by Evelyn Glass
I shook my head. I knew what it was like to date someone who didn’t fit into your life. Of course, none of my boyfriends had been crazy, but crazy people, maniacs, could happen to anyone. “What is Logan going to do?”
It was Mitchell’s turn to shrugged and he gripped the steering wheel just a little tighter. “I don’t know. He hadn’t decided yet when he’d left but I know how his head works. He will know what he’s going to do by now and if know our boy at all, it’s not going to be pretty. May is arrogant but you don’t fuck with Logan and she forgot that.”
He glanced at me, looking apologetic in the passing car lights after he swore. I didn’t mind. This was part of Logan’s world, part of who he was. I embraced it.
I took a deep breath and looked out the window. What if he didn’t come back? But I couldn’t think like that.
“Now it’s your turn,” Mitchell said.
“A deal is a deal.” I smiled. “Logan and I are engaged.”
Mitchell looked at me, his eyes narrowed. “Are you fucking…uh…messing with me?”
I laughed. “No I’m not messing with you. He asked me earlier tonight.”
Mitchell was quiet for a while. “You must really have something special,” he finally said. “Logan doesn’t just get attached to anyone, not with how many people have been ripped away from him.”
That made sense, and with Mitchell putting it like that I was starting to realize just how special this was.
“Do you think it will last? Do you think he’s genuine about it?”
Mitchell nodded. “Logan doesn’t just jump into something. When he decides on something as permanent as marriage he’s going into it with his eyes wide open. He’s been burned and he’s loved and lost and he won’t just do it unless he really thinks it’s worth it.”
The words were comforting.
“He must have thought about it for some time to know that’s what he wants.”
Some time? We hadn’t even been together that long. Still, it was good to know Logan had made that choice and that I was something special to him. It was good to hear someone else say it and not just hear it from him. Now, if only we could get through this mess alive and well, it would be smooth sailing.
The drive was a lot longer than it had been when we’d gone to the cabin and I fell asleep. When we pulled into my road, Mitchell woke up me and it was morning. We parked in front of the apartment and it felt like a lifetime had passed since I’d last been here. Mitchell got my bag out the back and carried it for me all the way to my door. When I unlocked he insisted he go in first.
I stood out in the hallway, heart pounding, wondering what could possibly go wrong. I imagined all sorts of scenarios where bad guys ran out of the place with guns and masks and I stood away from the door just in case. Mitchell appeared a moment later, telling me the coast was clear.
I felt stupid. My writer’s mind had gone on a rampage again. When we were inside I made us both coffee and put Mitchell’s on the coffee table before heading for the room with mine to unpack. I felt uncomfortable with a stranger in my space but I understood that Logan wanted me safe and I would deal with it for him. Mitchell was sweet and caring and taking care of me for Logan. It meant a lot.
I unpacked my bag, drank my coffee alone, and got in the shower. I still had the lake and our sex on me and my hair was a mess having dried funny. When I got out I felt fresh and clean. I walked to the front room where Mitchell was watching television – didn’t this guy need any sleep? – and told him he was welcome to some food in the fridge. He said he’d ordered some pizza. Pizza for breakfast? I guess if you haven’t slept, breakfast didn’t mean a thing.
I walked back to the room and found my cellphone and called Joanne.
“I’m back,” she said.
“How was it?”
I rolled on to the bed. “Oh, my God. He’s amazing. He’s everything you can imagine in the perfect guy except he’s dangerous, too, in a good way. To other people.”
Joanne laughed. “I haven’t heard you this happy in a long time.”
“I haven’t been this happy in a long time. Logan makes me feel like anything is possible, you know?” He made me feel like everything was different, even my current situation. I didn’t say that part, though. I was scared it would sound too cheesy.
“When are you joining us again?” Joanne asked. “The girls miss you.”
“I’ll be at the next meeting.” I imagined Mitchell sitting in and grinned. “Besides, I have something really big to tell you. To tell all of you.”
“What is it?”
Someone banged on my front door and I froze.
“I have to go,” I said softly. Unless Mitchell had buzzed someone up, something was wrong.
“Okay, but call me. I want details. You can’t leave me hanging.”
I ended off the conversation and walked to the lounge. Mitchell was at the door, his hands balled into fists. He looked alert and ready for a fight. He didn’t seem nervous at all. I had more than enough for the two of us.
“Did you let the pizza man up?” I whispered. He looked at me and shook his head. I was terrified.
“Don’t open it.”
The words had barely left my mouth when the door broke open. Whoever was on the other side had kicked it. The burglar chain ripped out of the wall – fat lot of use that was – and someone with a black mask walked into the apartment. Mitchell attacked. I screamed.
Chapter 25
Logan
I was strapped up and ready to go. I paced up and down the club, all alone now, waiting for something to come through. I knew she had to contact me somehow. She would know by now that I was back in town. I was angry. Rage coursed through my veins, keeping me running even though I hadn’t slept at all. I was edgy, wired, itching for a fight. I needed to get going now. All this adrenaline was going to kill me if I didn’t do something with it.
When nothing came through I headed toward my apartment. I couldn’t sit in one place and do nothing. I needed more weapons, something that would see me through this. The men were all at the Restaurant, waiting for orders. I didn’t want more of them in danger.
When I got to the apartment I changed my clothes. I got into black leather pants, a black t-shirt. Black leather jacket with studs. When I looked in the mirror I had a flashback to the time Elijah had died. I’d looked in the mirror then and I’d seen what I’m seeing now. I looked manic, but my madness had a purpose. May’s madness was like a loose cannon.
I strapped all my weapons back onto my body. Guns, grenades, bullets. Dynamite. May asked for it, now all hell was going to break loose.
It was exactly noon when she finally messaged me. It was unlike her to do things in the day but I got the idea she was getting desperate. Either that, or she was losing the plot completely. I wasn’t sure.
The message was simple. Shipyard. Alone.
Well, she was going to get me alone. At least, that was what she thought. It was never a good idea to underestimate the enemy. I wasn’t the messed up guy who didn’t know what he was doing or where he was headed anymore, the way I used to be while we were dating. I had purpose now, a goal, dreams. People in my life who were worth it. Selena.
I got on my own bike and drove to the shipyard. The place was busy on a good day. I was willing to bet people had been paid for it to be deserted today. The sun was scorching hot, beating down on my neck, making me sweat in my leather clothes, but I needed to look intimidating and I needed the jacket to hide what I was packing.
The sky was an impossible blue with no clouds in the sky and even the breeze felt hot and stifling. It was ironic that a day like today, when things could go so horrible wrong, the weather would be so damn beautiful. It had been that way with Elijah, too. People never seem to get shot on rainy days. The clouds only roll in afterward, when everything breaks and you feel like it’s going to be a storm for the rest of your life.
I rolled my bike in between the containers and skeletons of ships, construc
tion not yet finished. The whole place felt raw and uncomfortable. Tension built around me even before I reached them. The air was thick, the smell of oil and burnt metal riding on the wind. The idling of my bike made snapping sounds into the air, a muffled roar that reflected what I felt. They would hear me coming long before I heard them. Good. I hoped May feared me. I doubted she would be alone the way she needed me to be. She was going to go for the bit where I was outnumbered. I knew if I’d brought anyone, Saul would die.
I turned a corner and they were all there. A circle of menace. They were all armed. Some of them had semi-automatics on them. I had thought about bringing one but I’d decided against it. It wasn’t so easy to conceal. There were handguns, too, and clubs and chains. It looked like the beginning of a very bad story. I wasn’t going to be scared off by them. I swallowed hard, forced away my fear.
May was in the middle. She was surrounded by the heads of a lot of gangs. I recognized most of them and I was disappointed this was who they chose to team up with, but they didn’t know her the way I did. Saul was tied up in the middle with a gun to his temple. I glared at May who was holding the gun. The others had guns, too, but I wasn’t so worried about them. May didn’t have a lot of self-control. I worried she would do something ridiculous.
I looked at Saul. He had his poker face on, his eyes like steel, his mouth pursed in a thin line. He was being strong. I looked at him and he looked at me and in that look I tried to push everything I felt for him, that he’d done for me and that I was grateful for. If he died today…I wasn’t going to think like that. I was going to make sure he didn’t die today. We were all walking out of this alive.
“Hello, May.” I was being formal, calm.
She narrowed her eyes at me. She knew me well enough to know I had something up my sleeve. She must have known I wouldn’t just run in here, opening fire straight away. “It took you long enough to get here.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t know we were on a schedule. You message was very vague.”
She sneered at me. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you? Well, we’ll see how far this goes. You can’t joke everything away. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices.”
I nodded. I had made a hell of a sacrifice letting her into my life, even if I hadn’t known it then. She was a pain in my ass and she never went away. I’d sacrificed peace and quiet. “What do you want?”
She laughed and it was an uncomfortable sound, one that could break if she changed in her mood or her mind. “Don’t tell me your precious gang members didn’t tell you?”
They’d told me everything, obviously, but I wanted to hear her saying. I shrugged.
May’s smile drained from her face. My eyes flicked from hers to her finger on the trigger. I needed her to keep in control, to stay calm. I looked at Saul. He still had the same expressionless mask on his face but there were beads of sweat just below his hairline, betraying him, letting me know he was scared.
“This is simple, Logan. I want you to sign the Fallen Thorns – along with all their assets – over to me. Then I want you to leave town and never come back. If you do that, everybody lives a long and happy life.”
There was no way on this earth I was going to let my boys fall into the hands of this psychopath. They wouldn’t even be able to leave the gang if May owned it – she would try to hunt each and every one of them down, and I didn’t doubt her abilities to do that.
“And if I don’t?”
She laughed again. It was increasingly uncomfortable to hear. “It’s easy. If you don’t, I’ll kill him.” She jabbed the gun into Saul’s temple and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. This wasn’t over yet.
“You can’t do that,” I said.
“I can do whatever I want. If you think this is unfair, how about I kill the both of you if you don’t do what I ask. Let’s make this an offer you can’t possibly refuse.”
I was fascinated by the fact that May thought the idea of my own death would motivate me more than the death of one of the closest people in my life. Maybe it was because she was inherently selfish and she didn’t care about anyone else but herself. She knew it wasn’t who I was but maybe she didn’t understand it because she just wasn’t wired that way.
I dug in my pocket and pulled out a detonator. May frowned, her eyes glued to my hand. I unzipped my leather jacket. I’d strapped dynamite to myself, all the sticks neatly in a row with a pack in the middle, wired to all of them. Saul frowned, unsure what I was doing. May paled just a little, enough for me to know I’d gotten to her.
“This is going to be very simple,” I said. “You’re not going to harm so much as a hair on Saul’s head.”
I pressed the detonator with my thumb and the pack on my chest beeped loudly. May swallowed. Saul started paling. I wasn’t the kind of guy to fuck around. If May wanted to play games, I could play games, too. She hadn’t taken into account that the type of games I played were a hundred times worse than her games. You didn’t stand up against a seasoned war veteran when you were a greenie with a pocket pistol. I knew what I was doing, and when it came down to it, May just wasn’t on the same level.
“If you kill Saul I’m going to let this button go, and we’ll all die. It’s all or nothing, May.”
She looked at me, unsure. Was I bluffing? She was hoping I was, but it was a chance she wasn’t willing to take. At least, that was what I was betting on. For a moment everything was tense and I could see the inner struggle on May’s face, I could see how she was fighting with herself about what to believe and what not.
She laughed, then, and I knew she’d decided I wouldn’t do it. “Don’t be ridiculous, Logan. I know you won’t kill Saul, and if that goes off you might take us all with you, but that would include Saul. You don’t have what it takes.”
I shook my head. “If I’m dead, too, it won’t matter who’s dead and who’s alive. I won’t know about it, and there’s no way you’re getting ahold of the Thorns.”
She was still smiling when she shook her head. “You forget what you taught me while we were still together, Logan. Always have a backup plan. Always prepare in case something goes wrong. Remember?”
I had taught her that. It had been during a time when I thought that whatever it was that went wrong wouldn’t involve May. I had been stupid to trust her at all, stupid to love her, even if it hadn’t been the way I loved, now.
May whistled long and low and a moment later a car pulled up. It was big and black with tinted windows and chrome mags on the tires. Whoever owned the car had a hell of a lot of money and I was sure it wasn’t May. She had everyone in her pocket these days. Lucky for me, I had contacts. I watched the back door as it slowly opened, wondering who May could possibly bring to the party that would change my mind.
A big goon of a guy got out of the car first, wearing black suit and shirt with no tie – the standard body guard kind of look. He stepped back and yanked someone out with him. My blood ran cold and for a moment I felt like I was swaying on my feet. Selena was tied up and gagged, her cheeks wet with tears, her eyes wide with terror. She looked at me, pleading.
I trembled with anger. Fire coursed through my veins and I was just about ready to kill May, but I had to stick to the plan. I swallowed my hatred for her. “Why are you making me repeat myself?” I asked, turning my attention back to May.
She frowned, looking at Selena and then back at me. She was wondering why I was so calm about it all when she had Selena. She was starting to doubt herself. That was exactly where I wanted her. It took everything I had not to run to Selena and try too free her, to not put a bullet in May’s head straight away.
“If you’re not going to let them go I’m going to blow us all up. You have no idea how easy it is for me. If I die, Saul and Selena come with me. And the rest of you.”
May frowned, looking confused. “I’ll kill her, too,” she said, nodding toward Selena.
I had no doubt she was capable of that. I had to keep this up until I could save them all.
I had to make sure it was all the right timing, though. I laughed, then, forcing it out and to my delight it sounded about as manic as May’s laugh had sounded a short while ago. She was getting more and more unsure of herself. She lowered the gun from Saul’s head and for the first time since I’d arrived I felt like I could breathe.
“You’re a lunatic,” May said. Her voice was unsteady now.
I lifted the hand with the detonator in it. “Last chance.”
May still didn’t look like she believed me. The others all around her shuffled from side to side, unsure. May looked at them. “What, are you all pussies?”
Some of them glared at her. If there was ever a carnal rule in life it was to never call a badass with a gun a pussy.
“You know I’ll do it.”
May looked like she wasn’t sure that was what I would do. I had to play it out all the way. I made a big thing of lifting my thumb and bringing it down on the button. The click was louder than any scream could have been and May covered her face. Selena squeezed her eyes shut. Saul held his breath. I knew what was coming and waited for the big bang, then end of all this bullshit.
Chapter 26
Selena
Mitchell didn’t have much time to react. He jumped into the fray, fighting with all his might, doing the honorable thing and protecting me as Logan had asked.
He managed to fight the guy off for a short while, too. It was a big man, with more weight than speed. He wore a black blazer, black pants, black shirt. It all looked very ominous. The mask on his face was what made him look terrifying.
There was nothing I could do to help Mitchell. I couldn’t fight. I was frozen with fear and he was fighting his heart out for a woman he didn’t know. For a moment I couldn’t do anything, but slowly the adrenaline faded and I could think clearly again. He was still fighting the guy off, attacking him with quick jabs so the guy had to move his hands to his face to protect himself.
