“Crystal’s right,” Baron says. “Dad didn’t get the land deal. Why would he go there?”
“Because he told me something illegal was going on there,” I say. “And I’m guess it’s not the Delacroixs doing it. Which means if he said he was at work, and he’s not here, he’s probably doing some shady shit up there to set them up.”
“Royal wouldn’t know that,” Baron says.
“Right,” I say. “Only you’d know that.”
“He’s probably at the swamp,” Baron says with a shrug. “But we can waste time finding Dad first if you want.”
“Whose side are you on?” I ask. “Royal’s, or your dad’s?”
“I’m on my family’s side,” Baron says, leveling me with that measured stare. “Always.”
“If you’re not on Royal’s side, then why are you here?” I ask.
“They’re my family,” he says coolly. “Why areyouhere?”
If I thought it would work, I’d reach across him and open the door and push him out of the moving vehicle. But I’ll have to deal with his ass later.
“The mall is on the way out of town,” King says. “We’ll swing by just in case. It’ll only take a minute.”
“Whatever you think is best,” Baron says, tapping away at his phone again, moving the sucker stem from one side of his mouth to the other with his tongue as he texts.
“I don’t know why he’d bother setting up the Delacroixs,” Duke says. “We could just burn this motherfucker to the ground!”
He pulls up at the mall, which is set up in three wings coming off the center, where the food court was located when the mall was running. The security lights are still on in the parking lot, but the interior is completely dark, which sends an eerie shiver through me. The mall is a place that should always be lit up, full of people high off the purchases in their swollen shopping bags, fussy children with food on their faces, overwhelmed parents, lovers tossing pennies in the fountain, and teenagers shoplifting cheap jewelry in their fountain drinks—another trick Lauren taught me during our brief fling.
A pair or headlights sweeps over us, and I jump, turning that way with my heart in my throat. The vehicle roars toward us, the headlights blinding, and for a second, I’m sure it’s going to barrel straight into us. A scream lodges in my throat, and then the vehicle turns, skidding to a stop beside us, and I see that it’s Colt’s truck, not my SUV. Gloria’s Mustang pulls up next to him. With Magnolia still trailing us, we’re gathering a regular parade.
Colt rolls down the window. “I went around the east wing,” he says. “No cars.”
“See?” Baron says.
“Let’s just check the last lot,” I say, nodding to the last wing of the mall. “We’re already here.”
I don’t add the rest of my thought—that I don’t trust Baron for one second.
Duke glances in the back seat at us.
“She’s right,” King says. “Might as well.”
Baron looks annoyed, but he doesn’t say anything. He rolls down the window and tosses his sucker stem, then keeps his face turned away. I wonder what the psycho knows, why he doesn’t want us here. It only convinces me that my hunch was right.
“Who’s armed?” King asks as Duke shifts into gear and starts for the last wing of the mall. “We don’t know what we’re walking into.”
I silently curse myself when I remember dropping my gun with Royal’s phone when we were frantically shedding our clothes, ready to fuck.
“I’ve got a knife,” I say. “And knuckles.”
“Magnolia’s armed as fuck,” Duke says, shaking his head.
“I have a gun,” Devlin says.
“What?” Crystal asks. “Why?”
“Because your family wants to kill me?”
“You took care of our sister and her children for the last three years,” King says. “We don’t want to kill you.”