Diamond watched as Phyr set out for the smoke house. He was more concerned for Phyr than he was for Nadya. Phyr had a nasty habit of succumbing to his urges. If that happened, well, Nadya was on her own.
“All the bodies inside?”
One of his guards nodded. Apax. He wasn’t in the Guard but part of Diamond’s program. He’d only take orders from him. Diamond noticed Freeze was out helping the men carry the bodies back inside. The male had fought well. Why he wanted to work the Quarry was a mystery to him.
“You did good out there today. You sure you want to work inside?” Diamond jerked his head in the direction of the building. The other man looked up, way up, his face hard to read as he continued to stare off into the distance.
“I know my place.”
“Your place could be with my guards.”
“I’m not a fighter.”
“That’s not what it looked like to me.”
Freeze tore through the crowd with a single focus. Kill. Even when he was cut, punched, and his face bruised, the Bionic kept moving. Maybe Freeze was more man than machine.
“Looks can be deceiving. You needed help. The odds weren’t in your favor. I helped even them out.”
“Pretty sure of yourself.”
“I’m sure about a lot of things,” Freeze answered.
“Working the Quarry one of them?”
“For now it is.”
“Fair enough. Help them take the bodies inside. I’ll call Eightball and make sure he comes in with his cleaning crew. We should be able to salvage some decent organs.”
“After Eightball, then what do you want to do with the bodies?”
“Recycle.”
Freeze looked confused at his use of the word recycle.
“You eat them?”
“Hell, no. The hair can be recycled, so can the skin. As for the meat, well, Eightball and his crew will take care of it.”
“Why don’t you bury them? Isn’t that your custom?”
“We only bury our own kind. Thys is in charge of burying our dead. Those motherfuckers were just in the way of what I wanted.”
“Yeah, what was that?”
“My payday, which has conveniently run off in two different directions. I’m not worried about it. The girls will be back.” Emerald had taken off with the young girl. Fuck, he couldn’t trust anybody.
Freeze looked down at Anna’s body, and Diamond knew what he was going to say before he even said it.
“She’s not ours. She’s a viable good like the others. Stick her in the pile.”
The battle was far from over, but Attia and her men had retreated.
Freeze stared at him for long moments before picking Adya’s mom up off the ground. Only, she wasn’t Nadya’s mother. Attia was Nadya’s mother.
Diamond was in a daze as he walked back inside the building.
He’d barely made it back up to his room when his comm device went off. It was coming across a secure line. Only his team had access to the secure line. Maybe it was Phyr or Emerald.
“This is Diamond.”
“Isn’t it just my lucky day,” purred Attia.
“Where are you?”
“Why so interested in my daughter? I already told you, you can’t have her, she’s mine.”
“She’ll be back. Phyr’s on her.”
There was a moment of silence over the phone before Attia’s voice reeled through the comm in laughter. She laughed long and hard.
“Seriously? You think so.”
“Crazy bitch.”
“That all you got?”
“Why the fuck are you calling?”
“I want my dead.”
“Too bad. You can’t have them; I’ve already claimed them as mine.”
“You sure that’s what you want?”
What the fuck was wrong with her?
“Getting your legs altered has ruined your brain.”
“Seriously, you think you’re so smart. Well, I’m a whole lot smarter, and twice as vicious. You took my daughter from me. But no matter, I’ll find her. I have my guys tailing her and Phyr. I’ll get her back.”
“She’s mine, Attia. She entered into contract with me fair and square. You can’t break that deal.”
“I may not be able to break the deal, but I can break you.”
“Fuck you, Attia.”
“No, fuck you, Lavarious, and for the record, I only have one more word to say.”
There was silence over the line. Diamond was ready to hang up, but he didn’t.
“Say what you gotta say, Attia.”
“Boom.”
The ground beneath him rumbled. The building shook. Diamond was on his floor, the twelfth floor. But he knew what was happening before he could even decide what the best course of action was. He was standing on solid ground and then he wasn’t. He was being swallowed alive by his entire building.
V
Attia watched as the Quarry caved in on itself. Sacrifices were a necessity. She’d lost a lot of good men and women today. But they were replaceable. Like all things. If Diamond made it out alive, she’d be surprised. Each one of her soldiers were outfitted with C-Tech. The fool thought he had the market cornered on the material. But he didn’t. Men. So full of themselves, but mostly full of shit. Attia hit her comm button and was immediately connected to Phyr.
“Quarry’s down. Now bring me my daughter. I held up my end of the bargain. You need to hold up yours.”
“Deal’s off. You lied.
Attia shook her head. Again, men were simple-minded creatures. They only focused on what they wanted now, not what they needed.
“My man will meet you at the rendezvous. Nadya better not be harmed.”
“I said, deal’s off.”
Attia ended the call. Phyr knew better than to go against her. She’d bring the city down to get her daughter back. She pressed her comm again, this call she was dreading. This call, she didn’t want to make just yet, but he had eyes on her. Everywhere.
“Where is she?”
“Safe for now.”
“Does she know?”
“All she knows is that I’m her mother.”
The voice on the other end of the phone grunted.
“That’s all she needs to know right now. Don’t fuck this up, Attia. Is Diamond out of the picture?”
“The Quarry’s down.”
“Good girl. Now bring me our daughter.”
The comm went dead, and Attia walked in the direction of Trio, her horse.
“Come on, girl. The game is only beginning.”