“Fuck, bro. Just try it.”
What was this? Peer pressure? Annoyed, I picked up a blade, hurtled it through the air, and shocked the shit out of me and Rael when it hit dead center of the board. A perfect fucking bullseye.
“Shit,” Rael laughed. “You’re a natural.”
Unable to resist, I smiled. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Try another. Prove its not beginner’s luck.”
Despite my earlier apprehension, I decided to throw again after Rael retrieved the knife and handed it over. The blade landed in the center again. Nearly perfect.
“Impressive, bro.”
Yeah, it kind of was. I threw six more times and my aim was the same. Almost all were in the center. “Fine. This isn’t that bad.”
He huffed out a breath. “Admit it. I’m fun to be around.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
We each smirked at one another.
My phone chirped with an incoming text a few minutes later.
Xenon: You there?
Me: Yeah. What’s up?
Xenon: Monitor is back up but blurry.
Me: OK
Xenon: Looks like trouble. Better check it out.
Me: Shit. OMW.
“Xenon says the monitor is working but it’s blurry. Looks like something is up.”
Rael cursed. “Let’s roll out.”
I chugged the last of the beer and ran from the bar, hopping on my bike. We broke every law speeding through Highway 95 to get back to Tonopah. I didn’t notice much at first when we turned onto Sasha’s street. It wasn’t until we were almost at the apartment that I noticed the front door was busted in. Place had been completely ransacked. Furniture was overturned. Drawers dumped. Pictures pulled off the walls and broken. Glass and debris were all over the floor.
“Son of a bitch!” Rael shouted.
The alarm was blaring a shrill wail as I stepped inside and punched in the code, plunging the apartment into silence. We moved from room to room but no one was there. In the back bedroom, the one that belonged to Sasha, four words were written in black spray paint on the wall: I’m coming for you.
“Fuck,” I roared, kicking at a wastebasket as it tossed more paper and junk onto the carpet.
“She’s not here. It’s all good,” he reminded me.
Not good enough, though. My woman wasn’t safe. Not really. She was a target and Chamuco was making sure I knew it.
Both of our phones began ringing at the same time.
Rael answered but I didn’t hear what he was saying because Grim was on my line.
“What you need, pres?”
“Bodie, you’ve got to find Sasha.”