She’d gone from almost being murdered to being inducted into a parolee’s family. Things were definitely heading in the right direction.
“Well, thank you for saving my life,” she said lamely as she got to her feet.
“Thanks for saving my little cousin and keeping me out of prison.”
“Uh, anytime?”
“Tell Santiago that Christian Blight says hi. And you can let him know that the only connection I ever had to Beth was when I caught her boyfriend selling drugs at my party and she burned down the whole damn place because she thought I was actually going to make good with the threats.”
“The fingers and the butthole?” Riley recalled.
He grinned. “I was just trying to scare the little shit.”
“Wait. SoBethstarted the fire?”
“She said if I told the cops what she’d done, she’d do the same to my grandmother’s house. I love my grandmother. And let me tell you, Beth was crazy enough to do exactly what she said. Guess she’s pretty loyal to her family too.”
“I guess so,” Riley said, shaking her head.
“Well, I’ve got shit to do. Nice meeting you, Thorn. Thanks for fucking up Lance for me.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for knocking out Zorro for me.”
He threw a little salute in her direction and exited…through the second-story window.
Riley looked at Burt. “Okay. Let’s go find Lurlene and take down a cartel.”
Burt barked and then sneezed.
40
7:10 p.m., Wednesday, October 30
Nick was going to find Riley, have sex with her for at least twelve hours, and then lock her ass in the Creepy, Smelly Closet for locking him in his office.
He tried her phone again. Then Josie’s. Both went to voice mail again. No one at the party was answering their phone, and therefore no one was coming to let them out.
“I think it’s starting to wear off,” he said. “Feels like I’m getting slightly more blood flow to the brain.”
“My rage is starting to come back,” Kellen agreed.
Nick was a dude, and as a dude, he made it a habit to never look at another dude’s crotch. But he was also a trained observer, and even a near-sighted granny with cataracts wouldn’t have missed the circus tent in Kellen’s pants.
“Tommy hasn’t laughed like a hyena in almost five whole minutes,” Brian observed.
“Why didn’t the girls come back?” Tommy asked, kicking a metal boot against the couch.
“Because they’re evil,” Nick said.
“Or because we turned into useless horndogs at the worst possible moment?” Brian suggested.
“Stop looking so satisfied,” Kellen snapped.
Brian grinned. “Can’t help it. Sex is awesome.”
Nick’s own hard-on throbbed painfully in his jeans.
“Make it stop,” Kellen said to Nick.
