I whip my car into Marcus’s driveway and run to his door, knocking repeatedly, willing him to be home. Finally, the door flies open mid-knock.
“Ella, what the fuck happened to your face?” Marcus’sexpression morphs with genuine distress over my bruised and busted cheek.
I push past him and walk into his house. “Your boss sent some of your coworkers to have a little chat with me.”
He cringes. “Fuck, I’m so sorry, Ella. This is so fucked up.”
I pivot to face him as he shuts the front door. “Where’s Benny?”
Marcus flops down on the couch and gestures like I should sit down on the opposite end. I shake my head. I can’t sit down. Restless, anxious energy has me amped up. “What do you mean, where’s Benny?”
“The guys at my apartment said they have him.” My voice breaks with emotion. “They want the rest of the money.”
Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, his head drops in defeat. “Goddamn, I didn’t think they would actually go get him.” He locks eyes with mine. “Any chance you have the rest of the money?”
I roll my lips over my teeth, trying to fend off the new wave of tears, and shake my head. “I’ll have forty thousand in a few days, but I would have to make payments on the rest.” Sitting down on the couch next to him, I grip his bicep. “Marcus, is there any chance you know where the drugs went? They said they would also accept the drugs back.”
Marcus’s humorless laugh has my stomach dropping. “Those drugs are long gone, Oli. Long fucking gone. That idiot got high, and somefriendsof his decided to take advantage of the fact that he had no idea what the fuck was happening and stole everything. The money from the little he sold and the rest of the drugs.” He looks over at me with a slight wince. “No offense at me calling him an idiot.”
I collapse against the back of his couch. “None taken. It’s deserving. Did Benny tell you that?”
He nods, his head hanging down. “Yeah, I talked to him right after it happened, and he told me. I tried to figure out who it was and where they went so I could get it back and make this right. But by the time I did, it was too late.”
He sounds so despondent over what happened that I reach over and rub his back. “I don’t like that you sold to him all those years, or that you were a part of his getting involved in all of this, but I believe you didn’t want this to happen.”
As he tilts his head to look at me, his eyes are tortured but jaded. “This wasn’t the first time he sold, Olive.”
I’m not surprised by that. I’d assumed as much, considering the amount of drugs he was given to sell. I have to imagine any drug dealer worth their salt wouldn’t give a brand-new lower-level drug dealer inventory worth that amount.
“I got him that job at the mechanic’s shop to get him out of this. But he got fired and came crawling back. I was so pissed at him.”
That admission does surprise me. I didn’t even consider that Marcus was the one who helped Benny get that job. My heart softens even further for Marcus. “It really sounds like you tried to help him. And for that, I’ll forever be grateful. Even if this is the worst-case scenario we’re in currently.”
Both of us tense when a loud knock sounds at his door. He glances back at me, unease filling his eyes. The knocking echoes through the house again and has my nerves skyrocketing.
“Are you going to get that?” I whisper.
Marcus’s gaze goes to the door for a moment. He looks atme once more before pushing himself to stand and goes to answer the door.
I can’t see who’s outside when he pulls the door open, but his expression is even more solemn than it was before.
That can’t be good.
The man who steps through the door is tall and muscular. He’s nicely dressed but still casual enough to not look out of place in this neighborhood. It’s who’s behind him that has my breath catching.
Benny’s slumped between the two men I met at my apartment earlier today. I never actually got a good look at the one who hit me, but I assume one of them is him because of the small bruises under his eyes and the cut across the bridge of his nose. The other man is definitely the one who was sitting on my couch.
“Well, what a pleasant surprise. I had no idea we would have a family reunion,” the first man says gleefully when he sees me. Then he turns to the two other men. “Why don’t you put the thief on the couch over there? I’m sure his sister wants to say hello.”
The man who hit me has a menacing smirk as they approach. But the other man’s face is unreadable. They dump Benny on the couch next to me, and I wrap my arms around him to keep him upright. Tears filling my eyes, I place my hand on his cheek to force him to look at me. “Benny, are you alright?”
Benny blinks a few times and gives me a small smile. “Oli. I fucked up. They gave me drugs. I didn’t want to do them again this time. For you.”
Pushing down my emotions, I hug him to me and smooth down his hair with a trembling hand. “It’s okay, Benny. We’ll figure this out.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” the man I haven’tseen before now says with a cruel smile as he sits on the coffee table directly in front of me. I glare at him as I pull Benny in tighter. “Olive, it’s wonderful to meet you in person. Benny and Marcus have had great things to say about you. Not so much Tiny over there.” He inclines his head to the man with the injured nose. “But I can’t say that I blame him for not having the most flattering things to say about you.”
My insides are quaking in fear, but at least I have Benny with me. This would be worse if I still didn’t know where he was. I swallow hard. “I’m trying to get you your money.”
