Page 7 of The Triangle

“Fokken no one, bru! She has weapons?”

“Yeah. Course.”

“Fine. I’ll have someone check in on her straight away.”

“Who?”

I press ‘end’ on the call and slip my mobile back into my lekker suit pocket. Then I give Wallace and his men the only chance they’re going to get.

“Wallace!” I shout. And maybe the Hulk has crept his way into my throat, because suddenly everything stops. It’s almost like I’m imagining it. “Wallace, I’m fokken sorry that that pielkop who worked for me insulted you and I’m sorry that you think we’re trying to fokken cheat you, man. But he’s proper dead and we are not cheating you. If there’s a mix-up, I promise you, bru, on my mother’s soul, that we will make it right. But I’m gatvol with this shit. Something’s come up and I have to go. So, unless you and everyone standing within twenty feet of you want to die in the next ten seconds, I recommend you put your fokken guns down and let’s sort this later.”

There’s a beat wherein it sounds like Wallace is maybe mulling it over. My men, including the laaitie whose name I need to learn, are all staring at me like I’ve gone round the bend. Then, after about eight or so seconds, Wallace shouts, “Fuck you and your mama, motherfucker!”

I close my eyes, take one last breath, and think, Don’t you die on me, Christine. I’ll be there as soon as I can. In the meantime, I’ll be sending the only person I know I can trust, one hundred percent, to watch over you. Maybe it’s an insane idea, but simply, I love you more than I hate him.

And I don’t know if my father’s advice was actually right or if it’s just that when the Hulk shows up, everything changes. But the absence of fear I feel as I march toward Wallace and his men, their bullets whizzing by me, is authentic.

And the fear in their eyes as I place a single bullet into every. One. Of. Their. Brains. Is very, very real indeed.

CHAPTER THREE - DANNY

“Sure,” I say. “Sure. Alec. Right.” And all that comes out low. It comes out angry. It comes out dangerous. I breathe through the next few moments, my eyes on hers, doing my best to keep it all under control.

She’s staring at me with those wide hazel eyes of hers. Looking at me like I’ve got something she needs. Looking at me like I’ve got answers.

I’ve waited a long time for that look. Long time. Three years? Four, maybe?

And now here it is.

Fake.

She doesn’t even know who I am.

She closes her eyes, my intense glare becoming too much for her, and then her hand drifts up. Her fingertips absently swipe at the soft fluttering of hair just behind her ear. She turns her head, sighs like… I dunno. Like she’s sad, maybe. That’s probably just me projecting. And then I see the moment when her fingers find the gash on the back of her head.

Because she winces. Even with her eyes closed.

“Are you OK?” I ask, the old me back.

“I don’t know.”

“Come on. Get your shit. We’re outta here.”

“But. But something happened…”

I hear what she doesn’t say. Those ellipses at the end of her sentence tell me more than I want to know right now.

“Danny,” I say, filling in her blanks. “I’m Danny. And yeah, something happened. You’ve got Alec to thank for that. Now get your shit and let’s go.”

Fucking asshole Alec. Who the fuck does he think he is walking back into our lives after all these years? After all that bullshit. I’m gonna make him pay for this. For all of it. Every fucking thing he ever did is coming due for that motherfucker.

“No,” she says, stepping backwards. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t even know you.”

“I know you,” I say, poking my finger into her chest. She hates that. But instead of slapping me in the face or punching me in the gut, she just says…

“Not good enough.”

“What he said, Christine, whatever he promised you—it’s a lie. That’s all that motherfucker does. Don’t let the dreamy accent fool you. He’s one hundred percent evil. And the whole reason you’re here in this shit hole is because he asked you for a favor and you said yes. I told you a long time ago. That motherfucker ever comes asking, your answer is always no. But do you ever listen?”