King for a Day (The King Trilogy #2)(7)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

“I think,” I mumbled, “that King never does anything without a reason. But I know getting engaged isn’t on his list of to-dos.”

Mack lifted his brows.

“Come on,” I chided. “We’re talking about King. Do you honestly think he’s the type to give a girl an engagement ring? Especially me?” Not that I had a clue as to why he’d give me a ring at all. But with King, I suspected there was an ulterior motive. One that would be revealed when King was damn good and ready.

Mack gave me a strange look and then glanced at his watch. “We have twenty-three hours.”

“Did you just sidestep my question?” I felt like he was hiding something from me. Then again, I felt that way about everyone in King’s world.

“That wasn’t a sidestep; that was me remembering we’re screwed.”

I shot him a look. “Nice.” I didn’t need to hear words of defeat in this moment. What I needed was a way out. “Did King keep a list of his deals or anything?”

Mack shook his head. “He always called with instructions—pick up, drop off, go see so-and-so. I never saw a list.”

“Talia said that there were specific deals King had to fulfill or he’d forfeit his assets. Does that mean other members reported him?”

“Probably, but only after being forced into it by Vaughn.”

“Can we find out who?” I asked.

Mack scratched his chin again. “Maybe. But what are you implying?”

“That we are going to fulfill King’s obligations?” I said sheepishly.

“No.”

“Do you see any other option?” It wasn’t as if there was anything in his warehouse that would help us find King, which once again left me wondering why King wanted me to find the place. If that had been his intent.

“Mia, you have no idea of what King really does. It’s not like the man is swapping recipes. These are serious people, sick people, ruthless people who would slit your throat for looking at them the wrong way. And the shit King does for them is sometimes,” he paused, “you don’t want to know.”

How bad could it be? “Oh no. Does King…traffic women, too?”

“No.” Mack looked offended. “And before you ask, anything having to do with minors is off limits. The Club members, thankfully, consider it unsportsmanlike to go after such easy acquisitions.” It was a relief, actually. I wasn’t sure how low they went. “And anyone who is ‘acquired’ or part of a deal has to come willingly; there must be an offer and an acceptance.”

The only sad part was that the non-member generally had no clue what they were getting into.

“Is that another rule?” I asked.

“More like an unspoken policy. They won’t lower themselves to doing things that are perceived as stealing; it degrades the tradition of 10 Club.”

Degrades? That was funny, given that these people couldn’t possibly get much lower. No, they weren’t pedophiles, but their sanction of murder, torture of women, and enslavement of people practically landed them in the same boat.

Okay. So what else? What could King be up to that I couldn’t handle? “What’s the worst thing you’ve seen King do?”

Mack stared at me. I could tell he was debating whether to answer. “He’s killed people.”

“That I already knew.” I’d basically seen King kill two guys who’d threatened us. They were Vaughn’s.

“Did you see the heads?” he asked.

I nodded.

“King put them in those jars.” Mack swallowed. “They’re still alive.”

My eyes popped out of my head. “Jesus. You can’t be serious.”

“That’s what I’m talking about, Mia. King isn’t just trading things; he sells his services. Those men did something to piss someone off. That someone hired King to bring back their heads. He did.”

“In f**king jars? Still alive? How’s that even possible?”

Mack shrugged. “I gave up asking ‘how’ a long, long time ago. As for the why, he’d said those two men did something that required a few decades of suffering. Whoever hired him didn’t want the heads lying around, so they asked King to hold on to them.”

Holy Christ. I knew that King was powerful. And dark. But this was pretty bad. Despite all that, however, what choice did we have but to attempt to fulfill King’s obligations? If we came across something we weren’t able to do, then that was that. But we had to try.

“We need to get the list,” I said. “Don’t you know anyone that owes you a favor?”

Mack ran his hands through his hair, clearly mulling over the situation. “We can’t let anyone know King is AWOL. Otherwise, the members won’t accept the debts as being paid by King. They’ll see it as cheating. Our cheating.”

Ridiculous! Why would it matter who paid the debt, just as long as it was paid? These people were so frigging bizarre.

“And we’ll need to find him before anyone realizes the truth,” Mack added.

Well, likely Vaughn had him, though we weren’t one hundred percent sure. But if we were right, it wasn’t like Vaughn would just stick King in the guest bedroom at his L.A. mansion.

I sighed, thinking it over. “I’m going to the hospital to talk to Justin.” My mother was still under observation after her stroke, and we’d all been taking turns staying with her; I might find my brother there now. Maybe he knew something but was too afraid to say.

“Come straight here when you’re done,” Mack said. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Where are you going?”

“To see a friend.”

“Friend got a name?” I asked.

“Yes. But they’re a Club member, and if they decide to help us, they won’t want anyone to know.”

Okay…I had no choice but to trust he knew what he was doing.

It then struck me as odd. A couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have dared trust Mack—not this much, anyway. But now he felt like my savior. I’d trust him with my life.

“Please be careful,” I said. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”

“Awww. Isn’t that sweet.” Mack turned to leave.

“By the way, what happened to Arno?” Arno was King’s chauffeur, who always appeared mysteriously driving a black SUV. It didn’t matter which country. It was unsettling.