He pursed his lips at me and brushed the hair out of his eyes. The moment was only one more reminder of how much I had missed him when he was gone, of how much we had missed during the summer that I intended to reveal our relationship to my family. Just thinking of everything we would miss if we had never been reunited made my heart seize in my chest. I felt physical pain at the thought that I could still be sitting in my room right now, or back at the shore house, alone and Charlie-less if the guys hadn’t taken a last chance on him, if he hadn’t come to say good-bye, if gravity had been faster…
“It’ll be easy enough to buy a car, especially with cash…and if Reid hasn’t gotten himself full of holes, then he can fly.”
“Huh?”
He leaned forward, his brows furrowed in concern. “You okay?” He kissed the edge of my shoulder through my t-shirt.
“Yeah.”
“Promise?”
I felt myself smile but it took effort. I was more tired than I wanted to admit. “I was just thinking…”
“You gotta stop doin’ that.”
I smiled even wider. “I know. It makes me tired.”
Charlie’s face hardened against me, he pulled away. “You can always leave, ya know? If you wanna change your mind, I can take care of this by myself.”
“As soon as we get the chance, I’m going to do things to you that will prove I could never want to leave or be with anyone else.” There was no point in trying to control my giggle or red face.
He grinned as his eyebrows rose. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yep. You won’t be able to walk for days.”
“Careful, Vicious. I’ll make you pull the car over.”
“You’re the one who should be careful.” I pushed my shoulders back into the seat and felt my back pop. “I’m still mad at you.”
“What for?”
“For thinking you had to end your life to save mine.”
Saying it out loud made us serious again. We both shut up quickly and stopped looking at one another, the playful sexual banter transforming into awkward tension in the time it took to snap one’s fingers. Charlie leaned back into the middle seat again, but I straightened my posture, readjusted the rearview mirror, and put my hands back at ten and two. I lost count of the miles we traveled, losing myself in worry when we stopped to change the license plates at a gas station. I was grateful that Robbie’s car was so boring, the make and model so common. Sure enough the ‘support our troops’ sticker didn’t hurt either, but I wasn’t willing to jinx us by saying any of it. And I really wasn’t brave enough to turn on the radio again, afraid of what I might hear.
By mid-morning there was one last exit. I kept to the speed-limit and used my blinker turning into it, though there wasn’t a law enforcement official in sight. In fact, in this part of New York there were mostly only rough mountains. The cars that passed us had canoes and kayaks on the roofs of their cars and loaded bicycle racks. Every few miles it felt like my ears had popped and I was constantly shifting as we climbed uphill. Yet this exit wasn’t so much of an exit as a turn-off, the off-ramp dusty and somewhat hidden by overgrown trees.
“They should be past the sign there.” Charlie’s voice was heavy in my ear, and for a second I marveled that he could make me want him even when I was upset, even when I was frightened beyond any real capacity to think straight.
An electronic sign said the road was closed because of road work, but I couldn’t see anything being done. I looked back at Charlie but he just nodded for me to continue. Along the road there were more orange cones and barricades with reflecting lights blocking the road.
“Are you sure this is the right place?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m sure.”
Near a humongous pile of gravel there was a dump truck and what looked like some scrap next to a porta-potty. To an untrained eye it looked typical, and I thought maybe it genuinely was a preconstruction spot, though the site looked abandoned until I saw dust flying from beyond the concrete mixer.
“Is that…”
“Hey, guys! Hey!”
Charlie and I smiled simultaneously. “Polo.”
I was driving at a crawl of fifteen miles an hour, but Polo still threw himself in front of us, banging on the hood of the car like it was a giant drum.
Charlie laughed but I hit the brakes in a panic, sending Polo to the ground with the air knocked out of him.
“Oh my God, did I kill him?”
“Are you kiddin?” Charlie opened the car to get out. “They model test dummies after him.”
I turned off the car but Polo jumped back up and started barreling his fists along the hood again.
“Don’t touch anything, you halfwit!” I looked up just as Yuri started throwing pebbles at Polo from the cliffs above. When he saw me looking, he waved. I waved back.
Charlie shoved Polo from the car and they both tumbled to the ground. I looked back up to the cliffside but Yuri was gone. Did he think I had betrayed them, too? Dust ruffled at my feet and I took more than a few steps back just for good measure. Charlie was using his cast as a weapon and Polo used his head like a battery-ram into Charlie’s side.
“Um, boys?”
I crossed my arms over myself despite the cramped drive. There was no feeling of control and it was making me even more nervous than I already was.
“Hey, knock it off.”
Yuri emerged from a growth of trees and slid down, a crust of dirt on his heels. Though he didn’t look at me, I felt his curiosity towards me like when we had first met; it was hostile now though, because I was a threat. Even if I hadn’t betrayed them, I had an external power to change things; transforming me from an outsider into one of them.
“Boys?”
“I got this.” Yuri sighed and picked up a fairly long piece of piping nearby, studying its round angles for a split second, before poking at them both.
“Yikes, please be careful—”
“Just tenderizing…”
Polo and Charlie pulled apart, out of breath and laughing. I made a move to help Charlie up, but like a cat he was back on his feet before I even got close to him. It made me wonder just how many lives he had left.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be doing that.” I brushed the dirt from his hair where his hand rested on mine. I slid my fingers down to his cheek and tried to flake away more dirt, but quickly realized it was only more bruises. Bruises on top of bruises.
“If I don’t remind everyone ‘round here who’s in charge, who will?”
Polo waved at me from the ground and I waved at him with my arms still around Charlie.
“Hiya!”
I laughed into Charlie’s shirt. “Hi.”
Yuri helped Polo up and whispered something at him. Polo scoffed but ran off, kicking gravel as he chanted.
Charlie leaned into me and kissed my forehead, uncaring that Yuri was right next to us. Maybe it was from missing him so much, but I didn’t mind the public display of affection nearly as much as I normally would have. Yuri wasn’t nearly as patient, however. “Where’s big mouth?”
Charlie shrugged.
“He went to get rid of Polo’s car. When I suggested we take my brother’s, he took off,” I said. “We didn’t wait for him.”
Yuri looked back between Charlie and I, trying to decide something. “You killed him, didn’t you?”
I pulled away as Charlie laughed. “Nah.”
“Then where is he?”
“He ain’t here yet?”
Yuri gestured around. “You see him anywhere?
An engine came roaring down the exit. A moment later the tires of a delivery truck barreled towards us, kicking up dust and dirt with it. I could see Polo behind the wheel clearly enough, and apparently so could Charlie, as he pushed to move me out of the way.
“Is that our ride?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah,” Yuri said. “But I’ll do most of the driving.”
Polo parked the truck and hopped out of the driver’s seat, running
back when he realized he’d forgotten to turn the truck off.
“Hey guys! Hey!”
I broke from Charlie long enough to return Polo’s hug, they were like the frantic pulsing of hummingbird wings. It was good to be back with the familiar.
“It’s good you’re back. Like, really, really good.”
“Thanks. I feel the same way.”
“I don’t want Charlie going to jail.”
I smiled, though it hurt. “Me neither.”
I looked over my shoulder at Yuri and Charlie. They seemed to be doing some kind of silent guy bonding that I didn’t understand, staring each other down, looking angry but not really emitting any of it.
“We didn’t know if you were gonna make it or not.”
Charlie shrugged, looked back at me, and smiled. “Neither did I”
They said nothing else to one another, and I could tell from Polo’s darting eyes that I wasn’t the only one who sensed the tension. If they didn’t fight was this the alternative to how guys solved their problems?
Finally, I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and interrupted the brooding dude moment. “So, what’s the plan?”
Yuri snickered. “We’ll give Big Mouth a few more minutes and then we gotta go.” He looked at something far off. “We shouldn’t waste anymore time.”
I honestly didn’t know if I wanted Reid to show up or not. It was one of those controversies that split me in half. Though his intentions weren’t exactly noble, I was grateful that he had helped me on the pier, saved my life, really. If he hadn’t, I never would have seen Charlie again, and hurt Dad and Robbie unimaginably. But he had also played a significant role in the events leading up to my attempt. It was scary that he could be that manipulative.
Chapter 18
Ultimately, my internal dilemma didn’t matter since Reid drove up a few minutes later in a green Civic. No one asked where it came from or what he had to do to get it. I didn’t feel nearly as much shame as I should have that I didn’t want to know anymore than the rest of them did. I hoped for the best as I moved Robbie’s car behind the dump truck, but before I abandoned it completely, I dug for a pen in the glove box and wrote on the back of an old envelope.
Robbie—Gone Fishing 11:03AM.
Coming back from around the dump truck, I could see Yuri and Reid talking quietly amongst themselves, though it looked like Yuri was doing most of the talking for a change, and when Reid interrupted, Yuri’s eyes got wide and his tone a little more harsh.
Finally, Reid pushed Yuri and the two dispersed.
I looked around until I found Charlie, only panicking slightly when I didn’t see him right away. I never thought I’d be so happy to see him smoking, and when I did I hid behind the open door of the truck, inhaling the scent of clove. I realized that it was so much better than any daydream or fantasy.
Inhaling too deeply, I coughed, giving way my position. I heard Charlie chuckle. When I poked my head around the door, I saw him grin for the first time in months.
“You caught me.”
“It’s okay.” I shook my head. “You’ve earned it.”
“Did you know that wolves mate for life?”
I shook my head.
“Swans, too.”
I chewed on my lower lip as he stomped on the last of the cigarette. “So which one are we?”
“You tell me, Vicious.”
Before I could respond, Reid and Yuri walked over, both looking mad and red in the face. Over the drama I was proud of Charlie for not getting involved.
“Enough of this jerking-off. Let’s go.”
“You guys need to get in the back, your freaking pictures are everywhere.”
Charlie and I were all too happy to obey. Reid, on the other hand, made to get in the cab until Yuri held his hand out to stop him.
“Where in the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Where does it look like?”
Yuri broke out laughing. “Oh hell no! You’re going in the back, too. Polo’s riding up front—”
“Yay! Yay! Yay!”
“What? Why do I get stuck with a traitor and a jackass?”
“’Cause this shit storm is your doing. Even if your picture isn’t on the front page, you can sure as hell bet it’s in there somewhere for that high speed ride you put the cops on last night.
“But you—”
“Yeah, but we weren’t seen. Now get in the Goddamn truck.”
Charlie and I sat next to each other on one end and Reid sat on the other. The inside of the truck wasn’t very big, and with the way Charlie and Reid glared at each other, I was reminded of the metaphor of two cats trapped in a bag . Luckily, Polo sporadically changed songs on a mix CD and Yuri repeatedly slapped his hand away. None of us could see them but we could hear them easily enough, and their arguing provided an ample distraction.
“Oooh, I like that song!” I heard Polo say.
“That song is garbage.”
“Oh, I like that song, too!”
“Then why did you change it?”
“To get to this song.”
Polo began singing along, though because it was a techno/hip-hop combination, he sounded more like a broken beatbox than someone actually trying to sing.
“This is gonna turn into a Charlie situation real quick if you don’t knock that off.”
“A Charlie situation?”
“Yeah. I’m just gonna start beating the hell out of you.”
I laughed.
“What are you giggling about?” Reid sneered at me from the dark. Whether he meant to or not,, he frightened me. I huddled closer to Charlie.
“I, uh, I just missed those guys.”
He kicked the metal floor with his feet.
“Don’t. Start,” Charlie barked.
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll break your Goddamn neck and get it over with.”
They stood up at the same time, their heights almost equal to each other, and though Reid was uninjured, Charlie outweighed him in muscle, probably making any physical fight relatively fair. I wondered if I should get up too, knock on the other side of the truck, and ask for Yuri’s help. Notwithstanding, I doubted I could have stood on my feet while the truck was moving, anyway.
“Guys, just take it easy.”
“Shut up.”
“Hey!”
“What? Everyone is calling me a liar when I just told you what I thought and showed you some evidence. What if she’s the liar? What if she’s working with the cops?”
I stumbled to my knees. “I’m not.”
“Prove it,” he demanded.
What could I possibly offer to dissuade Reid? He had been weary of me from the beginning. Even Elise, obviously loyal for years, hadn’t earned his trust. What could I offer in comparison to that? “I—I can’t.”
Reid crossed his arms over himself, satisfied. “What did I tell you?”
Charlie clenched his fist tightly though I reached for him, trying to remind him that I was still here, that he needed to control his rage. “She had plenty of chances to turn me in.”
Reid pounded the side of his head violently with his fist. “Think about it, genius! Maybe the cops are working her to get the rest of us.”
“You know, you ain’t gotta to be here, anyway.” Charlie’s jaw ground together so hard I couldn’t imagine it didn’t hurt his teeth. “Nobody wants ya here.”
“Oh, I’m not stupid enough to be here because I want to be. Boss man said if I didn’t lend a hand, I’d have to sleep with my eyes open for the rest of my very short life. Worse yet, if something happens to the new bastard, he’s probably gonna blame me for that crap, too.”
I tugged on Charlie’s waist like a small child. “What’s he talking about?”
Almost absentmindedly, Charlie said, “Elise is having another kid.”
My gasp echoed in the truck and drew both pairs of eyes to me. “What?”
Charlie looked me up and down, maybe surprised by my random disp
lay of delight and childishness as I clapped my hands together.
“What did I tell you? Best. Day. Ever.”
Reid huffed and sat back down as we hit as particularly bad pothole. I, on the other hand, was not so graceful, and tumbled backward. Charlie stopped me from hitting my head against the metal railing and guided us back to sitting, laughing the entire time.
“I should get some sleep now,” he said mockingly. “Because you know, it’s hard to get a decent rest in the joint.” He took off his hoodie and bundled it up under his head before lying down and turning on his side. “Which is where we’re all going, by the way!”
I could see Charlie’s feet trying to move inside the steel-toe boots. If I wasn’t there would he even bother to threaten Reid?
“Ignore him,” I said. “If you killed him if wouldn’t be the best day ever.”
Charlie mumbled something and brought his hands to his face. I wasn’t worried because I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but rather because I couldn’t see his expression. Still, I knew he was tired, angry, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine how overwhelmed he was about everything else, so maybe space to think was a better remedy at this moment. I literally twiddled my thumbs, counting the cars I heard whizzing past us on the freeway. At least Yuri was driving slowly. Hopefully, that would keep us under the radar.
“I—I don’t know what to say.”
“Neither do I,” I admitted.
“I didn’t realize it until now.” He paused and looked straight ahead at the other side of the gray metal ahead from us. “Ben wasn’t just helping ‘cause Elise told him to.”
“Gee, you mean Ben Walden didn’t do something out of the goodness of his heart?”
He gave me a wry smile. I pulled my knees up to my chest and glanced over at Reid. I had thought he was being sarcastic, but it really did seem he was asleep.
Charlie’s body did the opposite of mine, his legs stretched out and he leaned his head back against the cool metal. “He musta known you weren’t talkin’ to anybody.”
“Well, I sort of was.”
A brief look of horror came over his face before I rushed to explain.
“When you—after you went in the hospital—I made sure to tell someone in the media what I had been telling the FBI, that you were innocent, and that they were railroading you. Since I couldn’t see you or get in touch with anyone, I felt so helpless, I had to do something…”
Conviction (Wated Series Book 2) Page 23
