I stare at the offensive lump sitting menacingly on the hood, one end of it pointing at the windscreen where ‘Beaufort Bitch’ has been scrawled in a deep shade of red.
“Don’t worry, baby,” I soothe, tentatively reaching out and stroking my car again. “I’ll get you cleaned up. You’ll be as good as new, I promise.”
“I can smell it from here.” Mikey doubles over and gags.
I step back, glancing up and down the street. It’s deserted. I thought I’d parked in a safe spot, beneath a streetlight, not far from the club. It’s not the first time someone’s left something for me on my car. The crystals and my license plate,Sin B 1,make it instantly recognizable. But apart from the odd time recently that it’s been something unpleasant, it’s been nice. A flower, or a cute note telling me I looked pretty in my latest campaign.
Not a…
“Shit! What are you going to do?” Mikey looks at me, then at Lenny. He presses a fist to his lips and blinks hard.
“I’ll text the shop,” I say, pulling out my phone. “They’ll send a truck to pick him up in the morning.”
They’ll fix Lenny. They’ve never let me down before. I’ll pay them extra this time though, for dealing with the?—
“Turd smell makes me want to hurl. Can we stand further away?” Mikey pleads, pulling me along the sidewalk. “Jesus, it smells like something died, and then they ate it, and then they shit it out on… Sorry,” he mumbles, giving me a sympathetic look. “Your poor car.”
“Yeah. Lenny doesn’t deserve this.” I chew on my lower lip as I survey the empty street again.
Mikey and I are the only two who walked this way after we left the club. His apartment isn’t far from mine, so I said I’d givehim a ride. I wish Zoey and the others hadn’t already gone. It’s only a disgusting prank, but the hairs on the back of my neck are still standing up at seeing Lenny like this.
“Maybe there’s CCTV?” I say, glancing up at the buildings, but I don’t see anything that looks like a camera. I blow out a defeated breath. “I’ll call Sullivan to give us a lift.”
The idea dies as soon as I’ve said it. Sullivan is at my father’s place. We’ve been taking it in turns to stay with him and Halliday since they were both discharged from hospital with smoke inhalation. I can’t ask him to leave them. What if one of them needs him?
I unlock my phone and bring my messages up, my thumb hovering over the keyboard. I could text Denver. It would be an awkward ride home with the silent hulk, but at least it’s not standing beside Lenny in the middle of the night, seeing him in this condition.
The evening air makes me shiver, and Mikey wraps an arm around me, rubbing me to warm me up. “It’s okay.” He taps something on his phone. “I’ve got us a ride. You can stay at my place. I don’t like the idea of you going home alone.”
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine. Besides, Monty’s there, I won’t be alone,” I say, my heart lifting at the thought of a cuddle from my dog when I get home.
My eyes are drawn to a shimmer of white crystals lying in the dirty gutter, and I shiver again. “We’ll be fine,” I repeat.
2
SINCLAIR
“So we got juice,muffins, and milk. And that was a good call on the coffee beans. Dad hates running out.”
Monty wags his tail as he looks at me with shiny, dark brown eyes. I crouch and rub his ear.
“You’re such a handsome boy,” I coo, earning myself a lick on the face. How anyone can not like the Chinese Crested breed baffles me. He’s so cute with his sporadic patches of hair. And it means that he likes wearing the sweaters I get for him because they keep his hairless tummy clean and warm. Dad got him for me as a surprise the day after the funeral. Monty’s been by my side ever since.
“And it’s going to be your birthday soon. You need to give me some ideas on what flavor cake you’d like this year, okay? The doggy bakery you like gets busy, you know.”
He stares at me, his tail wagging. I scoop him up under one arm, nuzzling the top of his head.
“Let’s see how they are, then I’ll take you to the park,” I say as I juggle the bag I’m holding in my other hand and ring the bell of my father’s penthouse.
He opens the door, the silver-flecked stubble on his jaw catching the light. He smiles when he sees me. He’s dressed for work in a shirt and suit pants, and Halliday is behind him in a sweater and yoga pants, her cheeks flushed.
“Oh good, you do both look better.” I hand the bag of groceries to my father and walk straight inside, depositing Monty on the polished wood floor. He makes a beeline for Halliday, dancing around in front of her as she bends and fusses him.
She looks up from beneath her platinum blonde hair and catches my eye. I smile, my heart swelling. She’s thirty, seven years older than me, and we’ve become friends. People have commented on the fact she’s twenty years younger than my father and they’re having a baby together. But I don’t give a shit what people say, or what garbage the press like to spin. She gave my father something no one else could. Not me, Sullivan, his granddaughter, Molly, Uncle Mal, his friends. She gave him a reason to keep living. Not going through the motions of it each day like he was doing, butreallylive. She gave him love. And now she’s giving our whole family a new baby to love.
“There are some bridal magazines in that bag too. I thought we could take a look?”
“Sure, that would be amazing. Come on through, we just ate, but did you want some breakfast?” Halliday offers.
