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“Too late.” He gasped as something beside him jingled.
I glanced down, noting the key ring grasped in his hand. They were Wes’s. The key to our house, the place he was supposed to be, was right fucking there.
I drew back and plowed my fist into Rinkin’s face. He slid down onto his ass.
Before he could get comfortable, I yanked him up by his shirt to snarl. “You tell me where the fuck he is right now, or I’ll kill you.”
Rinkin laughed. “He’s on ice.”
I hit him again, this time letting him fall completely to the ground. Headlights bounced around, but I ignored them, reaching down to rip the key ring out of Rinkin’s hand.
“Is he still here?” I asked, pulling his hair so hard he gave a yell.
“What’s going on?” Ryan asked, appearing at my side. Jamie was right behind him.
“This motherfucker won’t tell me where Wes is.”
The door to the diner opened, and Win yelled, “Max!”
I whipped around, hoping to see Wes with him, but instead, it was Veronica.
“Don’t let him leave,” I spat, turning my back on everyone to run into the diner.
“Where’s Wes?” I demanded of Veronica before I was even totally inside.
“He’s not here.”
“Well, where is he?”
She shrugged.
I leaned down and pushed my face into hers. “There are lots of men out there who think it’s wrong to hit women. I ain’t one of them.”
“Go ahead!” she screamed right in my face.
Her arms flailed about as she straightened with wide, wild eyes smudged with mascara. The lower half of her face was smeared with that red paint that was always on her mouth. She looked like a female version of the Joker in a diner uniform.
“Hit me!” She challenged. “And then when the police call, I’ll cry and whimper and tell them you attacked me.” Her eyes slid to Win. “That you both did.” A smug smile spread over her face. There was lipstick on her teeth. “And then both of you will be gone, locked away, and I will have him all to myself. He’ll have no one to comfort him but me.”
I exchanged a look with Win. “I’ll check the kitchen. You check the bathrooms,” I said, and then we both left her there in all her unbalanced glory.
“No!” she screamed behind us, but I kept moving, eyes sweeping the kitchen that was darkened and shut down for the night.
“Wes!” I yelled. In an odd twist, Veronica’s psychotic rambling made me feel better because she implied that Wes was still there somewhere.
Eyeing the walk-in cooler ahead, I unlatched it, yanking open the door. Cold air rushed out, slamming into my jeans and curling through the opening of my jacket.
“Wes,” I called, taking a step farther inside. Maybe they’d knocked him out and dumped him there.
“Ahh!” The sudden, shrill yell bounced around the interior of the frigid box, making my ears ring.
And then someone leaped on me from behind.
37
Wes
I openedmy eyes to darkness. Blackness so opaque I had to ask myself if my eyes were actually open or if I just thought they were. Grunting, I lifted my hands, slapping my fingers onto my eyes and peeling open my eyelids until the air made them sting.
