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“Where in The Bronx?” I finally asked, my voice hoarse with tension.
“What?” Easton replied, looking at me in confusion.
“The truck,” I elaborated, sounding steadier now. “Where in The Bronx was the truck found?”
“Uh,” he scrunched his face in concentration, trying to remember what he’d been told on the phone. “Mott Haven, I think.”
“Shit,” I hissed, my fears confirmed.
“What? What is it, Ricki?” Thane asked, standing from his seat to move toward me. “You know something about this?”
I nodded, gaze moving back and forth between him and Easton.
“Javier is from Mott Haven.”
“That son of a bitch!” Easton roared, slamming his fist down on the table, making the glasses jump with a clatter. “That goddamn son of a bitch.”
“Someone wanna fill me in on what the hell we’re talking about.”
“I used to work in Mott Haven,” I started, feeling guilt washing through me at the admission. “I had a bit of a situation with someone at my last shop, and it seems that situation has followed me.” Looking up at Thane, seeing his worry for his younger brother, I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Thane.”
“What the hell are you sorry for?” Easton cut in. “None of this is your fault.”
But it was. It was completely my fault.
If I’d not been such a bitch, if I’d kept my mouth shut and just done the ink like Murray had told me time and again, then Javier wouldn’t be feeling like the only way to save face was to hurt me. He wouldn’t have trashed Murray’s shop, wouldn’t have jumped me, wouldn’t have thrown that brick through my window the other night, ruining what had been the most perfect evening with Asher.
If I’d not messed up all those months ago, let my attitude get the better of me, Asher would be here with us now, not missing at the hands of a mentally deranged imbecile with an axe to grind.
My actions—my thoughtless behavior and runaway mouth—had ruined everything.
I really was poison.
“I have to go,” I said, making my way to the door. I didn’t know where I was headed, but I just knew that I needed to leave. I couldn’t stand to be in the same room as Easton and Thane, their worry for Asher thick and cloying while I was the reason that everything was fucked.
I had to fix this; I just didn’t know how.
“Ricki, wait,” Easton called, making to follow me. I noticed Thane hadn’t moved, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes narrowed as he watched me go.
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be around me, either.
“Ricki,” Easton called again, but I was already outside, the cold November wind biting through the hoodie I wore.
Asher’s hoodie.
“Where are you going?” Easton called after me as I opened the door that led up to my apartment.
“I just need a minute,” I insisted, hoping he wouldn’t press the issue. “I just... Give me a few minutes, Easton, okay? Please?”
“Fine,” he relented, likely seeing how desperate I was to be alone. “But don’t be long, alright? We should stay together. Javier is still out there, and the police could call again at any time. I know Asher will want to see you as soon as we find him. And wewillfind him, Ricki. I promise.”
I nodded, not voicing the fact that he really couldn’t promise that. He couldn’t promise me anything. Not when this whole mess had started because of me.
Closing the door, I made my way up the stairs, my skin buzzing and my stomach still churning. I was just about to unlock my apartment door when my own phone started buzzing in my back pocket. Pulling it out, I gasped when I saw Asher’s name on the screen.
“Asher?” I asked breathlessly when I’d answered the call.
But the voice that greeted me wasn’t the one I was hoping to hear.
