to try to find footage of these guys. Which will give us a lot more to go on. Once we get that, they are going to go there and get Betty back, okay?"
"Okay," Joss said, reaching up to rub at his eyes with the palms of his hands.
Shy looked over at me, giving me a shrug.
You did good, I mouthed to her, reaching out to give her shoulder a squeeze.
"I'm sorry, man," Joss said, looking over at Arty. "Really, I am," he added when Arty just kept typing away at his laptop.
"Don't take it personally," Huck said. "He gets lost in his job. He doesn't even know you're still here."
"I feel so useless," Joss admitted.
"I know that feeling," Shy commiserated. "But it is better to leave it in their hands. I mean, I was just a nail tech. And you're just a clerk. We have no idea what we are doing."