“Here’s what I’m gonna do for you,” he said as if I hadn’t spoken. “Got a deal that’ll make you happier than a raccoon at the dump. You got a boyfriend? Arealboyfriend, not that artsy motherfucker.”
Artsy motherfucker?I didn’t know what he meant, and I was too terrified to choose my words carefully, so I blurted out, “No. I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Carl nodded with satisfaction. “You do now. I hear you got about two more weeks in town, right? Until then, you’ll be mine. Ridin’ around with me and the Copperheads. Comin’ home with me at night. Doingwhatever I want. That’s all you gotta do and I won’t say nothin’ about you and Jayce to Sid. Mum’s the word. Do we got a deal?”
The proposition was so ridiculous I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It would have been insane inanycircumstance withanyperson, let alone this skinny tweaker.
But he knew about me and Jayce. The embrace we shared, and holding hands as we left the graveyard. If Sid learned about that…
“No,” I said. There was no other answer I could possibly give. “I’m not for sale.”
He made a face. “Aww, come on now. You know you want to wrap those pretty red lips around my cock and suck down what I feed you—”
I slapped him without thinking, catching him across his cheek with a whip-like crack. My palm burned, but Carl only seemed amused by it. Like he was the kind of man who got slapped by women all the time.
And then he backhanded me, knuckles striking the bones of my cheek. I cried out and put a hand to my face, wincing with both shock and pain.
“I like ‘em feisty,” he said with a humorless grin. “Slap me again.”
The sound of a shotgun being pumped made him freeze.
Jayce stood in the doorway with his shotgun aimed directly at Carl’s face. Lightning flashed in the sky behind, silhouetting him against the darkness.
“Touch her again and I’ll blow your hand off,” Jayce rumbled. Not the tone of a threat—just a man stating a fact.
I scrambled off my barstool and moved to the side of the room. Carl glanced at me, then at Jayce, then at the shotgun. The switchblade still twirled in his fingers, its blade now catching the dim light of the bar. He abruptly stopped the twirling, snatched the grip of the blade out of mid-air, and slammed the sharp point into the wood bartop.
“That’s not very nice,” he said as he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Jayce remained motionless, shotgun still aimed pointedly, while Carl lit a match and held it to the end of the cigarette. A puff of smoke went up in the bar.
Flop’s ex-wife came barging out from the kitchen. “Ain’t no smoking allowed in—” She cut off when she saw Jayce. “Oh. Uh.Fuck.” She disappeared back in the kitchen and began berating Flop.
“Turn around,” Jayce commanded. “Put your hands behind your back.”
Carl chuckled as he obeyed, cigarette balanced in the corner of his mouth. “Wait ‘til I spill the beans about you two. Sid’ll be so happy he’llgiveme that plump little pussy as a reward.” His tongue flicked out between his lips.
Jayce approached slowly while keeping the shotgun trained on the Copperhead. “Hey, Flop? Need your help out here,” he called as he got close enough to touch the biker. “Bring something I can use to tie him up. Hey, Peaches?”
He didn’t take his eyes off Carl. I blinked and realized he was talking to me. “Yeah?”
“Time for you to get the hell out of here.” When I didn’t move, he raised his voice. “Go to the diner! Mindy’ll give you a ride back to the motel. Go,now.”
Unsure what else to do, I fled out into the thundering night.
25
Jayce
I didn’t feel comfortable with the situation until Charlotte was gone. With her nearby, she could quickly become an innocent bystander. With her out of the bar, onlymylife was in danger.
I could deal with that.
“Flop?” I called again. “Need some help, pal.”
“I’m comin’!” He emerged from the kitchen a moment later with a thin length of wire.
“That looks like the string used to tie a sack of potatoes,” I grumbled.
“That’s exactly what it is!” Flop snapped. “I don’t got anything better, so it’s this or nothin’.”