“Oh? Declan's Little Dove? Wasn’t she with Myles?”
“He was in a horrible car accident. Someone ran them off the road. But Mina wasn’t there when we showed up.”
“Hmm…Maybe she drowned?”
“I never said their car went into the water…”
The silence is killing me. It’s maybe three seconds' worth of silence, but my heart has beat over a hundred times in those three seconds.
“Where is she, Quin? I know you have her!”
“Do you know she and that mother fucker Langston are the ones who killed Declan?”Quin asks. His voice is calm but sharp.
“I do…”
“And you were just going to let them live?!”Quin shouts.
“Declan made a bad choice when he kidnapped them. They were only defending themselves…”
“Fucking hell, Cash! Seriously? He was your fucking flesh and blood! And you’re just ‘okay' with them killing him? Why? Because it got you Badlands?”
“I never wanted Declan dead, Quin. I wish he was still here, but he’s dead. What’s done is done. Nothing we can do will change that.”Cash shouts back.
“Bullshit! You never cared about him! Not like I did. He was my brother. And they killed him! I can’t let them live…I can’t let her…”
“Quin! You need to let Mina go. Where is she?”
“It doesn’t matter.”Quin’s voice is hushed. It sounds cracked like he’s holding back tears.
“Quin, please. Just let me take her home.”
“I can’t do that, Cash. Did you bring Myles with you?”
“What? No!”
*Click*
“Don’t lie to me, Cash.”
“I’m not…Quin. Where’s Mina? Is she in the basement?”
“It doesn’t matter where her body is. Did you bring Langston here or not?”
“Just put the gun down, Quin.”
“You don’t get it…Do you?”Quin’s voice sounds broken.
“Tell me. We can talk about it but just let me GO TO THE BASEMENT NOW and get her.”
“Myles, that’s the signal. Go!” Alexandria shouts from the front seat, but I'm already up and opening the tailgate.
I glance around before lifting it fully. I grab two guns out of the side compartment. I’ve shot enough guns in my life to be confident in that. What I’m not confident in is whether I'll hesitate to pull the trigger to kill someone.
I can still hear the conversation in my ear. If he can keep Quin talking, I should only have to deal with the one guy. I run along the side wall. My side is pulsing in pain. I press my fingers to the closed wound and discover a stitch or two popped open. Blood stains the shirt and runs onto my jeans.
As I round the corner to the backyard, I’m still trying to pay attention to the conversation, but I haven’t heard half the shit they've been saying. I can see the door to the basement.
“Who's the whore in your car? They said it’s a blonde woman…”
