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“What’s wrong?”
Logan glances to Allie and replies sotto voce. “Pete called. There’s trouble. He’s involved.”
Allie doesn’t see it, but I catch the way he jerks his chin toward Allie. There’s only one ‘he’ Logan would mention in relation to Allie other than me. TJ. I turn to Allie. “Stay here. Please. The guys are downstairs to keep you safe, but I need to deal with this.”
She doesn’t agree or disagree before Logan interrupts. “Sir, it might be best to bring her.”
I look to him, eyes narrowed as I analyze his motive for wanting to bring Allie close to anything that might be construed as trouble. He doesn’t back down, though, his voice still low and calm but unafraid.
He grins, though it is grim. “Sir, that minute we talked about giving her . . . it’s up. Decision time for both of you.”
Logan is a smart man. It’s why I’ve entrusted so much to him, and even without the full picture of what I’m walking into, I have faith that he has my back and my best interests at heart.
Turning to Allie, I hold out my hand. “Let’s go, Allison.”
Chapter 24
Allie
It feels strange, riding in the back of a car while Logan and Dom sit up front. We’re riding toward something, although they’ve been super-light on details.
Logan looks at me in the rearview mirror. I can’t decide whether he’s begging me to be onboard with whatever is happening or warning me off. Maybe both?
Still, until he gets the word from Dominick, he insists on talking in roundabout terms that remind me of when my parents would talk about ‘adult things’ with me and TJ in the room. Like when Grandma Ellie got cancer. It’s infuriating and confusing all at the same time because I’m definitely listening closely, trying to figure out what the fuck is going on.
“Pete called. Unauthorized transport through the South Side.”
Dominick’s eyes are on the passing landscape out the window, seeing something in the darkness I can’t, or maybe he’s just using the white noise of the passing vista to help his mind focus. Either way, I can see his reflection, and the hard clench of his jaw and the way his face has gone from the expressive vulnerability of his office to a cold Terminator-like sternness is frightening.
“Involvement?” he asks crisply.
Only because my eyes are ping-ponging this entire trip do I catch Logan’s slight wince, his mouth twisting down at the corners before he answers. “Chambers . . . plus one.”
None of this means anything to me, except the word ‘unauthorized’. That obviously means that something is going down in Dom’s town without his permission, and I can’t imagine that’s a good thing.
Who would be stupid enough, brazen enough to do something under Dom’s nose without his go-ahead? And why did Logan want to bring me? It seems like a risk Dom wouldn’t usually take.
Dominick doesn’t give me answers or explanations though, just picks up his phone and dials a number by memory.
I can only hear his side of the conversation. “Silas? It’s Angeline.”
There’s a slight pause, and Dom speaks again. “Chambers was making a run.”
Another pause, and this time, I hear a deep but tiny voice shout ‘fuck’ loud enough that it’s audible from Dom’s phone.
“Am I to take it by that response that you did not authorize it?”
While Dom listens to whoever Silas is, he traces patterns on the window of the car, almost all of them geometrically perfect.
“Very well. There may be other complications, but I leave Chambers to your discretion.”
Another pause, and I wonder . . . did Dom just give permission for someone to die?
“Acceptable. Consider this a gracious gift, Silas. Tonight could’ve ended much differently for you.”
Dom doesn’t wait for a response, hanging up as Logan pulls into a totally darkened parking lot. I’ve had plenty of time in the car to let my eyes adjust, so I can see the shadowy shape of what looks like a fifteen-foot moving truck.
A moment later, the moon comes out from behind the clouds and I see more shadows and realize there are two men on the ground, with another small group of men surrounding them.
Suddenly, I really don’t want to get out of the car. I’m terrified of what is about to happen, knowing I’m going to see the true Dominick Angeline. The monster. The boogie man people of East Robinsville fear.
It’s time to meet The Boss.
Though he may not be those things with me, I’ve been fooling myself that he isn’t that. I realize I’ve been living a fantasy, pretending that Dom’s some ‘villain with a heart of gold’ who only pretends to be a ruthless bastard in order to stay alive. And I don’t want my pretty fantasy shattered.
“No. No . . . uh-uh,” I moan wildly, shaking my head. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t need to see this.”
