The Heart of the Jungle, стр. 24
Cross nodded and took a deep breath. "I don't want to alarm you, but if Hopkins is involved, there's another possibility you should prepare yourself for. She's brokered baby deals before, but she's done other things too... worse things. Not all of her clients get their kicks from slapping some poor hooker around. Some of them---"
Jason sucked in his breath and held up his hand, imploring Cross to be silent. He hadn't considered the possibility that Hopkins had kept Brianna for herself as a plaything for her sick clientele. "I think I've heard enough."
Cross's mouth clamped shut, and the glass tumbler rattled against the table in time with his trembling hand. "I pray to God that's not what happened," he said in a weak voice. "Not even eternal damnation is good enough punishment for that."
"What's he talking about?" Chris asked.
Jason shook his head in reply. It was best not to give voice to what Cross was insinuating. Better if they didn't even consider it. It would most certainly be too much for Chris to take.
"I think Chris and I have taken enough of your time," Jason said, coming to his feet, anxious to get away. "Hopkins, you said her name was?"
"She has a penthouse on Paradise over her nightclub. I don't know how the hell you plan on getting close to her, but her bookie is named Gunther, and he's usually hanging around the bar. He's got a jagged scar on his face, on the left side."
Chris broke in. "Somebody had better explain this to me. I'm not a complete idiot. There's something you're not telling me."
Cross stood and fixed Chris with a soft, compassionate stare. "I'm sorry this had to happen to you. I really hope your daughter is okay."
Chris glared. "You know this woman. What's your opinion?"
"I never said I know that monster," Cross protested. "I know of her, that's all."
Jason reached his hand across the table and touched Chris reassuringly. "Cross only deals in information, Chris. He just keeps facts. He's not guilty."
"Fine. But you don't just let this kind of stuff go. If this woman is as evil as you say she is and you didn't do anything to try to stop her, in my book that's guilty enough."
Time to go. Jason stood abruptly. Chris was losing his cool.
Jeffrey Cross's mouth gaped open. His eyes widened, and his face paled visibly.
Jason drug Chris out of his seat and herded him toward the door.
They'd gotten what they had come for, and things were heading rapidly south. Chris's last comment had been spoken loudly enough that the few patrons scattered about their vicinity started to cast curious glances in their direction.
"I want to know what you think she did with my daughter," Chris said, jerking himself out of Jason's steel grip.
"Come on," Jason said, reestablishing his hold on Chris's arm.
"And you"---Chris jerked away and glared---"stop grabbing me.
This is my child we're talking about here. I want answers, goddamn it."
"Now is not the time."
Chris broke away and marched up to Cross. He poked a finger sharply into the man's chest. "What the hell do you think she did with my daughter?" He was riding the edge of hysteria. He was trembling, his face awash in the sanguine tones of unrestrained rage.
Michael wasn't there, Brunner wasn't there, the Hopkins woman wasn't there, but Jason and Cross were. They served as proxies for the real players, living people he could shower with blame and recrimination.
Jason knew he viewed this as his moment of reckoning. Someone was going to pay. Recognizing the danger, he moved to intervene.
"Listen to me," Jason shouted, grabbing Chris's arm again and pulling him around. He stared directly into his eyes. "Nobody knows. We don't even know she was involved. Pull it together."
Cross was smiling apologetically to his patrons, anxious to get Chris and Jason out the door. He had the frantic look of a gazelle that had been tagged for dinner by a pride of savannah lions.
Chris stared daggers at Cross around the blocking bulk of Jason's body. "If this woman has harmed my daughter in any way, I'll hold you to account. You knew all about the horrible things she's done, and you did nothing. You could have stopped her." Jason pulled him forcefully toward the exit as the tirade continued. "Think about my daughter when you close your eyes at night, damn you. Think about her!"
Chris was still shouting as the door closed behind them, and they came to a stop on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. When Jason was sure Chris had regained enough composure not to rush back in and continue the harassment, he loosened his grip. "That could have had a happier ending," he scolded.
Chris wrenched fully out of Jason's grasp and glared.
"It's a shitty thing that's happened to you, but you have to realize that blaming Cross isn't going to accomplish anything. Save it for Brunner, and for Michael."
Chris took several deep breaths. Now that his passion had cooled, he had the good grace to blush in shame. "You're right." He shook his head as though trying to clear it after a hard blow. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost it like that."
Jason smiled softly in understanding. "Cross is a jerk. He's probably got it coming." He motioned toward the end of the pier.
"C'mon, let's get out of here."
With one last glance toward the restaurant, Chris followed.
"WATSON here," the giant, swarthy man said into his cell phone.
"We've got a problem."
He stood in the afternoon shadow of the restaurant, leaning casually against an oiled post, watching as Chris and Jason walked away.
"Elaborate" was the reply.
"I've been following your birdie, and he's just flown out of Lafferty's on the pier."
There was a moment of silence.
"Continue." The tone was carefully neutral. He'd never met his employer face