Page 1 of A Corruption Dark & Deadly

Chapter 1

Annie Brennan glancedsideways at her older brother as he drove past their usual stop – Mr. Bowman’s burgers, a small diner just outside of the bustling city of Seattle. It was close to a more rural part of the city, with wilderness surrounding the wooden diner, but it was only a mile south of the city Annie didn’t particularly like visiting. She had gone to college in Seattle, and while she had had enough string of ex-boyfriends that could make her resent being there, she just didn’t like the busyness that filled the air whenever she was there.

“Bruce,” she drawled slowly. “Where are we going?”

Bruce glanced at his sister and gave her a crooked smile – his patented Don’t worry about anything; trust me smile that made Annie trust him even less – and turned his attention back to the road.

“I just have to see this guy about something,” he told her, his tone nonchalant as he continued into the city. “No big deal. You can stay in the car.”

A shiver slid down Annie’s back as she leaned back in her chair and rested her forehead against the cool window. Annie preferred to drive her own car – it was a 1986 Dodge Volt that she bought from her grandfather for five hundred dollars and fixed up herself – but during their weekly get-togethers, Bruce liked to drive and she didn’t want to take that away from him. They lived on opposite sides of the city, anyway – he lived in the center of it all, she lived by herself in their parents’ place, surrounded by the woods. It wasn’t the suburbs, exactly, but she did have neighbors and they did know her name.

The problem wasn’t hanging out in the car in Seattle. She could lock the doors and had her own set of keys in her hand to use as a weapon if someone tried to break in – highly unlikely with her being in the car. It was she didn’t particularly care for Bruce’s friends. A lot of them were shady people who had some sort of run-in with the law, whether they were johns, petty thieves, or sexually deviant. She didn’t like being around them or in the slums where they liked to hang out. Also, when they looked at her, their stares lingered a little too long and always in the wrong places – not that she wore clothing that exposed her skin much anyway. Seattle rained a lot, and if it wasn’t raining, it was overcast and cold. The girls who were able to pull off shorts in sixty-degree weather didn’t have her judgment, either, they had her respect.

“I know, I know,” he said quickly. “But it shouldn’t take that long. It’s… it’s important. I’m meeting with Jericho today.”

Annie’s eyebrows pushed up. Jericho? As much as she avoided Bruce’s friends – even going so far as not remembering their names and writing them off as people she would never see again – she couldn’t escape the notoriety held by the nightclub owner. Rumors were rampant that he was head of some mutt mafia gang, where the bond wasn’t in the blood but in the anti-family bond that could be stronger than actual family.

Annie didn’t pay much attention to the news. Every now and then, someone on her Facebook feed would post an article about a gang shooting or a kidnapping that might catch her eye, but for the most part, she tried to avoid that sort of thing. Jericho, however, was impossible to avoid. He was extremely good looking in a pretty boy sort of way but with an underlying darkness that made you feel uneasy, just looking at his picture in the paper. He owned a string of nightclubs throughout Seattle and was one of the wealthiest men in the city. He wasn’t married, and as far as anyone knew, did not have any children. He was dangerous, Annie knew, but that didn’t stop the majority of Seattle’s female population from throwing themselves at him. In fact, one fifteen-year old girl claimed they had sex together – which was great for Seattle PD since they were looking for any reason to take him in – but it was later proven without a doubt that that was a lie.

“I don’t do children,” was his statement, and that was all he said on the matter.

“How do you have a personal meeting with Jericho?” Annie asked suspiciously, picking her head up off the windshield to cut her brother a suspicious look. “You barely bartend.”

“Hey,” Bruce said, shooting his sister a wounded look. “I’m twenty-six and still finding myself, okay?”

“You’re not answering the question,” Annie pointed out.

“What, you don’t think your big brother has it in him to score a meeting with one of the country’s biggest businessmen?” Bruce asked. “I’m offended at how little faith you have in me, dear sister. Extremely offended.”

Annie rolled her eyes.

“You’re a charmer, Bruce,” she told him. “But that charm isn’t going to save your ass if you royally screw up. I just wanted to make sure you don’t want me to have 9-1-1 typed in my iPhone just in case things get… dicey.”

“Did you just say dicey?” Bruce asked, furrowing his brow. “What are we in, a nineties cop drama?”

“Bruce, I’m being serious,” Annie told him. “And you still haven’t answered my question. What are you discussing with someone like Jericho? You have to be careful with people like him, Bruce. The guy’s a criminal.”

Bruce rolled his eyes. “Alleged criminal,” he pointed out. “He hasn’t even been arrested.”

“The guy is richer than God and the Seattle PD isn’t as law-abiding as we believe,” she threw back. “You don’t think he can bribe his way out of handcuffs?”

“He’s actually-“

“If you say nice guy, I’m going to hit you,” Annie threatened. “I know I’m two years younger than you, but we both know I fight better than you.”

Bruce pressed his lips together and Annie grinned triumphantly. She knew she was right and she was glad he had the good sense to know it, too. The scenery turned from green to steel as woods and trees transformed into buildings and businesses. It was a unique setting, Annie had to admit, that a city was surrounded by woods but she still didn’t like the sleek, populated environment. The sky was overcast as usual, the dark grey making the black sky seem more ominous and threatening. She couldn’t even make out the moon or the stars.

“How long is this going to take, Bruce?” she asked. She didn’t like to whine but she couldn’t help the question from coming out of her mouth. Her stomach was rumbling and she wanted food like five minutes ago.

“Why?” he asked, glancing at her sideways. “You hungry?”

At least he knew her well enough to understand.

“Also because I don’t want to hang out in a rusted old Ford F-150 made the same year I was,” she told him. “You say it won’t take long but we both know that that could mean it will take five minutes or it could take thirty. You don’t know how Jericho is in person.” She paused, furrowing her brow. She turned her head to look at him. “Do you?”

Bruce moved his hands around the steering wheel but didn’t respond. He didn’t even look away from the road. That was probably a good thing, considering the streets were starting to get more and more populated with cars and the drivers in Seattle were nearly as bad as the drivers in Los Angeles.

“I might have had some dealings with him in the past,” Bruce said. “Come on, Annie. Don’t judge me. I bartend at one of his bars. It was bound to happen.”