He stares out the windshield and stares four houses up to Graham’s double story in suburbia. “You’re not in love with Jess, are you? I’d hate to have to kill you.”
I laugh. “Are you in love with Laine?”
“No.”
“How can you tell? How do you know the difference?”
His forehead wrinkles. “I dunno, I just can. I know which one I’m walking to. It’s something in her eyes.”
“They’re exactly the same eyes.”
“I know…” His narrow. “It’s just… something in them is different.”
“Exactly.” I tap his chest, then turn away and push my car door open. “You see the personality, too. You see her heart. You see her soul. So no, I’m not in love with Jessie. I love her, I’ll lay my life down for her, but I don’t love her like I love Laine.”And the worst part is, Laine doesn’t love me back. She doesn’t even know I exist.“Let’s go.”
I push my car door closed as quietly as I can. Just the softest snick echoes in the street, then I walk to the trunk and pull it open.
“Fuck me, Ang.” He stops beside me. “You coulda told me we were driving around with a murder kit before I got in your car. Turner pulls us over, we’re both going to prison.”
“It’s just a bag.” I frown and shuffle things around.
“It’s a sack. Then there’s a shovel. And a tire wrench.”
“The tire wrench is for my tires, dumbass. The shovel is in case he accidentally dies.”
When Kane’s eyes meet mine, we both have that moment of realization. That moment that I step away from being a regular guy with a regular job and regular hobbies, and I become a guy willing to kill a man for Laine.
I’m not scared of the power that swirls in my blood. I’m not nervous. I’m ready to take back some of Laine’s freedom. I’m ready to do whatever it takes to give her back some of the power Graham took away.
Picking up the sack, I push the trunk closed with a soft snick and move through the street.
“Knock him out. Do it quietly. Take him back to my garage.”
Kane moves into step beside me. His hands flex, and suddenly, somehow, there’s a gun in his grasp that I swear wasn’t hidden anywhere in my car. “You’re a hundred percent set on your garage? Shit can get messy. Dude will squeal like a pig. You got neighbors that’ll call the cops.”
“My family are the cops.”
“And Alex Turner will arrest you faster than Graham’s gonna shit his pants. Family doesn’t mean shit when you’re peeling someone’s fingernails back and enjoying his screams.”
“Family means everything. Alex didn’t do this yet, but only because he can’t. He’s the chief; he can’t get his hands dirty, but I guarantee he’ll find it in his heart to turn a blind eye. He knows what’s up. He knows what Graham did. And he knows someone else will take care of what he can’t.”
“You’re set on the garage? That’s Main Street, man.”
“You got another suggestion? I’m not taking him to my house. That’s my home, my sanctuary. It’s a safe space for Laine to visit.”
“Yeah. I got something.” Pulling out his cell, he dials and brings it up to his ear. It’s nearing eleven at night, and most people I know are likely asleep, but whoever Kane calls answers on the second ring.
“Yeah?”
“Spence. We need your place.”
“What’s up, Bish?”
We stop in the yard next door to Graham’s house, and the silence of the night means I can hear every word Spence says. My spine tingles, because I don’t know that guy. I hardly even know Kane, but now he’s bringing someone else in.
“We need a room that washes out easy, and we need all your security cams turned off for an hour.”
“Who are you hittin’, Bish? I thought you were out?”