AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But when the time came for her to really need help, she hadn’t come to me.
She didn’t owe me anything, but I thought she knew I would be there to help her. No matter what.
And now the garage had blown up, Poppy was in the hospital, and I kept looking over my shoulder wondering when the next strike was going to come.
Whoever did this had to know by now that no one was killed in the explosion.
It was really fucking bad now, and I knew whatever we thought was happening was deeper than I had ever imagined.
“I believe that you didn’t mean to hurt me or the club, but just what am I going to do now, Poppy?” I asked.
Poppy
I sat on the edge of the bed, my mind swirling with uncertainty and guilt. I didn’t know what to do. How could I help Yarder after everything that had happened? I couldn’t shake off the feeling of worry that consumed me.
“He didn’t seem very comfortable,” I blurted out, breaking the heavy silence that hung between us.
“Comfortable?” Yarder’s voice sliced through the air, his brow furrowed in confusion. “What does that mean?”
“Like this wasn’t something he normally did,” I explained, trying to articulate the unsettling feeling that had grown in my stomach. “He never looked directly at me—”
“Because he didn’t want you to get a good look at him, babe,” Yarder interjected, his tone matter-of-fact.
I shook my head, trying to convey the complexity of the situation. “I know that, but it was different than that. He was really nervous. I mean, he scared the shit out of me, but he was always looking around to make sure no one saw us. And,” I continued, my voice trailing off slightly, “the uncomfortable aura had to do with the fact he didn’t seem right in what he was wearing. Like casual dark clothes weren’t his thing.” That even sounded lame to me when I said it out loud.
“Poppy,” Yarder said, his voice softening slightly. “Then what should he have been wearing?”
“A suit,” I replied without hesitation, my mind still fixated on the encounter. “He should have been some fancy guy in a suit even though he was in an alley cornering me.”
Yarder tipped his head to the side, contemplating my words. “Okay.”
Okay? That was all he had to say now. “Um, does that help?” I asked tentatively, hoping my observations would be of some use.
Yarder nodded, a hint of determination flickering in his eyes. “It will at least point me in the direction to start looking.”
I let out a weary sigh, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on me. “The only good thing is that no one got hurt yesterday,” I muttered, hoping to find some solace in the midst of chaos.
Yarder scoffed at my words, his expression darkening. “Can’t say that, babe.”
My eyes widened in horror. “Someone died yesterday?”
Yarder leaned back in his chair, his features drawn with sorrow. “Faye, a friend of Olive’s. She was in the back room of the garage yesterday. She was the only one there besides me. I went out when you pulled up, and the garage exploded before I could even think about getting her out of there. The firemen didn’t find her in the debris, and no one has been able to put eyes on her since.”
“Oh my god,” I gasped, a wave of guilt crashing over me. Someone might have died because of me. “This is all my fault.”
Yarder’s silence spoke volumes, confirming my worst fears.
I was calling myself every name in the book right now. Selfish. Thoughtless. Inconsiderate.
“If the firemen don’t find her body, then she has to be alive somewhere, Poppy,” Yarder said, his voice tinged with a sense of resolve. “Faye was going through some shit, and she often hung out in the back room for some quiet. For all I know, she could have snuck out.”
“Some quiet that got her killed,” I whispered, the weight of my words hanging heavily in the air.
We both lapsed into a heavy silence, consumed by our own thoughts and the overwhelming guilt that threatened to suffocate us.
“Dead or alive, Poppy, we’ll find Faye,” Yarder vowed.
Now, not only was I to blame for the garage blowing up, but I was also possibly to blame for Faye’s death.
