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Alright. That was done.
I dumped the rest of the red wine down the drain, washed the glasses, recycled the bottle.
He could have his drugs back, but what was to stop him from storing more in there again? What would that mean for me? Who the hell was Luis anyway? Obviously a drug dealer. But what else? Was he a bad guy, as in a really bad guy? Was I in danger? I needed answers. I needed to know if I needed to get the hell out of town right then. Hell, maybe I should just get out of town in general. I could just... leave all my stuff, pack a small bag, point my car in a direction, and never look back.
I took a deep, steadying breath.
Answers.
I was right about that. I needed answers.
Why don't you ask your boyfriend how he knows me, huh, angelface?
Johnnie knew him.
That didn't surprise me. They were both criminals. But if Johnnie knew him, Johnnie could maybe tell me what kind of trouble I was in for. Was Luis the kind of man who would follow me wherever I ran? Was I too loose of an end to let go?
I walked toward my bedroom, hauling out one of those oversize reusable plastic bags you buy for the grocery store, and throwing a bunch of clothes inside. I threw my purse in the bag as well, grabbed my keys, and tried to keep my pace calm and casual as I walked out into the hallway, suddenly more paranoid than I had ever been in my life, even though I hadn't technically done anything wrong.
I got into my car and drove slowly out of town, checking my rear view frantically, convinced Luis was going to come shooting out of nowhere and take me down. I felt better when I crossed the town border and hadn't seen a single car following.
I pulled off into a gas station, filled up, grabbed some junk food, and took the time to do a quick search online. I didn't know Johnnie's address, but I knew he lived in someplace called Navesink Bank in New Jersey. That was a fifteen hour drive, but judging by the way my nerves were frantically threatening to burst through my skin, I was pretty sure I could make it in one trip. Once I got there, well, I would just find a way to find him.
There was no other choice.
I needed him.TenShooter"Shoot!" Cash's voice called as soon as I walked into Chaz's, the biker bar in town and, therefore, the place where the members of the local biker gang, The Henchmen, hung out. Cash was a member; he was also a close friend. He and his woman, Lo, the leader of some badass survivalist camp slash bounty hunters slash private security slash a hundred other things, were yet another of the reasons I needed to be home. I needed to be with my people, people who didn't even know my name was Johnnie Walker Allen, people who just knew me as the man I had become: Shooter.
"Cash," I said, giving him a chin jerk. He was tall and a thin kind of strong with blond hair he kept shaved up one side and long down the other, his green eyes similar to mine, as was the sheer amount of ink he was covered in. "Lo, sugar, honey, darlin'," I said, falling to a knee in front of her, taking her hand and kissing it dramatically, making the brown-eyed, blond-haired badass bombshell blush like a schoolgirl. "Willow, keeper of my heart, beauty of the Navesink Bank area," I went on, getting to my feet and taking both her hands in mine. "Dump this schmuck and come live with me."
Lo's head tipped to the side, watching me. "Your accent is really strong right now," she observed with a small smile.
"Yeah, fuck man, you been taking speech lessons? Your normal voice ain't drawin' in the pussy like it used to? Needed to get an accent to shake things up?" Cash asked, waving a hand toward his drink and holding up three fingers.
"Fuck off," I laughed, accepting the drink he passed toward me. "I just got back from Alabama," I said with a shrug.
"Alabama?" Lo asked, her face scrunching up.
"Can't be much work down there," Cash added.
I shook my head. "Nah it was personal shit I needed to take care of. Five minutes 'round them and my drawl comes back with a vengeance. Though, it does have its perks," I said, winking at Lo.
"Everything alright?" she asked, looking concerned.
"Yeah. Just needed to show my face, throw some money around. Everything is fine."
"Then why does it look like you haven't slept in days?" she asked, brow raised, knowing smile tugging at her lips.
"Was up late with an old buddy," I hedged, not wanting to go there.
" 'Old buddy' is the strangest synonym for 'hot chick' I've ever heard," Cash said, not bothering to fight the smile.
"That's what that look is!" Lo declared loudly, making the guy behind her jump and lose balance on his barstool.
"What look, sweetcheeks?" I asked, motioning for another round.
"Sweetcheeks? Really?" she asked, shaking her head at me. "I know that look, Shoot. Know how I know that look?" she paused. "Because I'm familiar with it. I saw it on Reign's face a couple years ago, then on Cash's, and Wolf's..."
"Way off base, honey," I denied, knowing she knew I was lying.
"By the balls," she said, biting her lip to keep a smile a bay.
"What's by the balls?" Repo, one of the younger members of The Henchmen asked, reaching between me and Cash for his next round on the bar.
"Some girl has Shoot by the balls," Cash declared loudly, making a few faces turn our way.
"Fuck, really?" Repo asked, shaking his head on a sigh. "What the fuck is it with all of you lately?" he asked, but walked away without further comment.
"No one has me by the balls," I clarified. Maybe I had some blue balls, but I didn't know her well enough to be had by the balls. The fact that I didn't sleep the night before had nothing to do with Amelia. Even as I thought it, I knew it was bullshit.
