“They were friends?”
“Yeah. Max had either borrowed money or pissed off everyone else. Max grabbed me as soon as I walked in the door. He went through my bag and found the money Eden had given me. I knew I was sunk then. But he apologized to me. Said he was stressed because he wanted to help Angie, and because he owed money to a loan shark. He told me he’d come up with a plan to help Angie.”
“But he didn’t have a plan?”
“Oh no, he did. But first, he took the money from Eden and got high, then gambled the rest away. He had Angie get some information from Bartolli’s office. I don’t know what it was, but he seemed to think it would fix everything. Only it didn’t. Turns out, he was never going to use the information to help Angie. He wanted to sell it.”
She took in a deep breath. “Only . . . Bartolli’s men were now after him. And he couldn’t go anywhere without fear of being found. That night I called Eden to meet me at Suck ‘n Blow, I was trying to get away from him again. I don’t know why Max took us there. He said he had to meet with someone. He left me in the car, parked down the road away from the parking lot.”
She ran her hand over her face. “I called Eden and asked her to meet me. But Max found me before she got there. He threw me back into the car and drove us to Carl’s place. He was furious. He hit me, hurt me, then when I was on the floor unable to move, he left.”
“That fucking bastard,” he snarled furiously.
“Yeah. When Carl got home later that night, he was really upset. Told me I needed to leave Max. That I could stay with him and he’d get me a job. It was so tempting. I woke up the next morning and Max was in a temper. He destroyed Carl’s place.”
“Why?”
“He’d lost the pen drive with the information that Angie helped him get. Carl kicked him out and told him not to come back. And that’s how I ended up living with Carl. I never saw Max again.”
“Where can I find this Max?” Zander asked in a cold, deadly voice.
She shook her head. “He’s dead now. Carl got me the job at Reaper’s and he never hit me, not until that day you found me. But he . . . he often scared me. He wasn’t violent, but he could be cold and scary. I didn’t want to mess with him.”
“And he came up with the plan to steal from the Iron Shadows?”
“Yeah, he told me that Reyes had drug money in his safe. I figured what did it matter? Stealing drug money from bad guys? Except, if they weren’t bad guys, then I messed up again. I seem to go for a type, don’t I?”
Zander reared back. “I would never hit you.”
“No . . . no, I didn’t mean you. But my father, then Max. I thought Carl was a good guy. I was wrong again. He lied to me, tricked me. I need to find out what happened to my sister.”
“I can help you do that.”
“Thank you. She’s all I have.”
He gave a short nod.
He was acting odd. Well, more than usual.
He’d closed off from her, she realized. Because of what she’d told him?
Did he think less of her now?
19
An hour later, a suitcase appeared in her room while she was in the bathroom.
Anxiety was a tight knot in her stomach. Well, he couldn’t be any clearer, right? He wanted her to pack up and leave.
Because who would want to be with her after everything she’d just confessed? But she couldn’t help the despair from making her shoulders sag as she changed back into some of her old clothes then packed up her meagre belongings. The hardest things to leave behind were Joseph Herbert and the eReader. She made sure that she gave Joseph Herbert a big piece of cheese.
She hoped someone else would feed him each night. Then she took a seat on the sofa and waited. Zander said that he would help her find out what happened to Angie, and she knew that he kept his promises. So she guessed she just had to wait.
When the door opened, she had retreated completely into herself. It was the only way to survive. To keep herself protected.
This was going to hurt like a bitch.
Why did she keep doing this to herself? Keep thinking that things would get better? They would never get better. This was it for her life. The best she could expect.