by HD Smith
“Dad. It’s me. What’s going on? Where are you?”
Matt could hear the fear in his son’s tone. He glared at Lenny. “I’m on my way home. Everything’s going to be okay. Where did they pick you up?”
“At the skate park,” Pete said.
“Okay, they’re going to drop you off there. I want you to go over to David’s after they drop you off and call my cell phone when you get there, okay?” Matt instructed.
“Okay,” Pete said, sounding a little less scared.
“Tell David’s parents that I’ll pick you up tonight. I love you. I’ll see you tonight.”
“I love you too,” Pete said.
“Now put the man back on the phone.” Matt heard Pete hand the phone back to his kidnapper. “Listen to me you son of a bitch. You take my kid back to the skate park. If there’s one scratch on him, you’re dead.” Matt tossed the phone back to Lenny. “Make that happen.”
Lenny put the phone to his ear. “Yeah, this is Hill. Do what he says. Take the kid back. Now. I’ll square it with Carlos later.”
Matt heard the guy cursing in Spanish as Lenny ended the call.
Logan looked back at Juli and nodded. “Plus expenses.” He turned to Lenny. “I trust this won’t happen again?”
“No, sir. It will never happen again.” Lenny assured him.
“Now that that’s settled, I’ve got other business to attend. Do you two need a ride?” Logan said to Ronny and Juli. “I believe we have some finer points to negotiate.”
“Yes,” Juli said. “We’d love a ride.”
Matt wanted to stay and beat the shit out of Lenny, but he wanted to get home to Pete more. He glanced around the old back room one more time. Nothing had changed. Lenny was the same jealous kid he’d been back then. “You’re nothing,” Matt said, then he turned to leave.
“See you around, Lenny,” Juli said, his voice calm and still like his dad’s use to be.
Matt took in a deep lungful of air as he exited the pub.
Juli threw Matt the keys to the car he’d woken up in that morning. “Leave it in long-term parking. The owner won’t be needing it,” he said, with a smile, “and don’t worry about Foster. I’ll settle that score.”
Matt nodded, still a little shell shocked by everything that had happened.
Ronny slapped him on the back. “Good seeing you again, Matty. Maybe you don’t wait so long between visits next time?”
He smiled, but they both knew he’d never be back.
Matt pulled out of Miller’s Pub behind Logan’s car. As he drove toward the city, he looked around and remembered the life he’d had in Nowhere—a life that had almost caught up with him. And one he was finally glad to be free of.
Chapter 14
2015
Matt and Pete both made it home safe. Faith came back from her mother’s and everything was getting back to normal. Matt came clean with Faith and Pete about his past. He told them everything. Faith was a little shocked but understood why he hadn’t wanted to talk about it.
He’d assured both of them that nothing like that would ever happen again.
Three weeks later, Matt was in the kitchen fixing a snack when he heard the doorbell ring.
“I’ll get it,” Pete yelled as he ran to the door.
“Is your father home?”
Matt dropped the knife he’d been holding. He recognized that voice. The man you don’t want knocking on your door had just knocked on his door.
“Pete, go back to the living room,” Matt said, nudging Pete away from the door.
“Okay,” Pete said, his face going from confused to concerned.
“Nice kid,” Juli said.
“What do you want?” Matt asked, keeping his voice low. Needless to say, he was uneasy about the visit.
Juli smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, as if the truth of the situation pained him. “Don’t worry. It’s just a social call. I’m not here on business.”
“A social call?”
“Yeah, can’t a guy look up an old friend?”
Matt was thinking about it.
“You’d already know if I were here on business,” Juli said. “Or not—let’s just say we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
This assertion didn’t completely put Matt at ease.
“Come in,” Matt said and showed Juli through to the lanai.
Juli sat down in one of the chairs beside the pool. “You have a nice house.”
“Thanks. So … how have you been?” Matt didn’t really know what to say. He was sitting across from a man that used to be his best friend, a man who was now a contract killer, and a man who’d saved his life—but someone he didn’t really know anymore.
Juli reached into his inside pocket. For a split second Matt panicked, then he saw the jump drive in Juli’s hand.
“What is this?” Matt asked, as he took the drive.
“It’s the information Lenny had about you. I thought you might want to see it. It’s a very interesting read.”
Matt raised his eyebrows. “Really, what does it say?”
“Well, I know why Lenny hated you. Apparently he and Mr. Hill weren’t related.”
Matt shrugged. “And he hated me why?”
“Apparently you and Mr. Hill were related. According to those documents, he was your biological father.” Juli paused. “I can’t believe your mother never told you.”
Matt sat back in his chair. He didn’t know how to react. Why hadn’t his mother told him? “How is that even possible? What about Richard … my father?”
“Some of the hospital records indicate that you were a preemie. I think she was pregnant when she married him. He probably never knew.”
“What about Lenny?”
“I called my dad. I knew if anyone would know he would. He said that Lenny’s mom was cheating on Hill with a guy named Manny. Hill didn’t find out until after Lenny was born.”
Matt nodded. “I see. Did he know about me?”
“Dad said that he knew. That’s why Mr. Hill tried to find you.” Juli waited a moment for the news to sink in, then continued, “I also thought you might like to know how it ended.”
Matt’s eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean?”
Juli smiled. “Logan asked me to take care of the situation. To make sure Lenny wouldn’t be bothering you again.”
Matt’s shoulders relaxed. Looking at Juli, he asked, “The text, in the back room, that was Logan?”
Juli’s smirk was evident. “Oh, yeah. He wanted a price.”
Matt’s brows rose. “I saw you type four keys.”
“F-R-E-E,” Juli said.
“Wow.” Then Matt remembered. “Plus expenses.”
Juli shrugged. “Logan was tired of dealing with Lenny. He just needed a good enough reason to get rid of him.”
“So what happened to him?”
“It’s probably better if you don’t know the details.”
Matt thought about that for a second. Juli was right, it was better if he not know the exact details about the job. “Yeah, I think I get the idea. What about Nowhere? Who’s taking over?”
“Logan left Ronny in charge. He wants him to clean house—the usual.”
Matt nodded. “What about Foster? That bastard nearly killed me.”
Juli chuckled. “Well, he’s not going to military school in Connecticut this time, but you don’t have to worry about him either.”
“So this is what you do? You take care of people for a price?”
“It pays the rent.”
“How did you …” Matt wasn’t exactly sure how to ask.
“How did I get into this line of work?”
“Yeah. I mean only two ways out of Nowhere, right?”
A mischievous grin turned up Juli’s lips. “I joined the Army the day I turned eighteen. I didn’t even tell Ronny. I sent Mom and Dad a postcard from boot camp. Dad was pissed.”
“The Army?”
“Special Forces. One of Uncle S
am’s finest. Taught me everything I needed to know.”
“Next you’re going to tell me you have a degree from Brown.”
Juli smiled. “Dartmouth actually. I mean, every mercenary worth his salt should also be Ivy League.”
Matt laughed. “Of course. So how long are you going to be in town?”
“Just passing through. I’ve got some business in Miami.”
Matt knew better than to ask Juli about his plans. They sat on the lanai for a while longer and reminisced about old times. Matt knew that he’d probably never see Juli again, but at least this time he got to say goodbye.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
HD Smith has been writing for over ten years. NOWHERE, NJ, was her second novella. It has been rewritten to give Matty and his friend’s adventures a new audience in today’s digital-first market.
HD grew up in South Carolina, but has called the Sunshine State home since 1997. She has Computer Science degrees from Clemson University (BS) and Florida Institute of Technology (MS). When not writing novels, she writes software for an awesome cruise line in Celebration, FL. Her other hobbies include painting and screen printing. She enjoys creating t-shirts inspired by the places in her books. For more information, visit HD’s website at http://www.hdsmithauthor.com/
The Good Bad Guys Series:
Keegan’s Point
Nowhere, NJ
The Devil’s Assistant Series (Urban Fantasy):
Dark Hope
Dark Awakened
Photo by Stacie Lee
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