Chapter Twelve: Terror Strikes
Delphia
The calls stopped. It had been two weeks since the last harrowing one from Rocky. I was reaching for some hope that he’d leave me alone and that I’d be able to move forward in my life without fear.
I wanted my own life, and I wanted to thrive. Me and Bear were good, so good. I was starting to feel like maybe I did deserve him and that we were a good match.
I steadied my hands over my coffee as the memories of my brother’s funeral cascaded in. My mother, who was normally a put-together woman, was a mess as my father tried to hold her steady. The chilling howl she released as her shaky fingers ran over the top of the casket still made me flinch. That day was burned into the recesses of my skull. I watched other family members gather around her and my father, but I just stood there, numb, not wanting to believe that my brother was gone.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” That’s what my father whispered in my mother’s ear, but it wasn’t. People shook my hand at the funeral and said the usual things that people say.
“Sorry for your loss.”
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Be strong. Your brother’s watching over you now.”
I wanted to tell them all that if hell was a place on earth, then it’s where I was ensnared. Even after all the therapy sessions and trying to get a handle on Deon’s death, I felt couldn’t cope with it all.
A rap of knuckles on the door jolted me out of my dark space. I opened the door, plastering a smile.
“Hi, I’m here…” Angie’s emerald eyes pierced mine as I let her in.
Not wasting any time, she spread out a bunch of scribbled notes on the table. “I want to show you what I’ve written so far. Take a look over my notes and tell me what I’m missing. I want to make sure everything is accurate.”
My heart started beating fast in my chest. Dread washed over me, combined with a fresh dose of fear about the retaliation I would face from Rocky. I knew Rocky suspected I had information about the money between him and Deon, but even I didn’t know what was in the locker that Deon gave me a code to. My stomach churned as I pictured the bleak end of my life. “This is—this is so much. I don’t know if I can do it. What if Rocky comes after me again? I keep seeing my brother in the river. I want you to do the article. Can you leave it with me and I can read over everything?” My throat was tight, but I was doing my best to be brave.
“I can understand that. These are my rough notes. Mainly, I want to be accurate about the times and dates on the tapes he gave you. If the case does reopen, you are aware that it’s highly likely you'll be called up to testify.” She cast me a pained look as she put her hand over my wrist like a cuff.
“I can only deal with what’s in front of me now. When that comes up, I will deal with it then,” I said sharply.
“Okay. You’re right. I won’t bombard you with that. I do want to know about your brother’s life outside of his dealings with the Road Warriors and the cartel. Can you tell me more?”
“Sure. My brother was funny, he was always cracking jokes and goofing around. He liked to fish and play cards with his friends.” I felt like I was going into a trance because I started to think of my brother and his face showed up in front of me. I could hear his distant laughter. “He also liked get rich quick schemes, which was annoying. I think that’s what got him killed. He wanted to be involved with dirty things. He had this bad-boy thing going on.”
Angie sat with her hands folded in her lap as she listened.
I started to smile when I thought about how he treated me. “We were best friends… and I know it’s rare to be best friends with your brother, but we were. We didn’t fight much, but he would fight for me. I remember when I was out with my friends and we had these guys trying to hit on us. They kept trying, and that’s when my brother punched one guy in the nose. There was blood everywhere. It was crazy.”
“Hmm. I don’t want to paint him as a thug because that’s not going to help serve you and it will confuse the public with regards to what sort of person your brother was. I do want to talk about him being a protective energy, though. Are you okay with that?”
“Yep. I’m okay with that. He was protective. That’s something I want people to know about him.” I affirmed.
“Cool.” Angie thumped her pencil on the paper as she bit down on her bottom lip. “Is Rocky still hanging around? I don’t know… I was thinking maybe I could start showing up at the gas station a little more just to see if he would take the bait and we could catch him in the act of harassing you. I’m so sick of this guy. I do know that my last article worked and the Road Warriors are being heavily monitored. I can’t wait for them to get busted.” Angie’s face lit up when she spoke about the downfall of the Road Warriors.
“I hope so. They seem like they’re hard to beat. I just want my life to go back to normal. I want to be a normal Holbeck girl.” I put my face in my hands as the misery resumed.
Later that night, I showed up to work with a feeling of intense dread. I had no reason for it. A flat, heavy feeling took residence in my stomach as the double automatic doors parted and I took over the shift from Brendan. “How is it tonight? I’m pretty sure it’s going to rain. What do you think?” I asked him.
“Yep. I think Holbeck is going to get a downpour, and I’m pretty damn happy that I’m going to be at home playing on my Xbox instead of here.” He snickered, not unkindly.
“Enjoy. Any jokers I need to know about?” I called out as I dropped my bag off at the back office.
“Nope. Just me,” he responded cheerfully.
Smirking at Brendan’s self-deprecation I walked out to the front, cracking my neck from side to side. “That’s the truth if you’ve ever spoken it,” I joked.
Brendan flipped me the bird in jest and swept out of the gas station.