“Juliette?”
“Yeah,” Cap said, smiling. “You know her?”
Barnes smiled. “Oh yeah, I know her.” There was a certain twinkle in his eyes. “Tell her Chris Barnes says hello.”
“Will do.”
There was chatter over his radio, and the cop jumped into action. “On second thought, we’ll just take this last conversation as your statement. I gotta get over and help my fellow officer. Do me a favor. Get out of town. I think you pissed those assholes off by taking their weapons. I wouldn’t be surprised if they came after you. Watch your back, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
The cop hopped back in his squad car, peeling out of the parking lot as he raced down the road, taking the Artillery’s gun and knife with him.
“Let’s get out of here,” I quickly said, still feeling utter terror.
Cap nodded, holding the door open for me as I quickly climbed inside. We drove in silence for at least twenty minutes before he finally cleared his throat.
“So, is what he said true?”
I looked shamefully out the window. “Yes,” I whispered, wiping a tear from my cheek. “He was one of the assholes that raped me that night. He was the worst of them all.”
“I’d ask what you mean, but I really don’t want you reliving that moment.”
“Thank you,” I said, blankly staring out the window. For another ten minutes, we rode in silence, me staring at the trees rushing by, while Cap drove us home. When I couldn’t take the silence anymore, I broke it. “Cap, about that girl at the strip club… how serious were you two? She made it seem like you guys were an item.”
Cap sucked his lip between his teeth, his hands clenching the steering wheel. “We weren’t super serious, but she was the girl I spent the most time with before my heart attack. I stopped seeing her after I overheard her talking shit about me. She said I was broken, and why would she want to be with someone broken.”
“What a bitch.”
“Yeah…” He paused. Normally, Odessa is pretty decent, but I noticed the deeper she got in the club, earning more money than most of the girls, the more stuck-up she became. I’ll admit she was pretty good at a lot of things, but being a good person is not one of them.”
When we got back to Rising Star, almost thirty minutes later, Cap exchanged vehicles with Archer again, thanking him for being able to use it.
“I filled it up for you,” he informed him, just as Zodiac came strolling outside. “Prez, can I have a minute of your time?”
Zodiac quirked an eyebrow, but he stopped so Cap could speak with him.
“We had a run in with some of the Artillery,” he informed him. “They’re in Abilene.”
“How do you know?”
This is where things would probably get sticky. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to leave Rising Star.
“Well, don’t get mad…” Cap started.
Zodiac shook his head. “I told you that you could stay at her place, Cap. Not leave town.”
“I know. I know. But Ruby needed to get out of Rising Star, so I took her to Niko’s.”
“They have amazing Gyros there,” Archer said, joining in on the conversation.
“They do,” Cap agreed. “Anyway, the gyros aren’t the point here.”
“What is?” Zodiac asked in annoyance.
“When I was filling up Archer’s car…”
Zodiac’s eyes went wide. “Wait? You encouraged this?”
