Headlights brighten the road as I reach it, Bryce’s shouts for help in the still night urging me to put extra speed in my stride.
Then there’s a horrible thunk, and pain, and the undeniable realization that our plan is already fucked.
Chapter 85
Jansen
Shower sex was quick but fun, loud, and messy. I’m kind of proud that we christened the place. It’s not like I hadn’t imagined Clara every time I was in there, woefully alone, over the last few months.
Fun complete, I drag Walker with me to get our last unregistered car. It’ll be a tight fit in the convertible, but it’s got a big trunk, so really, it could be worse. And all of us are going with for the event, even Walker, though he told me a block ago that bloodshed isn’t his thing.
I’m not sure it’s mine either, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do my part. That punch I threw was strangely cathartic. And Bryce has more than earned an untimely end. I’m just glad that Tao took my call so late; otherwise, I don’t know where we would have gone to kill and burn the creep.
Should I feel conflicted about this? Probably. Do I? Not a bit.
I might say that I chose philosophy because it’s interesting to think about the big stuff, but part of it was also to figure out if there’s something about me that’s a little off. But at the same time, I don’t want to know. I never really did. If I had, I would have been a psychology major. Instead, I got to read The Prince and discuss political morality.
Our plan tonight is definitely for the greater good. We’re keeping who knows how many other girls from being at the receiving end of his ‘charms.’
That makes us the good guys in my book.
Walker lets me mull in silence, muttering about the cold, our ash-scented blazers and dress shoes doing almost nothing against the bitter night, until we get to where I stashed the car. He hops into the passenger seat as I crank it on, the purr of an old-school engine greeting us. It’ll be sad to strip this bad boy, but we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.
“Ready to move a rat across town in our trunk?” I ask.
Walker shakes his head at me. “I don’t know about you, but I signed on to copy the masters. Body disposal isn’t part of my resume.”
“It will be after tonight.”
“Yay.” The sarcasm twangs through the car, and I push the convertible into drive.
We’re not far from Black, but the route goes past the skeleton of our home, and the anger I found when Bryce was fighting Trips and RJ, Clara half-conscious in Walker’s arms, slams into me with all the weight of the ambulance Fluffington was yowling and coughing in. “That man needs to die.”
Walker takes in my sudden seriousness. “Yeah. He does. We all know the cops won’t do anything.”
“We handed them Trevor on a silver platter, and he’s still loose.”
“Reed stopped by. He said they’ve got a case on him.”
“Do we believe him?”
Walker shrugs. “I think he’s a good cop trying his best in a broken system.”
“This all started because he was trying to arrest Trips. He’s still free. Then he tried for Bryce. He’s out. Forgive me if I don’t believe he can do his job at all.”
Walker laughs, then curses as we spin out on the turn.
“What the fuck?”
“Black ice and no anti-lock brakes. This is just the way the drive is going to be,” I say, controlling my fishtail and getting us straightened out.
“You’re fucking crazy,” he says, holding onto the ‘oh shit’ handle like we’re going a hundred on a back road.
“It’s just really fucking cold, and it snowed earlier. It’s going to be slick.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
A flash of motion catches my eye as we approach the house, then, there’s Clara, sprinting across the street.
