‘Whatever his name is, he’s just a lackey,’ he says before turning to Tyler, who now has a celery stick hanging from his mouth. ‘What the fuck is that shit?’
‘Sodium cluster salts, fucker.’ Tyler brushes his hand away. ‘It’s good for your nervous system.’
Renny’s face twists. ‘Nervous? Que porra é essa do you have to be nervous about?’ He takes the stick from Tyler’s mouth and bites down, then immediately spits the half-chewed mess on the floor behind him. ‘That tastes like hairy ass.’
Tyler shakes his head with a sideways smirk. ‘It’s been less than thirty minutes and you’re already pissing me off.’
While Tyler and Renny continue baiting each other, I pull out my phone, bringing up Alexander’s location history. He’s been back repeatedly to where all the industrial sites are in Empire City. My guess is that’s where Midnight Spares is located.It’s probably time to pay the maggot a visit.I switch the view to his current location. What I see has me refreshing the app but it remains the same. That can’t be right …
When I look up, Renny is staring at me with harsh eyes. ‘Whatever you’re doing, I want in.’
I nod, but in the corner of the garage, something catches my attention. A black R1 motorbike.
Myblack R1. I haven’t seen it in four years, not since that night …
Without a word, I head toward it. The closer I get, the more my heart sinks. The deep scratches in the metal panels are sharp against my fingertips, the pain shooting right to my chest. I feel Renny follow without having to turn to see him.
‘Why did you keep this?’ I try to keep the rage at bay while my stomach lurches into my throat.
‘Uh, actually, Little G kept it.’ His voice solemn as he places his hands in his pockets. ‘She put it back together. Then pulled the whole thing apart to put it back together again. I don’t know how many times she did it.’
‘Why?’
‘Sometimes we do things and don’t know why.’ He shrugs. ‘It’s been here ever since. We didn’t feel right turning it into scrap.’
I nod. Renny’s right. Sometimes there’s no explanation behind action. But maybe, Gianna also knows more about that night than she’s let on.
Renny clears his throat, interrupting my thoughts. ‘Hey mano, do you remember the last story Pai told us?’
‘How could I forget?’
I look back at Renny, who looks at me as though searching for a ghost.
‘What’s your tank taking?’ he finally asks.
It’s running on fumes.
I don’t get the chance to answer, because Chuckie comes in at a gallop, his tail thwacking my shins. I reach down to give him the scratches he loves, but he circles around me restlessly. I expect Gianna to come through the open roller door next, but there’s no soft patter of her footsteps.
Chuckie circles once more and rushes to the doors which lead to the front reception. Leaving Tyler and Renny behind, I follow.
Gianna’s voice becomes audible as I approach. ‘We only service vehicles that are registered.’ Her tone is firm.
The laughter of a man comes next. ‘I’m not here to fuck around, lady. Get your painter to come out here and talk to me so you can go back to filing your papers or whatever you receptionists do.’
Well, butter my ass and call me a biscuit.That fucking tracker wasn’t glitching. I know that voice.
‘Iamthe painter,’ Gianna replies, self-assured. ‘And we only service vehicles that are registered. So get it off our property.’
‘Listen here—’
I fling the door open. ‘Problem?’
Gianna’s shoulders drop. She releases a long sigh, as ifI’mthe problem in her life.
Rude.
‘We’re good.’ She taps her fingers on the counter, not even bothering to turn around. ‘Skippy here was just leaving.’
