AllFreeNovel
Share Us
trista
I did not like it, but I couldn’t come up with anything better when Memphis asked if I had another solution to offer.
“His name is Utah,” Memphis said. “Rather than dropping everything off and just leaving, he’s going to wait for you there. Hand everything off to you. Then he’ll stay there to run interference to give you a chance to get moving back this way until you’re far enough ahead that this person won’t be able to just catch up to you. And I’ll get you on a different path back here that doesn’t involve any part of that interstate.”
“I cannot, for the life of me, understand why you think this is a good idea,” I said. “You can’t possibly trust this person to not shove me straight into the trunk of his car and run straight toward Philly.”
“Well, my understanding is that he’ll be in a truck so, you know, he won’t have a trunk to stuff you in,” Memphis said, like that was somehow supposed to ease my nerves about all of this. “And no, I actually don’t know much at all about Utah. I know his Judge. I think we’re onto something big just under the surface of Nate’s organization and Indy wants to be on our side of it, rather than the President’s.”
“Indy?” I repeated.
“Yes,” she said. “Indianapolis. Utah’s Judge.”
“And what am I supposed to do if this other Executioner simply isn’t on the same page, Memphis?” I pressed. “What the fuck am I going to do if he just decides he’d rather have the money in exchange for my bounty?”
“He won’t.”
“You can’t possibly believe that,” I said.
“We are running out of time. They’re going to start hurting Jersey because they haven’t had any communication back from us,” Memphis said. “If you want to help him, we just have to believe that Utah is coming because he wants to help us.”
“I just want to go on the record as having said that I am not in agreement with any part of this plan,” I said, even knowing full well that I was already prepared to just fucking risk it anyway if it meant getting Jersey back.
“I will add a note of your protest to the very official set of statements that I update every time we speak.”
“You’re nowhere near as funny as you seemed to be when you were doing this shit to Jersey,” I said.
“Listen, I have no chance at being successful in this without you. Just like you don’t without me. So, just go into it like you’re every bit as nervous as you sound. Take Jersey’s gun with you, leave the car running, be ready to fight your way back out.”
“That’s terribly discomforting. Thank you, Memphis.”
I pulled into the parking lot of the truck stop where I was supposed to be meeting Utah and tried desperately to get my panic back under control. I tucked Jersey’s gun into the front of my jeans and looked all the way around me. The Mercedes pulled in only a couple minutes later and parked two rows behind me.
“Who am I looking for, Memphis?” I asked quickly. “The Mercedes is already here.”
I watched the driver’s side door open and a very tall, thin man somehow unfold from the tiny car.
“He’s getting out of the car, Memphis,” I said much more impatiently. “I can’t just sit here.”
As I was saying the words, the most ridiculously large, bright fucking orange truck I’d ever seen pulled up right behind Persephone and parked perpendicular to the trunk, between me and the Mercedes man.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said mostly to myself, but very much out loud.
“Is it really neon orange?” Memphis asked with a laugh. “I kind of thought Indy was just fucking with me. That’s why I didn’t say anything.”
“The fuck am I supposed to do here?” I asked.
“He’ll tell you what to do,” Memphis said. “Just, you know, don’t get in his truck or let him force you anywhere.”
“That’s so not fucking helpful, Memphis,” I said in so much panic because this new Executioner was climbing out of his mountain-sized truck and getting closer to interacting with me with every word Memphis and I spoke. He wasn’t anything like I expected. I was used to Jersey’s weird sense of professionalism with his suits and walking around like he was better than everybody. This guy looked like he was my age, and he was wearing basketball shorts with a sleeveless hoodie. He had dark hair that was cut short on the sides but was longer and spiked in every direction on the top with a short beard that was very neatly trimmed.
“Jesus,” I definitely didn’t mean to say out loud.
“What? What’s wrong?” Memphis asked.
“He’s got fucking biceps that are the size of my waist,” I whispered as he got closer.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, woman. Please. Control your hormones and get out of the car.”
