“I’ll be fine,” I promise.
The rest of the short car ride goes by in silence. When Stone’s truck slows to a stop next to my Bug, I hesitate to move, turning my attention to him again.
“I know what Stella thinks about all this,” I start, feeling a sudden wave of guilt for the exposure all my friends might be facing because of me. “What doyouthink?”
I get an easy shrug in response. “Love is complicated, Chlo. I know that. You gotta do what you gotta do.”
“Oh? And what do you do that you ‘gotta do’?”
Stone laughs, reaching over me and pulling the door handle before pushing the door open. “Drive to the city multiple times a month when I fucking hate it up there,” he says lightly. And then he nods at me to scram. I narrow my eyes at him instead, becauseI freakin’ knew it.And then I jump out of the truck and give the side a slap as he waves me off and pulls away.
My precious blue Bug is absent of tickets, but Colin told me I have accrued multiple in the time it has been parked here. Though I don’t know where I’m supposed to go to get those taken care of.
It may be surprising, but I have never actually gotten any sort of ticket in my life. Because I may be irresponsible, but I’m an irresponsible angel, thank you. And I try and stay as far away from the cops as possible. Except Colin.
From my car at the sidewalk, I can see his truck parked in the departmentlot. I consider going into the station, but his boss demanded he stay away from me, and I don’t want to get him in trouble at work.
Opening the door to finally drive my baby home, I stop dead when I see what I swear is the back of Max’s head turning a corner down the street.
I slam my door shut, hustling in his direction and looking around the area for witnesses in case I need to stab him and make it look like he fell on his own knife.That’s believable, right?
Stone usually does this part of the job; getting them subdued and drugged and all that. But as I continue down the sidewalk in the direction of the alley Max disappeared down, I tell myself I could at least follow him. Find out where he and his friends are hiding out so we at least know where to start looking for them.
I turn the corner into the alley, and immediately get a fist to the face.
My head hits the ground, and cold hands wind around my ankles, dragging my body deeper into the brick corridor. The rough asphalt scrapes against my back as my sweater drags up, sharp edges of rock pinching my skin.
“Bitch,” someone mutters, though I can’t be certain he’s talking to anyone else but me.
Any recollection of how I ended up here swims away as my head bounces against the hard ground, and the daylight fades from my vision.
“Pick her up.” The demand comes rushed, sounding far away and garbled like it’s coming from underwater. Whoever they are, they’re panicking.
Or am I panicking?
I force myself to try and focus, but the world spins around me as I struggle to open my eyes.
My ankles drop to the ground. The cold hands circle my wrists and tug me forward while my thousand-pound head lolls backward.
A klaxon alarm sounds in the distance. It sounds like a warning of impending hordes of zombies. That would be an interesting turn of events.
“Hurry the fuck up,” someone hisses.
“Hey! Police!”
Footsteps. Fast and heavy. A thud.
I hit the ground again, rolling onto my side and feeling the asphalt under my fingers. My vision fails to come back into clarity. I pinch my eyes closed, my head pounding. Off to my side, there’s more pounding. Grunts.
“Colin, stop!” someone shouts, and my heart nearly explodes in my chest.Where is he?I want himhere.My hand slides against the ground, reaching out though I can’t be sure I’m reaching in the right direction.
My eyes roll back in my head as I try one more time to grasp my surroundings.
I feel like I’m slipping away, and thoughts of how Maeve would paint this scene on the canvas under my skull float through my mind.
Brick walls. A tussle. A dumpster.Great.This scene just bumpedmud pitout of the number one spot on my list ofPlaces I’d Hate to Die.
One. Two. Three. Four steps in my direction. A shadow. My name. A hand on my cheek.
