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Kendrick … I wonder where he is. He and the others were headed for the garage when all hell broke loose, so I guess I should start there. After this much time they’ll be long gone, either run off or arrested, but I can track them from the starting point.
Off I go into the night, with who knows how many Vipers after me.
Chapter 26
Doc
Through some miracle, I make it through the night without slipping. I have Neil and Mama Navid to thank for that, as I’m pretty sure without them watching over me I would have snuck out and mugged a senior citizen just on the off chance they might be carrying some opioids for chronic pain.
Disappointment hits when I wake up in the darkness and realize that Neil untied me at some point during the night. I’m sure he meant well, but I guess I wasn’t clear enough when I told him my tale; I can’t be let free when I’m in this state.
I move to sit up, but a hand on my chest stops me cold.
“Hold it right there. Promise to behave, or the tape goes back on.”
The commanding tone sounds weird coming out of Neil’s mouth, but my brain and body respond as though it’s Kendrick ordering me to be still. I freeze on instinct.
“Good boy.”
My dick twitches a little as Neil says a trigger phrase, but I manage to relax enough to stop myself from reaching a full hard-on. Judging by what I’ve seen, Neil is only just coming into his bisexuality, and for all I know his attraction to men stops at Keys. Besides, I’m not particularly attracted to Neil, either. He’s a little too soft for me, too timid, and despite his recent attempts at Domming up to keep me in line, too submissive of a personality for my liking.
He’ll do in a pinch for the time being, though. Another two or three days and I’ll be fully detoxed, at least physically. The psychological effects are everlasting, but we’ll have Bunny and Kendrick back by the time that becomes a real issue.
I hope we’ll have them back by then, anyway.
Once Neil gives me permission to sit up, I check out our injuries to see how we’re faring. The laceration on Neil’s arm seems to be holding up well, though his ankle could use more of a rest than we can afford to give it. We’re too close to catching up to Kendrick and Keys to stop now, sprain or no. He’s just going to have to limp along a while longer.
As for me, I peel back a corner of my bandage to get a look at my shrapnel wound. The skin around it is red, hot, and tender, and when I gently press at the edge, a yellowish discharge oozes out.
This is officially beyond Mama Navid’s scope of healing. I need strong antibiotics, stuff that’s hard to get with our limited resources. None of the clinics I’ve set up throughout Summer City have anything like that in stock, and the risk of going to a “real” clinic or hospital is too great right now. Even if I hadn’t gotten myself blacklisted at several of the city’s licensed facilities, we have no money, no insurance, and no alibi for the explosion. Besides all of that, we have no way of knowing if Samson Ramsey has spies placed in the hospitals to watch for patients coming in with injuries like ours. We get caught by the Vipers, and that puts everyone else at risk. Bunny would burn Summer City down to rescue us.
I don’t tell Neil about my early signs of infection. Better to worry about that later. Onward to find Kendrick and Keys, then to search for Bunny.
Pain lances through my side with each step as we head out into the early morning haze. I grit my teeth against the agony and focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Neil keeps shooting sideways glances at me, but I don’t offer an explanation.
A few hours into our walk, we pass by a small café. It seems innocuous enough until I notice the owner yelling at a waitress about letting a young male couple skip out on a tab.
Kendrick and Keys. It has to be.
While the owner screams at the poor girl, a woman comes out of the café holding a tablet. She whispers in the owner’s ear, and he stops his rant long enough to look at the screen. He sputters and stammers, then grabs the tablet from the woman. I notice matching rings on their left hands and deduce that the woman is his wife. As we get closer, I hear more of the conversation.
“What do you mean someone wired us money?”
The wife shakes as she answers. “I mean it’s exactly the cost of the skipped tab. If I didn’t know better, I’d say her customers paid us.”
Definitely Kendrick. His conscience must’ve gotten the better of him, and he made Keys wire the money.
The owner turns on the stunned waitress. “Don’t think this makes it better. You’re still fired.” He stalks back into the café, and the girl breaks down in tears. I want to go comfort her, but I know better than to draw attention to Neil and myself.
We’re almost to the far corner of the block when I hear a phone ping, and the girl suddenly squeals with delight. I turn around to see what the fuss is, and she comes running past us.
“They paid my PleaseFundMe! My mom’s medical bills are all paid!”
Neil blinks in confusion, but I’ve already figured it out. Keys worked his magic, and he found the girl’s online records. It wouldn’t take Keys but a second or two to learn everything there is to know about her, and if she has a sick mother in need of funds, Kendrick and Keys would see to it that the girl would be taken care of.
We’re close. I pick up the pace and scan the area for someplace that Keys could get computer access. Unless he still has Neil’s laptop with him—doubtful, considering the destruction of the explosion at the Burrow—he’d need to borrow a computer.
Bingo! I spot the library just as a couple of men come out the front door. One hides silvery-blonde hair beneath a baseball cap, and the other towers over him, scrubbing his bald head with both hands as they walk away from the library.
