I lay the phone next to me on the couch, listening toit vibrate as it rings repeatedly. After half a dozen times, I power it down and put it back on the table. Bobby said he told him what I said. There is nothing more to say.Go. Get as far away from whatever fucked up mess my life has become before it fucks you up more than you already are, Cash.I try not to think about him or what he’s going through. There’s too much emotional baggage there, and I can’t weigh myself down with more at the moment. Mine is weighing me down just fine on its own.
A knock on the door startles me. I hobble over and unlock the door, leaving the chain across it. Cracking it open, a cop smiles kindly at me as he searches what little bit of my face he can see.
“Yes?”
“Miss Watson, the station radioed saying that Detective Thomas is pulling detail from you. He tried calling you, but I guess your phone is off. I didn’t want to leave without telling you. I know you’re here alone right now, and I didn’t want you to worry if you didn’t see me out here. I’ll wait if you’d like to call Thomas to confirm.”
“No need for that. I’ll be fine,” I tell him. By the look on his face, he doesn’t want to leave. He’s worried about me being alone. I wonder if he was one of the police officers that showed up after Phil attacked me. If so, he’s one more person I have to reassure, and, quite frankly, I’m tired of reassuring people. Why can’t they just listen to my words and let me be? “He’s fled town. Plus, my friends will be back soon. I’ll be okay.”
“Turn your phone on and keep it near you. Do not hesitate to call if you need us.”
“Alright.”
He inclines his head and lingers for a moment, as if he wants to say more, then turns and walks back to his cruiser. I shut the door and lock it back. Leaning against it, I listen to his car start and pull away. I take a deep breath and let it out slow. I don’t know if it’s out of relief or fear that everyone is gone, and for the first time in a week the world around me is returning to normal.
I must have dozed off, because it’s half past nine, which means Bobby and Erick will be back soon. I settle back on the couch and turn my phone on. Once it loads, it shows several voicemails and a few text messages. Cady is one of them, so I shoot her a quick text telling her my phone must have died when I fell asleep. A little white lie won’t hurt her. She’d be highly pissed if she knew I purposely shut it off. A few minutes later, she texts me back to let me know she’s working over in the bar. Good. Hope she makes big tips tonight.
I shuffle around the house, stretching my body and wasting time until the guys get back. As I go, my body doesn’t feel as stiff, and I begin to feel a little better. It’s amazing how cathartic cleaning can be. I scrub the kitchen down, taking out all the pent-up frustration on the grime and dirt. Then, I sweep and mop the floor. When I’m done with that, I dust the few things in the living room and vacuum the floor. It sounds like pop rocks when it sucks up the remnants of the remote. Cady has cleaned my place a lot over the past week. Iguess being trapped in here waiting for the cops to find Phil, and for me to come back to life, made her a nervous wreck.
Putting away the vacuum, I grab my wine glass and refill it, then sit down at the table to go through the pile of mail awaiting me. My body begins to ache more. I wore myself out cleaning the way I did. It doesn’t help that this wooden chair feels like a torture device against my ass and legs. I take a drink of wine and light a cigarette to relax, but it doesn’t work. Instead, I scoop up the pile and dump it on the coffee table, so I can melt into the cushions of the couch and go through it there.
I’m stuffing the last bill to mail off when there’s a knock on the door.
“Hellcat, I’m home,” Bobby sings.
I roll my eyes, but I can’t help the smirk that pulls at my lips. I unlock and open the door for him, and then turn around to head back to the couch.
“Where’s the co—”
There’s a thud against the floor, and I turn my head to see what it is. Time seems to move in slow motion as two men dressed in black step over Bobby’s body splayed on the floor. Frozen in shock, I look from one to the other as they wait for me to make a move.
“You can come with us willingly, or we take you with force. The choice is yours. Choose wisely,Hazel.”
Who the fuck are these guys, and what do they want from me? I’ve never seen them before, but they know me. A million thoughts run through my mind at max speed. Screaming will get me nowhere. They’ll probably knock me out like they did Bobby. If I grabthe lamp and smash it into Blondie’s head, I might make it out the door where my neighbors can see and call the cops. I could run into the kitchen and grab a knife, but there are two of them and one of me. Even if I’m able to make it, I won’t be able to take them both down. My shoulder’s still sore from where it was popped out of place. My heart skips into triple-time as I make a decision. Preservation wins out, and I snatch my phone and haul ass toward my bedroom.
It sounds like a stampede behind me, their boots stomping on the floor to catch up as I run for my life. Right as I cross the threshold of my bedroom, an arm wraps around my stomach yanking me back into what feels like a brick wall. The air knocks out of my lungs, and I wait for my body to scream in agony, but my adrenaline is pumping so fast that nothing hurts.
“We didn’t want it to come to this, but you’ve left us no choice,” the man grunts in my ear as he struggles with me.
I feel a pinch in my arm before it starts burning. Fire and ice. I panic as my body goes numb, and my vision begins to blur. But it soon passes, and I feel as though I’m floating.
“Come on. Boss is waiting on us.”
Then everything turns black.
CHAPTER 5
PHIL
WHENI saw the report on the news, and then saw my face flash on the screen, it made me sick. Those fuckers made what happened between Hazel and I out to be something twisted and disgusting. What happened was anything but. I thought for sure I had killed her. It would have been better that way. Now she’s alive, and I can’t have her. But someone else will. That knowledge eats away at me, feeding the inferno burning deep inside. Because I know that at the moment, it’s Cash who has her. Maybe he won’t have her forever, but it doesn’t matter. Even if someone else takes my rightful place, I’ll want to kill them too. She is mine and only mine. Hazel takes what I give her, and I need that to survive in this world. She stole that from me. And now, I live with the fact that she will do that for someone else. It’s a hard pill to swallow.
The cops know for sure it was me. I could have easily gotten away with her murder. Those bumbling Mayberry cops can’t wipe their own ass. The family lawyer is so good that the evidence they took couldeasily be inadmissible in court. Except for Hazel. Her testimony is my golden ticket to the state penitentiary. Definitely no turning back now. Maybe one day….
Shaking that thought from my head, I think about business. The deal was made, just barely. With my face all over every goddamn paper I’ve seen and newscasts throughout the state, it’s a fucking wonder someone didn’t spot me on this little trip to meet Samuel. We ended up relocating the meeting to some pay-by-the-hour motel in case someone recognized me.
The place stunk to high heaven of body odor, cigarettes, and weed. People were too busy getting whore pussy to notice me walking to a room. I handed over the last of my money I had hidden away, with the assurance that he would get me into RCC in the next week.
Dustin and I found a seedy motel near RCC to crash until the call came. Thank God it’s not as nasty as the one we held the meeting at. We need to be ready to get in at a moment’s notice, and then get the fuck out quickly. With limited choices and money, this place will have to do. The sooner we have the formula, the quicker we can alter the drug and start selling it. Everyone dying is bringing too much attention to Snap. If we can fix it, and people stop getting sick or keeling over, then it won’t be talked about anymore. Then we can start selling a shit ton of Snap once again.
