Chapter Twenty-Three
Brick
Having a little time in the motel to cool down and sober up helped me get my thoughts together. I knew it was cutting into my paycheck to stay at the place, but a warm bed and a safe, sturdy door gave me the space I needed to think.
I’d been considering Texas. Texas was big, with plenty of spaces to hide, and more than enough dive bars to keep me employed. The drive would take a few days, but every second I was putting space between myself and this city seemed like a second well spent. If the kids were right and Frisk was coming to town to visit his son, that meant his men would be wandering the city, too, and more likely than not they’d be keeping an eye out for me. I knew how to keep my head down, but the best way to avoid getting caught was to be in a whole different city anyway.
I cursed myself again for blowing all the money I had earned at the height of my fighting career. Getting with Charlie had seemed more important than saving for my future, and I had stupidly believed that flashy gifts and big spending were the ways to his heart. As much as he had been playing around with a bad boy for the cheap thrills, I was pretending to be a rich big shot, too. I had let myself believe those lies, and now, with no nest egg to rely on, I was left running and hiding in cheap motels again, just like when I left Philly.
I had the television playing some action movie on mute when the guys finally knocked on my door. Cardboard boxes were piled up along the wall, and I was stretched out on the bed in my favorite pair of jeans and the same sleeveless T-shirt I’d been wearing for a couple days. Rubbing a hand over my face to wake myself up, I answered the door.
“Got your paycheck,” Ezra said, dangling the envelope in front of him.
I snatched it. “Thanks,” I said, turning to close the door behind me.
“Hey wait!” Ezra objected, pushing his way inside with Irving close behind. “You said we’d get to ask you some more questions.”
Irving was wearing a white button-up, and the sleeves of it clung to his slim muscles. Just like always, he had his hair parted in a neat, straight line, his collar was pressed, and the shirt was neatly tucked into the denim shorts, a pair that generously highlighted the curves of his backside. Next to him, Ezra had on that pair of overalls he wore the other day.
At least I wasn’t the only one repeating my outfit.
Irving looked around, his eyes trailing across the boxes I had lugged inside and the sorry state of the motel.
“You want to sit?” I asked abruptly, gesturing to the bed. When they plopped down, I spun the desk chair around, sitting with my legs straddling the back. I felt the heft of the envelope in my hand, noticing how heavy it was, and then peeked inside.
“Shit, how about that?” I muttered to myself, flipping through the twenties that came with it.
“Lilith says thanks, too,” Ezra said, “and that you’re always welcome back at the bar.”
I chuckled, rubbing my hand along my stubble. I was so certain that Lilith would be ready to disown me, and here she was, still looking out. I hoped that someday I would be able to track her down and show my appreciation properly. Judging by the gift, she must have understood that it would be putting her in danger to reach out now.
Texas, here I come…
“So what did you want me to ask me this time?”
Ezra and Irving both sat with their legs dangling off the bed, and as we talked, their feet kept bouncing together, almost like they were playing footsie. It was incredibly distracting and giving me all kinds of weird ideas and desires I didn’t have the space for right then. They were here to ask a few questions and then get out of my life, not to undress each other for my entertainment.
“I guess the first question,” Irving said, “is whether that guy you were fighting at the bar is going to come back looking for you?”
It was a smart question. There’s no telling what that man would remember or try to do if he were to want to track me down again, but seeking down the few people who were at the scene would probably be at the top of his list.
“I can’t answer that for sure,” I said honestly, wishing for a second that I hadn’t cut myself off from my booze. A drink would make levelling with these two guys a hell of a lot easier. “I imagine someone will come looking for me. And don’t try and be a hero if they do. Just answer their questions and make sure you’re safe. I’ll be out of town in no time anyway, and I don’t plan on leaving a trail. You won’t be betraying me if you answer their questions, you’ll just be acting smart.”
“What about the vandals who were messing with the shop?” Ezra asked. “If they’re mixed up in this, too, aren’t they likely to come and start causing us problems again?”
I tapped my boot on the ground, remembering how scared and spiteful those teenagers had been. “I know guys like that. They’re mean and selfish, but they don’t have a backbone to speak of. I’d be surprised if you heard from them again, but if you do, just go down the block and talk to Lilith.”
“Lilith will guard us?” Ezra asked, raising an eyebrow.
I chuckled. “Maybe. But if she doesn’t feel like it, she’ll at least find a bored barfly who is up for solving the problem for you.”
Ezra and Irving shared another glance. They each looked skeptical, their pretty mouths scrunching up tight, but I could tell they were starting to accept what I was saying.
I couldn’t guarantee their safety, that was clear, but I wasn’t lying to them, either. As soon as I got out of town, I was sure they’d be back to their regular lives. By next summer, they probably wouldn’t even think about this whole thing any longer, or about me. They’d be back to their comics and their computers, and I would be a strange, unsettling memory.
Irving kicked at Ezra’s shoe, making another spark fire in my gut. “What about Jason Frisk? Why is he looking for you in the first place?”
I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to order them out of the motel. I remembered what it felt like to see their faces when I was yelling at them, and I wasn’t hoping to experience that particular kind of regret again anytime soon. “You don’t need to know that.”
