He sends the keys to my truck airborne.
Silence presses thick and heavy through the cabin as I pull onto Main Street.
Streetlights, illuminated and bright, pepper the edge of the compressed asphalt. Businesses were closed, well past regular operational hours, and as my wheels crunch, rolling us down the road and toward the clubhouse, Devil’s Peak had never felt more like a ghost town than it does now.
Death was no longer imminent. It was here, and its scent was sickening, impossible to escape.
I swallow, reaching for the stereo, noticing how even Devil's Diner had closed in the wake of Jade’s death.
“He broke her legs, her arms, then he r-raped…”
“He snapped her neck.”
“The motherfucker just dumped her there,man.As if she was disposable.”
Laiken and Harlen’s words press my insides to my throat.
I should have kept them closer.
I adjust my jaw, feeling the ligaments pop, reaching toward the knob on the stereo again when I spot Colton’s gleaming sapphire blue truck, and Bryce’s gray one beside it, parked at the far edge of Billy’s gas station.
Bryce is at Colton’s open window, palms resting at the edge, leaning in, talking,laughing.
And as we roll closer, shadows from the back seat flicker in the gaudy blade of streetlight.
“Glass Houses” by Bad Omens comes through my speakers louder now, even though neither Harlen or I had adjusted the dial, and before I realize I’ve taken a sharp turn off the road, I’m slamming on my brakes, ripping up the handbrake and throwing open my door.
Heavy footfall comes from behind, the sharp clap of Harlen’s shoes chasing after me.
I move faster.
Colton sees me first, then Bryce, who turns at the same time I shove him out of the way.
Colton’s gaze levels on mine, and even though he isn’t smiling, I catch the way the corner of his mouth twitches.
This excited him. My presence, my fury,my loss.
“Chase, I’m so sorry about J?—”
My arms fly through the open window, fists bunching up the cotton of his T-shirt, and before he can say her name, I drag him out of the window and slam him against the back one.
The shadows in the back seat flinch at the impact of Colton’s nimble body slapping against steel.He tries to talk. I don’t let him, as I bring my fist down on his jaw. Then I do it again and again, until all I see is a mess of red.
I jam my hand around his neck.
Blood is dripping from the tunnel of his now marshy mouth. It rolls down his chin, looping around my wrist.
I am numb. I can’t breathe. What happened to Jade, to Laiken, had emptied me, then filled me with something corrosive and rotten.
Colton is battling for air, his gray eyes rolling so far up in his head.
It thrilled me, had me pressing harder, had me bringing my mouth to his ear.
My voice is a raspy, unrecognizable whisper. “If you did this…” I start, and when he gasps for air, I tighten my hand around his neck, press his skull into the window harder, and feel my teeth chatter faster.
My carotid slams.
Bringing my mouth closer to his ear, something toneless follows.
