I waited and let them get past. But I didn’t stay hidden. I ran out from behind the SUV, charging at them. The guy I didn’t know turned, but he was too slow. I was on him like a monster. I hit him once, twice, bashed him with my baton. He threw up his hands, gun clutched in one, but I grabbed his wrist and wrenched it back. I smashed my forehead into his nose and felt it crunch. I hit him two more times with the baton, and he went limp, dropping.
Howard bowled into me. I grunted, stumbling back. Something hot and painful bit into my side. I cursed and threw him off. He came back with a bloody knife in one hand. I dabbed at the wound, grunting.
Howard grinned at me. “How the fuck did you find me, Mal?”
“You killed Carmine.” I gripped the baton tight. Howard shifted his knife. I felt unsteady. I was losing blood.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re doing. I hear you finished off Dario. Not like I care. That stupid shit.”
He was stalling. He knew I was bleeding. I had to end this fast.
I attacked. He danced back, still grinning.
“Come on, Mal,” he said. “You’re finished. I got you already. You’re toast. Give up, big guy. Not even you can win like this.”
I roared and reached out. He wasn’t expecting it. I grabbed his arm, the one without the knife, and held tight. He jabbed the blade into my forearm. Pain filled me like a balloon. I didn’t let him go. I held onto him. My life depended on it. Carmine’s revenge, too.
I whipped my baton into his ribs. He realized what I was doing too late. He tried to pull the knife back, but I’d already hurt him. He grunted, struggled. I was too close. I hit his ribs again. I hit him in the face. I knocked out a tooth. He tried to jab the knife at me, but I twisted away, releasing him.
I staggered. Felt dizzy. He was bleeding from his mouth and slumped sideways.
“They tried to kill me in prison,” I said through my teeth. “Two guys came. One stabbed me, just like you did. I killed him. The other tried to run. I caught him. I made him talk. I made him tell me everything he knew. He named some people for me. That’s how I know you were there, Howard. You killed Carmine. And I’m going to kill you.”
He screamed at me. He lunged with the knife, but I sidestepped. He was sluggish and weak. I beat his skull in with the baton until blood and brains leaked all over the pavement.
He twitched like a fish and I left him there. Dead or soon to be.
Nobody would miss him.
I staggered to the Chevy. I heard sirens in the distance. A concerned neighbor had called the cops. Fucking shit. I got into the truck. My forearm was bleeding, but not badly. It would hurt like hell but wouldn’t kill me.
Wasn’t sure about the side though. I pressed my hand against it, trying to stem the bleeding.
I drove fast. Whirled around and got out of there. I wove a bit and my vision blurred, but I kept going. If I stopped, I’d die.
I had things in the apartment. I was going to make it.
I parked out front and bumped a silver sedan against the curb. Didn’t matter. I almost fell out of the Chevy as I stumbled to the sidewalk.
“Mal!”
I looked up and blinked. For a glorious second, I thought I was hallucinating.
Cap was there. Her hair was bundled up in a loose bun and stray red strands blew around her pretty face and lips like fireflies. She wore a dress, a deep, dark navy that made her skin look creamy and dreamlike. I thought I was dead, and this was my heaven. Looking at Cap in that dress.
Then she grabbed my arm.
Chapter 7
Capri
“You’re bleeding,” I said, staring at the hole in his shirt. He was pale and sweating. Blood was everywhere, and I didn’t think it was all from him. He had an ugly gash on his left forearm. “You need a hospital.”
“No hospitals. Your dad has people everywhere. Get me inside.”
“Mal—”
“Inside, Cap. Hurry.”
I clenched my jaw. This was what I wanted to do. I had to help, and if that meant dragging a half-dead stubborn asshole into his trash pit apartment, I’d do it.
He put weight on my shoulder as I got him up the back steps. A neighbor descended, an older Latino guy in a button-down and slacks. He waved hello and acted as if Mal weren’t on the edge of collapse.
“You’re enormous, you know that?” I cursed as I got him through the door and onto the floor.
“And you’re tiny.” He grumbled in pain and fished out his key.