AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Dani…”
“Connor, I said get the fuck out. I need to concentrate and I can’t do that with you fuckin’ buzzin’ in my ear.” I expected to hear heavy footsteps stomp in the opposite direction, followed by the slamming of a door.
Instead, there was silence. I couldn’t even make out the sound of the bastard breathing but I could feel his eyes on me. The intensity of his glare. His nearness. And it was goddamn unnerving. Suffocating.
I knew I wasn’t being fair to him. But life wasn’t fair to me either. And it was time the poor fucker learned this world was no box of Lucky Charms. You didn’t get to toss out the marshmallows you didn’t like. And shit didn’t work out just because you wanted it to.
You woulda thought his mama would have taught him as much. The woman was no dummy. One night under her roof was evidence of that. But even a sharply delivered lesson ain’t enough to pierce a thick skull, and that was no one’s fault but his.
“I ain’t leaving you here.” He sighed, and I recognized the emotions deepening his voice. Connor was desperate. To dowhat was best for his friend. And for me. Hurt by my constant need to drive him away. And probably a little pissed off by the same thing.
But then again, so was I.
“I’m not askin’ you to leave forever. Just give me a few fucking minutes to breathe. Climb the fuck off my dick and let me work,” I huffed. When he didn’t immediately respond, I added, “Can ya at least go grab me another bag of 3/8ths, so I can finish up here and get a few hours of shut-eye? Ya know, before I have to run in and save the day?” I bit the inside of my cheek, forcing my composure while ensuring my voice was honey-sweet. “Please?”
“Fine. I’ll go, but I’m calling Zeke to keep an eye on you.”
“Good luck with that,” I muttered, my glare honed in on my chewed-up nail beds and the blood pooling beneath the surface. Makeup and manicures were part of a life I didn’t belong to anymore. Nowadays I felt naked without grease on my palms and knives in my pockets.
“No luck required. He just had to blow off some steam. Needed a little time to come to his senses. I meant it when I said we’re family. And soon enough the stubborn bastard’ll realize that shit includes my girlfriend.”
“I’m not your girlfriend,” I was quick to remind him. But the dumb fuck was already out the door, the added skip in his step telling me he was doing a piss-poor job of pretending not to hear me.
60
The moment I pushed my way back inside the motel room, the door bouncing off the little stopper thing some half-assed handyman glued to the wall, I should have known something was wrong. But the alarm bells in my head weren’t going off. That feeling you get in the pit of your stomach telling you shit wasn’t right?
Yeah, it was missing. And so was Dani.
For whatever reason, that reality didn’t sink in. It wouldn’t. Like some part of me thought if I looked hard enough, I’d find her under the bed or in the bathroom. Tucked up in a corner or hiding behind the dingy shower curtain that was no better than a flimsy piece of plastic. Pretty sure that shit was supposed to be see-through. It was definitely more of a brown color now.
My eyes flicked down to the mess of wires left sprawled out on the floor, then back up to the open door and the parking spot where Zeke’s car should have been.
And wasn’t. 'Cause he was gone too.
That was when every muscle in my body tensed, and my sense of fight or flight chose freeze instead. My boots sticking themselves to the carpet and my feet feeling as though I couldn’tmove them if I tried. As though cement blocks were weighing them down and holding them in place as my thoughts went into overdrive.
My hand instinctively dipped back into my pocket and closed around the keys to the Mulligan’s stolen car, as my brain finally forced my limbs to move. And then I was rushing off. Back towards the lot. Jumping behind the wheel and slamming the gears into reverse. My mind set on one thing. Getting to Mollies with a shit-ton of homemade bombs and dynamite holed up in the trunk. Because something in my gut—that same something that wasn’t working when I first walked through the door—told me that was where I’d find 'em.
The place was a fucking ghost town. Just like Dani said it would be. Only it seemed this shit was going down a few hours earlier than anticipated. And with one less bomb in position.
What was it people liked to say?
Even the best laid plans went up in smoke. Or some bullshit like that. Whatever it was, we had to make do with the hand we were dealt. And my hand involved a girlfriend who didn’t know what was best for her whenthe bestwas staring her in the face.
I spotted Zeke’s car pulled off to the side of the lot. And jogged towards the employee entrance in the alley just behind Mollies while doing my damnedest to keep from shoving my hand in my pocket and fiddling with the keys. The whole time, Dani’s words kept playing on repeat in my head.
One fuckin’ slip of a finger and your ass will be blowing us all to bits.
She was right after all. I did like her bits attached to her body. And not raining down all over the goddamn sidewalk.
As I reached out an arm to tug open the door, it was already flying forward in my direction. Zeke and Annie pushing their way through with Benny and a team of his goons standing behind them. My eyes flicked to my best friend’s face and the guilt that was waving at me so freely it’s next stop shoulda been the closest speedway. Then dropped to his sister, who was clutching on to his shirt like it was the only thing holding her upright. Her pupils glassy and her movements stunted. And finally swept back up to meet Benny’s glare. Accompanied by a wolfish smirk that curled his lips into a grotesque version of what I could only assume was meant to be a smile.
“What the fuck?” I hissed out. The question aimed at everyone and no one all at once as I waited for someone to give me a straight answer. “Where’s Dani?”
Benny shrugged. “Ask your friend here. He’s the one who called me in the middle of the night. Begged me to come and make a deal.”
My head pivoted towards Zeke. The guilt was gone and in its place was something I didn’t recognize.SomeoneI didn’t recognize. Whoever this was, his spine was steeled, his chin jutting forward.
