Page 35 of Caged

Shit.

Jax is cheering him on from the audience with a sloshing drink in his hand.

I grab him by the back of the shirt and tug him close. “What the fuck is he doing?”

Jax grins. “Badly singing.”

“He was supposed to not draw attention.” My knuckles pop as I squeeze my fists.

“I’m sure he has a plan.” Jax flicks the metal bar on his tongue between his lips and turns back to the buffoon on the stage.

When the music ends, there’s a wild cheer that rips through the gathered people.

They have to be joking.

“Thank you, thank you. Now, does anyone know Kirill?” Alexei waves his copy of the photograph high enough that most of the crowd can see.

No.

A murmur drifts through, and a large guy pushes closer to him. “Who wants to know?”

Alexei takes a half step back and lets the microphone swing out and hits the questioner across the top of the head. “You are not him.”

Damn it.

The man stumbles back, rubbing his beefy hand across his hair. “You motherfucker! I’m gonna kill you for that!” He lunges forward and drops his chest, aiming for Alexei’s legs.

I start to rush in, but Jax throws his hand on my bicep. “Nah, I want to see what he does. We can save him before he gets crushed.”

He has a point.

“Maybe he needs a little consequence for his choices.” I stop and cross my arms.

Let’s see what the ass does.

Alexei lets the loop of the cord drop lower, and nimbly sidesteps the barreling man, wrapping the line around the neck of his assailant.

The next song comes one as Alexei doubles the snare, cinching it tightly as the man’s face grows red.

“There’s a time—” Alexei sings into the mic where it’s lodged against the man’s ear. “—a time to tell the clue.”

Those aren’t the words to that music at all. And they’re terrible.

“Now where is Kirill, before I kill you?” he screeches over the very different rhythm.

I feel a tug at my elbow.

It’s the fire-haired waitress.

“Okay, I see you aren’t cops.” She’s added a wad of gum into her cheek at some point. “That guy you’re looking for, he was here, met with a younger dude, maybe mid twenties in racing leathers. They talked for like, an hour. Maybe less.” Her pierced nose wrinkles. “Your guy was passing pictures that looked like it pissed off the other one. That’s all I know.” Her palm snakes down and squeezes my ass cheek. “Firm. I knew it would be.”

Jax laughs as she walks away. “You could get lucky.” His eyebrows bob as we push closer to Alexei.

“Got what we needed.” I grab Alexei by the front of his shirt and hoist him off of the stage.

He drops the suffocating man in a heap, who claws at his throat and takes a ragged breath.

“See? I knew it would work.” Alexei struts ahead of us, his shoulders back and head high.