He turns and sprints across the street while Wraith chuckles. “Guess they thought they were jacking a nice car tonight.”
I actually chuckle too. “Not so much.”
“Hey.” He taps my arm. “Here we go.”
We pull into the parking lot of a very old apartment building, only two floors, that saw better days several decades ago. It looks more like a shabby roadside motel than an apartment building, and it doesn’t take long to spot the white van with the yellow paint smear across the driver’s side door.
Wraith pulls up behind it, blocking it in since it’s facing a concrete divider. “What’s the plan? We’re just going up and taking it from there?”
“Yep. My goal is to find out why he’s doing this so I can give Colson some closure. I want to know if anyone else is involved, and then I’m gonna make him bleed.”
“Disposal?”
“He’s coming home with us.”
Wraith’s face lights up. “Badass. I haven’t had to do this in a long time.”
I almost chuckle. “Only Carnage likes getting rid of bodies more than you do.”
“He can help.”
The two of us exit the car and walk in step to the apartment on the bottom floor, just a few feet from the van. I could bust the door down, but I like the idea of him answering it. I put my finger over the peephole and knock.
The door is thin enough that I can hear the TV playing on the other side and some rustling noises. I knock again as Wraith backs up to keep an eye on the side window. It’s quiet now on the other side, and I’ve run out of patience.
With one quick move, I kick the door off its hinges, watching it crumple like cardboard under my feet. Bradley is plastered against a wall, holding a knife in front of his chest in defense. His eyes are wild and unmistakably drugged out. He doesn’t speak, but I can see his body trembling with fear.
I keep my distance for a few seconds, determining what state he’s in and how hard he’ll be to take down. A dude on a full hit of their favorite poison can be a loose cannon.
“Bradley.”
His eyes go even wider for a second before he looks around for an escape. Wraith is right behind me, blocking the door, and the small kitchen window would be hard to get a child through, much less a grown man.
“Tell me why.”
Bradley shakes his head so subtly I almost miss it. “Between me and Colson.”
“Yeah, no, it’s between us now. Answer me and maybe I’ll go easy on you.”
He bolts, whipping down the short hallway to another room, but I’m right behind him, grabbing the back of his T-shirt and slamming him to the floor in one efficient movement, knocking the air out of him and the knife from his hand. He lands with an “oomph” and tries to crawl, but I press my booted foot in between his shoulder blades to pin him down.
“Why?” I repeat. “What’s the endgame?”
“I’m not telling you shit,” Bradley growls, bucking to try to throw me off.
I glance at Wraith, who’s leaning against the wall by the door, a grin on his face. “You’ll save yourself a lot of pain if you just fess up, man.”
“Get fucked,” Bradley spits out.
“I plan to later.” I remove my foot and use it to kick him over onto his back.
He groans and tries to get away, but my foot is back, lightly pressed to his chest. “I could crush your rib cage in seconds and watch you suffocate on your own blood.” I tilt my head. “Or you can answer me and I’ll think about being reasonable.”
Bradley grabs my ankle, trying to pull me off, but I add some pressure so he knows that’s not gonna happen.
“I’ll count to three, Bradley. One…”
He struggles as panic floods his features.
