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“Just curious because of yesterday at work and—”
“Cut the shit. You look like you’re about to jump out of your skin.” I stepped up to him, left just a breath of space between us. “Why are you asking about Riven?”
“I…”
“Tell me. Now. I’m not screwing around.”
“Shit.” Wayne tried to step around me, but I didn’t let him. “Shit…I didn’t mean any harm, Parrish. You gotta believe me.”
My anger burst inside me like a shaken carbonated drink. I grabbed Wayne and shoved him against the wall. “What did you do?”
“Nothing. I swear. Not really, I just… One night I was sitting at the bar, ya know? And your dad started talking to me. I kinda told you about it that day Riven pushed me, but I didn’t give you all the details. I was dealing with all this shit because I owe these real bad guys money for gambling. I ended up spilling my guts to him, and he said he knew a way I could make some money. I didn’t have to do much really. He wanted me to keep an eye on you and Riven, wanted me to try and get close to Riven.” He was shaking, or hell, maybe that was me. I was too angry to even be able to tell. “He said no one was going to get hurt, that he was worried about you, and told me Riven had some dirty shit going on that you didn’t know about. When you came in all beaten up, he said that was Riven’s fault too. I don’t even know if I believed him or if I was trying to excuse myself for going behind your back, but the thing was, I never had shit to bring to him, which made him get more and more pissed with me.”
“Fuck…” I shoved him again, then took a few steps back, trying to sort through what the hell was going on. “What did he want with Riven?”
“He wanted me to get him involved with illegal shit. Drugs, really. I gotta pay my bills, ya know?”
“Jesus, Wayne. There are better ways than that.”
“Not if someone is gonna kill you for not paying off your debts.”
“Is Riven involved?” His behavior lately was making more sense—his distance, his nerves and anger. They’d gotten to him. Somehow, my fucking family had gotten to him. And the only way he would have done it was…for me. Or Betsy. There was no doubt in my mind. I was such an idiot for not seeing it before.
“I just heard there’s a big-ass shipment of heroin coming in, and Frank is in on it. I’m not close enough with them to know all the details, but I don’t feel right about it. Something is wrong. I think they’re trying to pull Riven into something that’s going to get him into trouble or worse.”
“Fuck…fuck!” I yelled, grabbing my cell off the counter. I called Riven, and like I expected, it went straight to voice mail. “Riven…baby…what are you doing? You don’t have to do this. We’ll figure it out together. Don’t do this. Come home.” The second I ended the call, my gaze snagged on Wayne again. “Where the fuck are they?”
“Parrish, you can’t go.”
“The hell I can’t! I love him, and he’s doing this shit for me! Because my own dad probably threatened to hurt me in some way, and you enabled it to happen, so you better start speaking right now.”
“I’m sorry, Parrish.” He wrung his hands.
“I don’t give a fuck about you being sorry. Tell me where they are.”
“All I know is the town. They’ll be in Smithfield.”
I snatched my keys, shoved into shoes, and I was out the door. Wayne followed me.
“You don’t even know where they are there!”
“I don’t care. I have to go. I have to try. Get the fuck off my property. Don’t show up at work on Monday.”
I jumped into my truck. I had a two-hour drive ahead of me, and who knew when Riven had left or when this was going down. I called Betsy first. “Is Riven there?”
“No. He left a while ago. Are you two fighting?”
“Can you do me a favor? I don’t have a lot of answers for you right now, but I’d like you to go somewhere else—a hotel or somewhere safe—preferably outside Clayton, okay?”
“Parrish, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. I just need to know you’re okay. Can you do this for me? Can you go somewhere safe? And I promise you, whatever is going on, I’ll fix it.”
“Riven…is he…”
“I’ll fix it,” I cut her off because something bad happening to him wasn’t an option.
“I’ll go. Please keep him safe.”
I let out a breath. “Thank you. I will. Let me know when you’re there, okay?”
She agreed, and we ended the call. My heart was beating so hard, I thought I might pass out. Sweat dripped down my temples, my stomach a fucking mess. I pressed down on the gas pedal even harder, determined to get there in time. I ignored the very real possibility that Wayne was still helping my dad and Rex. That he was sending me into danger, trying to get me into trouble, or keeping me away from Riven. It didn’t matter because I had to do something.
