AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How was the trip?”
“What?” I jerked around to face him. I’d been so lost in my own thoughts I hadn’t heard him. “Oh, it was good, yeah. The kind of break I’ve needed for a long time.”
“Good to hear.” Johnny wouldn’t ask anything more personal than that, even if he was dying to know. He knew I would only tell him what I wanted him to know, so he didn’t probe.
“We have a tail, by the way. I think it’s that detective that’s been snooping around for the last month.” Johnny glanced over at me, a question on his face. “You want me to take him out?”
“No, we don’t need that kind of heat on us right now,” I sighed, leaning my head to look into the mirror on my side of the SUV. “Just take us to my apartment. He can sit outside in the cold for a while. I can take care of business from home today.”
“Sure thing,” Johnny said, putting on the indicator to take a right onto my street.
He was right, the black Ford Mustang two cars behind us turned with us and I knew for a fact nobody drove a car like that on this street. It was a dead-end street, so why would he be turning with us unless he was a tail?
“How long?” I asked, knowing Johnny would catch my meaning.
“Since I left the office earlier.” Johnny revealed, driving into the parking garage that served my building. The office was a separate location from the warehouse, a small grocery store in the front, our second base of operations in the back.
“Got it. He’s a tail then. Leave the SUV here then and take the Audi when you go. That’ll confuse him for a little while.”
“Motherfuckers need to just leave us alone,” Johnny grumbled, but I waved it away.
“Cool it, Johnny. We can’t bring more eyes on us right now. Let him have his fun following you around for a little while. Keep your nose clean and he’ll lose interest eventually.” He would if he knew what was good for him, that is, I thought as I got my bags from the back. “Come by later, in a cab. We’ll have a talk and some dinner.”
“Sure thing, Bri,” Johnny handed me the keys to the SUV and dug out the keys to the Audi from his pocket. “Have a good day.”
“You too, John,” I said and headed for the elevators.
I pulled my suitcase behind me, my thoughts on Mandy and how my mother had left my father and I when I was too young to even carry a memory of what she looked like with me. Normally, I wasn’t a sentimental kind of guy, but I’d kept thinking about my mother while I was with Mandy, finally starting to see what might have scared the woman that gave birth to me away. My life was dangerous, not just because of the fact that I lived outside of the law, but because every club had its rival. My father’s and Johnny’s father’s death proved that.
My mind was made up by the time I reached the top floor apartment where I lived most of the time. I could not drag Mandy into this life. It was a life of crime, the threat of prison was always hanging over my head, and I didn’t want to drag her into this.
As much as it might hurt me now, having her leave me later would hurt more. A lot more. It was best to end it now to keep her safe and to make sure my heart didn’t end up shattered.
