She tells me the current case she’s working on – mine – is bothering her.
I vow to make it all better soon.
She doesn’t understand how I can make it so, and I can’t explain to her my reasons. So we go back to salad and sex, and ignore everything else.
Puffing warm air into my hands, I look around the same truck stop that Jess and I ate in almost exactly a week ago, and I watch as each truck passes through the well-lit gas station. Dolly wouldn’t be here at this hour. She’s a day shift gal – she told me so. So it’s just me, the dark, and a bunch of truck drivers who probably miss their wives.
The front of the stop is lit up from the overhead halogens, but the back, where I stand and trucks park to catch a few hours sleep before they move on again, is dark as fuck and just as creepy.
Of course Abel chose this place.
I press my back to the grimy wall and cast my gaze as far as it can go. Flynn should’ve been here already. We spent hours in Abel’s office last night discussing the plan before Abel had to leave for hisfamily plansbullshit.
I know it’s bullshit.
He knows I know it’s bullshit.
But there’s no way he’ll be here for the drop – that’s what his soldiers are for. So when the cops sweep, Abel has an alibi and a new stamp in his passport.
Asshole.
My skin itches, and the gun tucked into the back of my jeans sits frozen against my flesh. As used to the cold metal on my back as I am of the blade in my hand, I walk around the large building and keep an eye out for visitors.
It’s too dark.
Too quiet.
Where the fuck is Flynn?
I don’t trust that motherfucker one bit. He has a fat ego, an attitude problem, and a grudge because I bumped him out of Abel’s top slot. He knows he’s dispensable. He knows Abel’s making plans without him, and he seems to think that’s on me.
I don’t want to spend a single second with the prick, but if he’s supposed to be here, I’d rather he was right in front of me, rather than skulking around with a gun in his hand.
He’ll take me out in a heartbeat and tell Abel it all happened in the heat of the moment. If he was right in front of me, I could get off the first round.
The enemy you see is better than the enemy sneaking up behind you.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and though I asked her to send it, though I asked her to check in, the vibration against my leg still sends a bolt of electricity through my blood.
Digging my left hand into my pocket, I take out the silent cell and breathe a little easier just at the sight of her name on my screen.
Jess:I’m at Britt’s house – she’s the one married to the fighter. I’m safe and sound. Lying in bed with my sister. Locked up behind a ten-foot fence, guarded by a giant dog that might be part Russian, and I have half a dozen world champion fighters within arm’s reach. That’s actually not an exaggeration. Everything is fine here. I’m safe. So I need you to do your job, then text me when it’s done. I’ll come to your apartment.
And just like that, she’s adapted to my world.
So pure, so innocent, the girl who’s never done anything wrong in her life has now adapted to being the girl of a criminal; instead of focusing on my actions and the fact I’m helping tens of millions of dollars worth of drugs into the country, she’s worried for my safety.
We need to talk about that.
She needs to straighten her priorities.
Me:Stay put. I’ll come to you. Don’t step outside that house without my permission. Go to sleep, Blondie. It’s gonna be a long night. Who knows; maybe everything will go fine, then tomorrow I’ll be free. Maybe you can invite me over for Thanksgiving dinner and I can practice running from bullets some more. I really wanna meet this giant ass family you keep bragging about.
“Bishop.”
I turn and slide my cell into my pocket. With a halo of light behind his head, I come eye-to-eye with Flynn; the man I’m supposed to trust. But I don’t. Not a fuckin’ chance.
There are now three people on this planet I trust.