“Jesus,” Ink said. “Could you two not stay out of trouble for five minutes?”
She thought that was quite unfair, considering she seemed to be the one getting everybody into trouble.
“I think I’m the troublemaker,” she said in Batman’s voice.
Ink shook his head. “If you knew these two, you’d know how much trouble they get into. They thrive off it, nearly as much as the twins.”
He had twins? Wow. She could imagine that meant plenty lot of chaos.
“Hey, I resent that,” Ralen said. “We don’t get into trouble. It just seems to find us. Hey Bat girly, maybe that should be your new nickname, Trouble.”
“Bat girly?” Brody asked. “Unusual nickname.”
“I know. That’s why I’ve changed it to Trouble,” Ralen replied.
“Not sure that Addie likes that one either,” Brody said, giving her a look of sympathy.
She really didn’t mind what Ralen called her. Not after everything he’d done for her.
“Okay, so back to how you ended up in the back of Cash’s pickup,” Ink said. “What happened? Who was the man with the body?”
Did he think she knew who the man was? Because she had no clue.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just saw him carrying a body and which he put into the trunk of a car. I got scared he might see me, so I hid. I couldn’t really see his face. He was dressed all in black and had a hat on, but his eyes seemed so dark and cold.”
They were all silent, staring at her.
She knew what was coming. No one ever believed her. It was probably something to do with the fact that she struggled to talk. People didn’t take her seriously.
“I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I’m making it up, or that I imagined it, or something, but I can only tell you what I saw. That man was carrying a body, and he put it in the trunk of a car.”
This time, they all stared at each other.
“Nobody thinks that you made it up,” Cash told her firmly. “At least, I believe you.”
“So do I,” Ralen said.
Something eased inside her.
“Did you see him do something to the body?” Butch asked.
Addie shook her head. “No. But he wasn’t conscious when that guy put him in the trunk.”
“Fuck,” Ink said as he leaned back. “Excuse my language, Addie.”
She nodded. Swearing didn’t bother her. Dotty did it all the time. And she understood the urge to swear after hearing her story.
There was a part of her that even wondered if it had happened, or if she’d imagined it.
“So what happened next?” Brody asked.
She really wished she could pull Snaggles out of the backpack resting by her feet.
“I kind of panicked, so I got into the back of the truck I was next to and slid under a tarp.”
“It’s a wonder he didn’t hear you moving,” Ink said.
“I’m very quiet, and there was a lot of noise from the people coming out of the bar.”
