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Fuck. I’ll have to get that fixed in the morning.
“I think we should just hand him over to the Steel Heretics,” Axle said, cracking his knuckles once more and grabbing my attention again. I wasn’t sure how the hell he did that so often and not have arthritis.
“IsaidI’ll fucking leave town, man. I’ll pack my bags right now while you’re here, leave, and never come back.”
“You said you had connections with the feds?” Viper chimed in, asking the question. “What kind of connections?”
“Uh… My brother is an agent. He’s done a few things.”
Viper tilted his head, and I could tell the wheels were turning in his brain. I just wasn’t sure where he was going with it. There were a lot of ways that we could use the information that he had given us, but I couldn’t think of any that would be helpful if he didn’t knowwewere the ones there.
“What do you want me to do?” Francis asked in a shaky voice. “I-I-I don’t have a problem calling him if that’s what you want me to do.”
This guy is too much of a pushover, Viper. Don’t go for him.
Viper stood there, and we waited for his direction. Axle looked like he might burst, and all I could think about waswhoFrancis’s partner was. Could it be Robbie? Is that why he wanted Francis offed? To prevent him from owing so much money?
But he would’ve just been paying it to us.
I shook my head, unable to put the pieces together. None of it really made any sense, but that was the way it ran in the underworld. You didn’t always have the privilege of having all the answers. That being said, this was one mystery that I wanted to crack.
“Nah, we don’t need you to call your fuckin’ brother. We just need you to get the hell out of here. I never wanna see your face again.” Viper’s voice boomed through the house, and he grabbed up the rag that we had used to put Francis out with. “Keep your word, or we’ll have your head.”
I swear Francis looked like he might pass out without the sedative, nodding furiously just before Viper clamped it over his face. The cop’s body went slack, and Axle and I worked together to get all of the restraints off of him and put away.
“You think he’ll listen?” I asked, still keeping my voice low.
“I don’t know,” Viper grunted. “We’ll keep an eye on him.”
Chapter 23
Hallie
“Why thefuckare you not answering?!” I shouted, punching the steering wheel as I sat stranded on the side of the road. Gunner’s phone was going straight to voicemail, and he was theonlyperson I knew to call in the moment. My mom was stuck at my house watching Iris, and I was supposed to have a quick late-night trip to the store to get more Pedialyte, since she had started vomiting again…
But nope.
Here I was, stuck like a freaking goober on the side of the road. I thought it would be no big deal, considering Gunner hadbrotherswho could come and change the flat on my car, right? Well, apparently, I waswrong.Well, not really. I mean, hedid.
But that would’ve required him to pick up his phone.
“Ugh!” I ran my fingers through my hair. It was nearly midnight, and while I had been taught how to change a flat, I wasn’t sure that I could do it being this tired. I was still reeling from a long day spent at the hospital, and I hadalmoststopped to get more Pedialyte on the way home. But, for some reason, I thought I had a whole case of it in the back of the fridge.
It was eerie, being stuck on a dark side street in the middle of the night, and without being able to get ahold of Gunner, I was running out of options. I reached for my phone one last time, not even bothering to try Gunner for the umpteenth time. His phone was off, or he was out of range—and honestly, I had no idea which it was. So, instead, I called my mom, hoping that she hadn’t dozed off in the spare room.
“Hey?” She answered the phone in a groggy voice. “Iris fell back asleep. She drank the last of the Gatorade.”
“That’s probably a good thing, because I will not be home anytime soon.”
“Uh… Why?”
“Because I amstuckon the side of the road with a freaking flat tire.”
“Oh no,” she gasped. “Have you tried Gunner? Bill is out of town.”
“I know he is, and yes,” I fought back the irritation and hurt from my voice. “I did try Gunner, but I can’t get ahold of him. I think his phone is dead or something.” I tried to make it as nonchalant as possible, because as pissed as I was Gunner, I didnotwant my mother involved.
“Do you have Triple A?”
