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Toothpick made a tsking sound as he dropped to a crouch beside him. “Maybe you did. Maybe you did not. I’m not so sure of this.”
Luke wasn’t entirely sure himself. There was still something about Andy’s former coworker that just seemed off. Luke had sensed it the day he’d confronted him at the shop.
Of course, considering Aldon was involved with these guys, that might have been the shady vibes Luke was picking up on.
“What I do know,” Toothpick continued with a dark smile, “is that you owe my boss a lot of money, All-done,and I’m here to collect.”
“I-I’ll have it for you s-soon, Ramos. Got a new j-job at Tech Universe. Just need a couple more paychecks, I swear.”
Ramos frowned, toothpick pausing again. “The deadline was today, and clearly, you are in no shape to work.” He cast a look towards Luke, one that reminded him of one of Andy’s half-annoyed, half-amused expressions.
Luke shrugged. “He does have a Camaro in the garage. Keys are on the coffee table.”
“Ah, sí.”
Ramos motioned to Bob-o.
Bob-o strode off to the living room, presumably to snag the car keys.
“That will work for now, I suppose.” Glancing back down at Aldon, Ramos smiled. “That and your pinky.”
“M-my p-p-p…” Aldon’s stammerings broke off into a sob as Ramos pulled out a blade.
“Oh, relax,All-done.It’s just a pinky. No one misses their pinky.”
Plucking the toothpick from his mouth, Ramos flicked it at him. Then he glanced towards Luke and Gray. “My regards to you girlfriends and consolation for their loss.”
Taking that as the clear dismissal it was, Luke and Gray followed Dylan quickly from the house. Outside, the sky had grown darker, night coming on fast as if in response to the darkness going on inside the house behind them.
They crossed the street quickly, heads down as they made their way back to the truck. Purply-brown jacaranda blossoms littered their path like confetti strewn over a chalkboard. Luke settled into the truck, rubbing at the reddish-brown flecks on his knuckles.
Dylan handed him a napkin from the back seat. “You okay?”
He wasn’t. There was a sick feeling in his stomach that didn’t have anything to do with what was currently going down in 8103 Sunny Vale. Not much anyway.
“Guys,” Gray said, alerting them to the Camaro backing out of Aldon’s driveway.
The car cruised slowly down the street before pulling up alongside the truck. Bob-o rolled down the window, a smile lifting his weathered cheeks as he extended an arm to them. “Yo! Found this hanging from the rearview. This what you were looking for?”
Snatching a delicate gold chain from the man’s hand, Gray kissed the hummingbird pendant attached to it. “Thank you, Jesus.”
Bob-o rasped out a laugh. “Definitely not Jesus, brother.” He tipped his chin. “Y’all have a nice night.”
As he cruised off, a silence fell over the truck.
A silence that was soon broken by Luke’s growl as he gave voice to the exact sentiment everyone was probably thinking in regard to Andy’s former coworker.
“That lying sack of shit!”
Back at the apartment, Gray pulled his Ford in next to Dylan’s Jeep. Exiting the truck, Dylan tagged Luke’s arm. “You staying or need a lift home?”
As much as Luke wanted the former — as much as he craved to scoop Andy into his arms and hold her the way he hadn’t been able to all shitty-ass day — he also needed a moment to decompress. And to get cleaned up. His tired gaze shifted to Gray. “Tell her I’ll be here tomorrow morning. Tell her I’ll be here sooner than that if she wants me to be.”
Tell her she’s the most perfect, pure thing in this world to me right now, and I just need to shower the filth off my body before I so much as breathe on her.
Gray smiled, seeming to understand what Luke hadn’t said. “I will, man. And thanks for helping me get Kory’s necklace back. It means a lot to her. To us.” His gaze slid to Dylan. “You too.”
“No problem, Flannels. Give Kory a kiss from me.”
