Page 63 of Volatile Waters

I was exasperated. He wouldn’t see reason. “But you die tonight!”

“I don’t care! She’s worth it!”

“Tell me why!”

“Fine!”

The garage went quiet except for our stressed breathing. I was to kill Crash within hours, yet I was dumbfounded by the constant burn in my chest. Everything in my immediate surroundings felt as if it was unraveling. At the time, it seemed it was imperative that I stood strong, for the sake of leading our enterprise, and for the sake of my sanity. If I could convince my own self that I was in charge, I foolishly believed it would be true. So, I tapped record and aimed my cell at Crash. “Tell me.”

Leaning against the garage wall, he paused so long in thought I had time to reflect on the surroundings. Due to being in a rental, there weren’t many tools or items, but I could smell leftover oils that had dripped from a car or lawnmower. I could almost sense the memories that had taken place there. Now, it was tainted with Crash’s blood and my draining ego.

“Have you ever listened to someone sleep?”

I blinked, being pulled from my own thoughts. “What the fuck for?”

“Think about it. Have you ever slowed your world down enough to take the time to appreciate someone else’s very breath? I know I hadn’t.”

I hadn’t either, so I was already becoming annoyed with his insight that was far above my own. My nostrils flared as I stared at him.

He didn’t care. He was already staring at nothing but a memory in his head. “Not until a fiery little redhead entered my world—my life—my pitiful excuse of an existence that ran aimlessly from one miserable day into the next.”

It had been the same for me. Seeing that girl dance awoke something inside me.

Still lost in thought, he said, “I’d become so complacent, so unaware, yet so absorbed in my actions, and my action’s results, that a numbness overtook me and my thoughts.”

My hand tightened on the phone while my other one gripped at my leg as my nerves lit ablaze.

“Not even an action-packed movie could hold my attention, so I left the theater in search of water.” Crash’s fingers touched one another as if he were longing for something. “I say water, but I think I was truly searching for air.”

Sweat broke out across my back.

“For relief from the dead feeling in my soul.”

I could barely swallow.

“The unseen weight, crushing my chest, begging for the nightmare that was my life to end.”

My mouth opened as I panted for oxygen.

“A breath of fresh air is exactly what I got as I turned the corner, seeing Franky eye that popcorn machine with nothing but pure determination.”

As if I had been there, experiencing his same relief, I exhaled. “Who is Franky?”

His brows bunched. “Whitney.”

“Oh.”

“‘Oh’ is right, Yury. More like Oh boy. I stayed back, watching her mind debate whether or not to take advantage of the old employee’s absence. I had to muffle my laugh, which was a shame because it was my first in more years than I can remember. I kept watching as Franky decided the prize was worth the risk, and clumsily dove over the concession counter.”

I then covered my mouth to muffle my laugh, totally thrilled she was such a rule breaker.

But Crash heard or saw me, because he chuckled at me. “Yeah, it was that night she woke me, but the night you want to know of,” his eyes finally met mine, “that was the night she stole me.”

At first, I thought Crash was saying that having sex with Whitney was absolutely beyond all comprehension, but I had missed his true meaning. It wasn’t the sex he was speaking of.

I had stolen freedom many times in my life, but never had I seen someone taken like this. By the knowing in his blue eyes, Crash had been altered where I had no access. No matter all I had done to slaves, their heart could always be theirs, if they chose it to be. Whitney would soon teach me this very lesson, just as she had this young man who sat mesmerized in front of me.

I stopped recording, desperate to know. “Tell me.” His mouth opened, but no sound came out. Teeter-tottering on the brink of suspense, I moved to the edge of my seat. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you both and be rid of all this hassle.”