CHAPTERSIX
“Jesus Christ, she smells like gasoline.”
My head snaps up at Rome’s sudden outburst, and I give him a sneer. I knew it was only a matter of time before he said something. He’s been silently brewing ever since Niko loaded her into the back of his precious Range. I know how particular he is about his things, so I even went through the trouble of laying a tarp down to protect his interior, but it’s obvious he still isn’t happy.
As much as I dislike how rude he’s being right now, I can’t argue with him. He’s right, she does smell.
In the short time we’ve been on the road, her nauseating scent has already permeated throughout the SUV. I'm not sure how she managed to climb up those stairs without succumbing to dizziness. Just being in the car with her is disorienting enough.
I roll my window down to air it out some, but it does nothing to soften Rome’s deep scowl. He’ll just have to get over himself. She needs us and there’s nothing wrong with being a good person every once in a while.
“At least that lets us know it wasn’t an accident.” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “They left her there on purpose. They wanted her to die down there.”
“Good observation, Detective V.” Dallas teases, as he bumps his huge shoulder into mine. “The real question is, why?”
I wince a little as I rub at the bruise I’m sure is bound to form on my shoulder. Dallas isn’t doing it on purpose, but I swear sometimes he forgets that I’m not one of his six foot tall friends built with a physique of a linebacker.
I glance back at the girl in question and try to discern anything I can while she’s still passed out. She’s laying in a fetal position and the hoodie that Niko threw over her is covering almost all of her body. I didn’t recognize her voice from the club. Then again, she did kind of sound like she swallowed a chainsaw whole, so I have no idea what her real voice sounds like. I don’t know who she is, but she must have done something stupid to wind-up in Evanoff’s house. No one just accidentally stumbles into a place like that.
“Does he ever have a reason for doing what he does?” I ask, mostly to myself. I’ve witnessed some of the cruelty that goes on in Evanoff’s clubs and I know the things they do to the girls are never justified. Torture is a turn on for those sick men.
“In his mind he does.” Niko huffs, gazing out the window in the passenger seat. I’m mildly surprised he’s even paying attention to the conversation. He always seems like he’s on another planet.
“So, what do we do now?” Dallas asks, “About the girl, I mean.”
“Maybe we should just drop her off at a hospital?” I suggest.
“We can’t do that.” Niko retorts, shaking his head. “We have no idea if he has eyes there and if he finds out she survived, he’s going to want to know who helped her.”
I give him a nod, already understanding where he’s going with this. We can’t take her to a hospital, not unless we’re willing to risk the possibility of exposure and give up on everything we’ve been working towards. “Rome, what do you think?”
Rome releases a long sigh as glares at me through the rear-view mirror.
“I don’t know, Violet.” He glowers, narrowing his eyes at me. “None of this was part of the plan. We were supposed to go after Evanoff, but someone decided her bleeding heart was more important than everything we’ve been working towards. Now he’s gone and we’re stuck having to clean up his mess.”
“She was in danger.” I say, trying to defend my decision. I shouldn’t have jumped out of the car without telling them. I know that. But once the flames started, I had this sinking suspicion that he’d left someone inside and I couldn’t leave them there to die. “We made the right choice.”
“Vi, we don’t even know who this girl is, let alone if she can be trusted.” Niko says, turning around to face me. “For all we know, she earned her execution.”
“No one deserves to die like that.”No one.
I can't believe he and Rome are being so dismissive about someone's life. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised, it wasn't that long ago they faced a similar decision, and if it wasn’t for Dallas, I’m sure I wouldn't even be here right now.
“Bad things happen to people all the time, Violet.” Rome adds, throwing metaphorical salt in my wounds. “We can't go around trying to save everyone. Especially when we don't know who they are or who they’re connected to.”
I let the conversation end on that note. I don’t have any more energy left in me to argue with him.
He’s right. I can’t save everyone. I know that better than anyone. But I can’t help but feel proud of what we did back there. And as much as he doesn’t like what happened, he can’t deny the fact that he played a big part in rescuing her, too. For all of his grumbles and groans about wanting us to stay out of it, when I needed his help, he was there for me and that’s something I didn’t expect from him.
* * *
I awake with a jolt as the car pulls to a stop and my eyes fly open. Immediately, Dallas’s hand is on mine, squeezing it tight and whispering reassurances in my ear. I’m not sure how he could pick up on my panic so quickly, but I’m relieved nonetheless. I scoot closer to him and nestle my face against his side.
“Damn it, V.” Dallas jokes, shaking his head. “You better quit touching me like that before I’m tempted to make an honest woman out of you.”
The southern drawl in his rich voice puts a smile on my face and I purposely slip my arm around him and squeeze tighter. He’s joking. Obviously. We’re just friends, but I refuse to stop touching him on principle alone. “Admit that you’re in love with me and I will.” I prod, pressing my face against his side to stifle my laugh.
Dallas says nothing in response and when I look up at him, there’s a little less amusement in his eyes than there was a second ago. “Alright, V.” He says, shaking his head with a smile. “Enough jokes. Rome and Niko already went inside and I need to pee like a racehorse. It’s time to get your lazy ass up.”