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To Lilah, who doesn’t deserve to lose another person.
To Mom, who put this burden on my shoulders, but I still accepted it.
To Dad, even if he doesn’t deserve it.
To Ben, who is going to live with guilt he didn’t earn.
And most of all, to myself. To New Lola, who thought today would be another step forward when really it was seven back.
But it doesn’t come.
That strike doesn’t come, because there is a hand to Johnny’s wrist.
And when I look, I recognize the hand. Those tattoos.
Ben.
Ben is here, saving me, once again.
And then the gun goes off.
Forty-Two
-Ben-
I’m running.
I’m running because time is slipping through my fingers and Lola is in trouble.
“I’m coming, baby,” I say into my phone. She doesn’t respond, but I can hear Johnny Vitale talking on the other end.
“I killed Arturo Russo. I did it to free up space.”
Arturo Russo was killed in a drive-by years ago. I did some research once Lola told me her whole story and this is one of the things I found.
They had no suspects, but as the son of one of the three families in New Jersey, fingers were pointing near everywhere.
And the murderer has my girl.
Confessing this fact to her can’t be a good sign.
People don’t confess murder to people they expect to be able to tell the police.
My feet move faster as I hear Lola try and drag out a conversation, as I hear his entire plan play out.
Lilah isn’t Shane Turner’s daughter, and it seems that the secret is out.
I see Hattie, her face confused.
“HAT! Call the cops! NOW!”
“What? I—” She looks shocked, taken aback.
“Lola! Call the cops; bring them to the parking garage!” She stares, and I hope to God she listened because I’m running out the door, down the winding stairs that lead to the parking garage.
Why the fuck are there so many levels?I think as I stare down at least ten flights of stairs.
I need to go.
