“Some habits die hard.”
“You should try it. Might make you feel better.”
“I’ll save it up for when things arereallybad,” I said as we carried the board over to the posts. “Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. I wish I wasn’t stuck in this stupid town.”
Jayce aimed a nail and drove it into the wood with three smooth hammer strikes. “You and me both, Peaches.”
I gave him a funny look as he came over to nail in my half of the board. “Something Mindy had told me was tickling my curiosity. “Why areyoustuck here? Your license isn’t suspended. You could ride away and all they could do is give you a fine for skipping the community service.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You did your research?”
I stood up straight. “I’m not above admitting that I looked up the penalty. I would do it in a heartbeat if my license wasn’t suspended.”
“Three days here and you’re already a hardened criminal.” He leaned in close to position the nail on the board above my hand. The tattoo on his right arm rippled as he hammered it home.
“So what’s the deal? Why don’t you leave?”
“I just can’t.”
I admired his glistening back muscles as he retrieved another board. “What did you do to tick off the Copperheads? What does Sid think you stole?”
He hefted the next piece of wood and carried it over. I grabbed the other end while he positioned his side against the post. “It’s better if you don’t get involved. Just keep your head down and—”
I let go of my end, letting itthunkinto the dirt. I put my hands on my hips in my best impression of my momma when she’d had enough of someone’s attitude.
“Keep my head down and then leave town, right? Yeah, you and everyone else has told me that, but not much else. I’m getting sick of getting the runaround. You won’t tell me what the Copperheads are up to. You won’t tell me how you upset them. And you won’t tell me what they want from you. I’m not a toddler who needs to be kept from the truth for her own protection. I can handle reality.”
“Drugs.”
I opened my mouth to yell some more, then closed it. I hadn’t expected him to actually answer. “Oh.”
Jayce lowered his end of the wood and leaned against the post. A trickle of sweat ran down his temple. “They move drugs all over the state. That’s what’s in the big cement mixer. Bags of meth and heroine. Sid keeps the Copperheads drugged up all the time. Hell, he’s high most of the time himself.”
“That explains why a bunch of them were ridiculously skinny,” I said. “And why Sid seemed so crazy.”
“Naw,” Jayce said. “Sid was crazy long before he started using. You satisfied now that you know what’s going on?”
“I guess,” I replied. “You didn’t have to call me the c-word, though.”
He sighed and leaned on the fence post. The gesture made the muscle in his shoulder flex like a beast awakening from its slumber. “I was tryin’ to save your life, Peaches.”
“Oh yeah?” I said. “Some emotional abuse for my own good? I’ve seen this lifetime movie before. Next you’ll say you hit women because youcareabout them too much.”
I kept my tone half-joking, but half-serious. Jayce’s eyes were full of sadness. “You don’t understand.”
“Maybe help me understand, then, instead of being all cryptic about it.”
“They think I stole from them.”
“Stole what?”
“Money from a drug sale.”
I paused. “Did you?”
“I’m not gonna dignify that with a response,” he said. “They think I stole this money, and they’ll do anything to get it back, using whatever leverage over me they can find. You saw what Sid did to my truck.” He looked at me with a hard, certain gaze. “You came up to me and showed concern. Caring for me, asking if I was okay. They were watching. I had to act like a dick to you. Otherwise…”
“Otherwise he might have smashedmewith the crowbar,” I said. “Just like you said.”