“I don’t want to see you around here again.” I take a photo of his license, then of his family, and he gasps. “Don’t go getting any ideas about figuring out who I am or thinking you can run and I won’t find you. I will. And then I’ll make you suffer even more because friends don’t run away from friends.” I toss him back his wallet, then get out of the car.
Tired of sitting in front of the trailer, I retrace my steps through the woods to the old gravel road where I hid my car. I drive to the Pizza Palace, park in a dark corner of the parking lot, and wait. I don’t want to go inside and tip Shai off that I’m around again. I doubt he’ll do much of anything after work, since he hasn’t the other nights, but you never know. If I don’t get anything from him, then I’ll have to pay Kat a visit.
I sign up for the dating app Kat’s on and browse her profile to learn as much about her as I can. She looks aged butyoung, if that makes sense. She had to be younger than Shai is now when she had him.
He gets off at ten tonight. I watch in my rearview mirror as he comes out, all bundled up in a coat and gloves. He goes straight to his trunk, digs around inside and pulls out a backpack, then climbs into the car and starts it. Once it’s warmed up, he pulls out of the lot, and I wait a moment before starting my car and following. I keep a good distance, not worried about losing him because he’s had a tracker on his car for two days now.
I really don’t have to go through all this reconnaissance with him. This isn’t what Cillian had in mind, and not a single part of me thinks he’s a danger to Ollie. He doesn’t know who we are, and he seems to sincerely want to be friends with Ollie, but…it’s killing me not to know his story and what he’s running from, if anything. I could see the unease in him when he looked at me, the fear he tried to hide and maybe doesn’t even realize is there. But he bites back, and I like that. Not many people give me that challenge.
Shai’s first stop is a gas station. I pull over in the grocery-store lot next door, close enough that I can see him put gas in his car, then go in and buy a soda and chips. He looks around nervously before getting back into his car and driving away.
Shai drives out of town, disappearing into the night, the distance between our cars growing as he pulls onto the interstate. “Where are you going?” I ask into my empty vehicle.
He drives about thirty minutes away, pulls off into a small nothing town, snow gently falling against the night. A dive bar is hidden off a slow two-lane street. It’s the only place in town that feels alive, like its damn heartbeat or something. But Shai doesn’t park there, instead continuing on for a bit before stopping on the side of the dark road. When I pass him, he’sbehind his car, messing with the license plate.
What the fuck?
I keep going, watching the red blinking dot that indicates where he is, and a moment later I see him drive back to the bar and pull into the lot. He came all the way out here to drink? Meet someone? But that doesn’t explain whatever the hell he was doing with his license plate.
I turn around and head back that direction. I can’t pull into the lot without him seeing me, so I turn off my lights and stop on the side of the road, keeping enough distance that I can see the bar and Shai’s car, while hoping like hell no one drives by too fast and hits me.
Minute after minute ticks by, Shai sitting in his vehicle. My pulse speeds up, my curiosity getting the better of me. Maybe he just came here for a beer, but something isn’t adding up, and I definitely want to know what the fuck is going on.
A guy comes out, leans against the side of the building, pulling his beanie down over his head before lighting a cigarette. My gaze flicks to Shai in his car. The door slowly opens, and he comes out wearing…holy fuck. I sit up straighter, my skin suddenly on fire. He’s wearing a black hoodie and jeans, black mask over his head and face, gloves, just like the motherfucker who robbed me.
Before I even realize what I’m doing, I grab my gun and slip from the car, closing the door softly and keeping to the shadows. I can’t hear them, but I see the second Shai sneaks up behind the guy, gun raised—and if that motherfucker has my gun, I’m going to kill him even more slowly.
The cigarette drops from the guy’s hand, and he puts his hands up.
It’s him. It’s fucking him. There’s no doubt in my mind, and I wonder how I didn’t see it before, how I didn’trecognize his voice or how he moves. He had to have been getting a good laugh out of that, hadn’t he? Seeing me, talking to me, and me not knowing who he is. My skin feels like it burns off my bones.
Just as Shai is grabbing the guy’s wallet, the bar door opens and another guy comes out. Shai’s head shoots up. His mark takes advantage, throwing his elbow back and hitting Shai in the face. His head snaps back. The new guy clocks them just as the mark grabs Shai’s arm, hitting it against the brick building, the gun falling to the ground. “This fucker tried to rob me!” he says, and the other guy’s eyes look aglow. Oh yeah, these two are out for blood, want to be the fucking heroes and give Shai what he deserves. It’s always like this, especially at this kind of bar, people itching for a fight, and now Shai will be on the receiving end.
Serves him right. Every nerve ending in my body wants to stand here and watch, to see him suffer, but then…if they hurt him, I can’t.
The two of them are on Shai, who looks scrappy as fuck, much like me as he tries to take them both on. They’re bigger than him, and he gets a few good hits in but takes more than he dishes out.
I can’t risk someone else coming out. The last thing we need is someone calling the cops.
“Fuck,” I grit out, running over.
The second guy sees me, but it’s too late. I grab him by the jacket and spin him around, my fist connecting with his face. He stumbles backward, the first guy taken by surprise, which gives Shai the advantage he needs. He shoves the guy against the wall and punches him in the gut. I grab the hair of the man I’m fighting, pull his head down and knee him in the face, blood rushing out everywhere. He cries out, grabs his nose, and falls to the ground just before my foot connects withhis stomach. Shai is kicking and punching, both guys moaning on the ground. I pick up the gun before anyone else can, and all it takes is one look to know it’s mine.
“I’ll fucking kill you,” I seethe. “Slowly.”
“Kill me later. We need to get the hell out of here!”
I hate that he’s right. I don’t even know if there are any cameras here. If so, my face is all over the fucking place. I deliver another swift kick before the two of us run away.
I shove him against his car, my forearm pressing on his throat, gun held under his chin. “Go to your house. Don’t do anything to piss me off, or Kat dies.” His pupils flare. “That’s right. I know who she is, the sexy little blond. Not much older than you. Your trailer is really easy to get into as well. I’ve watched her sleep.” The latter is a lie, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“Fuck you! Don’t you fucking touch her! I’ll—”
“Do nothing is what you’ll do. Get in the fucking car and go home.”
I let go of him, run to my vehicle and take off, hating that the excited buzz beneath my skin is strong enough to rival the anger.
CHAPTER EIGHT
