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“Why didn’t I know about this?” I say as I slap his arm and move in the direction he was headed.
“Because it didn’t concern you. It wasmyinsurance because I didn’t trust this fucking plan you guys came up with.” Beckett glances both ways before turning left and crossing into another. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key fob. He pushes a button, and in the distance, lights flicker along the brick building. “If you’re coming with me, you better fucking hurry up.” Beckett takes off in a sprint toward the car.
I chase after him, desperate for whatever lead he possibly has and grateful that he was prepared enough to think of something we hadn’t been.
Just another one of the ways I have failed her and he has come out on top.
It’s hard to even be mad at the relationship forming between them. If anything, I’m mad at myself, not him.
Beckett yanks the passenger door open and reaches into the glovebox of his car. He pulls out a cell phone and pushes a sequence of buttons, the thing lights up and something blinks on the screen.
“Is that her?” I crane to look over his shoulder.
“Yeah.” He clutches it to his chest in relief, and glances at it again. “She’s going south on Fifth.”
“Are you driving, or am I?”
He shoves the device toward me. “I am. You can give directions.” He pauses before releasing it. “Don’t make me fucking regret this, Hayes.”
“We both want the same thing.” I pry the device from his grip. “To end this.”
I don’t just mean this threat to her life. I mean the plague that I cause her. But I can’t rid myself from her world until I know for sure that she is safe. Until then, I will do everything in my power to overcome this obstacle in the way of her and her happiness. And then I will step out of the way and give her a fighting chance to get exactly that.
There’s no way I can atone for my sins, and the best thing I can do for her is leave.
I would only be doing her a great disservice if I continued to stick around.
I see the disgust on her face when she looks at me. Or when she won’t meet my gaze. She hates me, and I don’t blame her. I never will. Not for everything I have put her through. All those years ago and still to this day. Her biggest mistake was sitting down next to me that day in the cemetery. Each bit of light she breathed into me was only sucked out of her. I have leeched on her long enough, and I refuse to be a drain on her anymore.
Beckett skids the tires of his Volvo as he darts out onto the main street and shoots us into traffic. He speeds across town, dodging cars and going left of center to take the quickest route possible. He blares his horn when we get stuck behind two vehicles and ends up driving on the sidewalk to bypass them.
“West on Beachwood,” I tell him as I watch the flashing red dot on the screen with every ounce of my concentration. “What the fuck is over in that direction?”
“Warehouse, maybe? That’s where they had us last time.” Beckett presses on the throttle and speeds through a red light, a semi honking at us and nearly clipping our ass end.
“They’re on Casa Bella now.” I stare at the glowing red and wait for it to move.
“Come on you fucking cock sucker!” Beckett yells at a car and darts around it. “Fucking bastard.” He clips a parked SUV but keeps going, not a care in the world about the traffic violations.
"Still on Casa, slow-moving north." Where in the fuck are they headed? I try to think of any places up there where we would take a prisoner, drawing a blank every time. We don't venture that far into residential areas. We tend to keep things within the outskirts of the city where no one can hear the screams or power tools as we torture people into telling us what we want to hear.
“Wait,” Beckett says but doesn’t continue his train of thought. Instead, he pushes harder on the gas and stares directly ahead, gripping the steering wheel. “I know where they’re going.”
He flits his attention toward me and it’s like he’s seen a fucking ghost.
“Where are they going, Beckett?” My heart thuds at the anticipation.
“Get ahold of Dom,right now, and tell him to get to Castleberry Court.”
“No,” I say, my voice barely a whisper.
“Where the fuck else, Hayes?” He darts us down a side street and lurches us onto the main road. The car’s suspension buckles beneath us and tries to take the brunt of his wrath. “Contact anyone you trust within a ten-mile radius and have them get there immediately.”
But what if Idon’ttrust anyone? What if the only person I actually believe prioritizes her safety is sitting in this vehicle with me?
I thumb a quick group text to Dom, Bryant, and Johnny.
Me: Castleberry Court. NOW!
