by Zoey Parker
I took a deep breath and dared to speak. I looked at Number Two, whose name I still didn’t know. He’d smiled at me. Maybe there was a decent bone in his body.
“Why did you think you were bringing me here?” I asked, sounding as pitiful as I could.
“Enough out of you!” Thorn shouted.
I looked at Thorn, letting my chin quiver like I was about to cry. “What’s the difference now? Why not tell me? You’re just gonna kill me, anyway. Right? Why not satisfy my curiosity? Shouldn’t I know how this went down if it’s going to end with you killing me?”
Thorn stared at me through half-lidded eyes, then waved his hand like he didn’t care one way or another whether I knew. I looked back at the other guys. Neither of them looked exactly anxious to speak to me.
Number Two cleared his throat. “We thought you had to do with the drugs,” he said. “He told us you knew and were gonna tell the club we were holding out on them.” He looked at me and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
His apologies didn’t do me any good, not unless he wanted to help me escape. Then I wondered if I couldn’t maybe use him to help me after all. He still seemed like a sweet enough kid. Maybe he had been pulled into this craziness, just the way Sabrina had. Not knowing how deep everything went.
“So you were holding out on the club?” I asked. I looked at Thorn. “Did Sabrina know that?”
“No. And I wasn’t holding out on anything!”
I would have to tread more lightly. “You weren’t honest, though.”
“I wasn’t stealing anything! Everything was going to go to the club once they knew about the deal I made. But if Gabriel ever found out I was selling, it wouldn’t take him long to put two and two together. I made a deal with another supplier, hoping it would eventually make more money for the club and make Gabriel a stronger leader.” He looked at me, straight in the eye. “You gotta believe me. I did it for him. I wanted him to be respected and appreciated for everything he did for the club.”
I didn’t think he was completely truthful, but I nodded anyway. “I know how close you are.” Come on, Gabriel. Put on some speed!
Thorn nodded. “He’s like a brother to me. I knew he would see what I did as betrayal, but that’s not how I meant it at all. He wouldn’t have believed me, and even if he had, the rest of the club wouldn’t. They would have voted me out, or worse. Probably worse.” He shuddered, throwing an arm over his eyes. I knew what he meant. They would have killed him if they thought he was making side deals and profiting from the results. No matter how much love they pretended to have for each other, in the end, it all came down to money.
“How did it all go to shit so fast?” He looked at all of us—even me, as though I could give him a straight answer. I had no idea how he had managed to screw up so badly, but, of course, there was no way I could say that.
“These things happen,” I said, shrugging as best I could with my wrists bound behind me. “We never mean for them to. Just like I know, in my heart, that you didn’t mean to hurt Sabrina. It just happened. Right?”
“Exactly! I loved her! I wouldn’t have hurt her for anything!”
I bit my tongue, wanting to scream at him. Instead of tearing him apart for what he did, I nodded sympathetically. “You have a good heart, Thorn. It was always in the right place. I know how much Gabriel loves you. He wouldn’t if you weren’t a good, worthwhile person. You just got lost. But it doesn’t have to be this way.”
He stayed very still for a long time. I wondered if I had gotten through to him somehow. There was a brief moment of hope.
Then he laughed, and the little edge of insanity I heard in that laugh told me there was no getting through to him. He was gone.
“You’re good,” he said, and slowly clapped his hands. “Seriously, you should have been an actress instead of a—what was it? A musician?” I didn’t miss the past tense he used.
I slumped slightly, as much as I could while I was still tied up. My hands were starting to go numb. I would never play piano with them again. Ivy and my other students would have to find another teacher. “Yeah. A musician.”
“I heard you were pretty good.” He sat up, looking at me. “Sabrina told me you were really good, actually.”
“She would have,” I said with a smile, in spite of the abject terror in my heart. “She was my biggest fan. She used to come to all of my gigs and cheer her head off. Sometimes there would only be a few other people in the room, but she would clap like she was at a stadium concert, you know?”
He nodded, smiling a little himself. “Yeah, she was always enthusiastic about the people she loved.”
Do you think she loved you? I wondered, looking at him. If he did, there was probably even more anguish he was dealing with. I had to wonder whether or not she did. I was sure it had to be infatuation.
Then again, anyone would have thought that about Gabriel and me, but I knew it wasn’t the case. I knew my feelings ran deeper than that. My heart broke when I thought I would never see him again if he didn’t get to me within the next few minutes. It broke for him, too. I knew he would blame himself.
But even if he made it in time, then what? Could he manage to talk Thorn down from the insanity he was swimming in? I didn’t think so. And I didn’t want to see him get hurt while trying, either.
I thought about Sabrina. She was out there somewhere in the world. I said a quiet prayer to myself, hoping she was safe and could be happy. I had done my best for her. I hoped she knew how much I’d loved her.
Thorn got up from the bed. Somehow I knew what he had in mind. Maybe it was the way he was looking down at me with such finality in his eyes.
“Enough talking,” he said. “It’s time to finish this.”
“What are you doing, Thorn?” Mike asked, looking from Thorn to me, then back again.
“What the fuck do you think I’m doing? Do you think this is some game I’m playing? Let me tell you, it’s not. When you’re in this club, you do what needs to be done for the sake of the club. And she’s standing in the way.” He pulled out his gun, and I whimpered. I didn’t want him to see how scared I was, but then again, I thought it might help me earn sympathy from the others in the room.
“Yo, Thorn, this isn’t a good idea,” Number Two said.
“Tony, I didn’t ask for your opinion.” I looked at Tony, my eyes pleading with him. Thorn was oblivious.
“Seriously, Thorn! Think about it. You’re going to kill her, right here in the room? Tied to a chair? You’re going to get blood all over the place. People know you’re here. You come here all the time for the pickups. They’ve seen you a dozen times. They’re gonna know you had something to do with this.”
I dared look at Thorn. Tony had a point. It would be a big mistake to kill me in this horrible little room. How would they clean up after me?
Thorn shook his head, raising the gun. “Don’t tell me what to do!” His hand was shaking wildly. He didn’t care about the consequences. He’d lost his mind due to guilt over Sabrina. I was sure the drugs didn’t help either. It didn’t matter to him anymore what happened once I was dead. He just wanted it over with. I was the enemy, and I had to go.
He looked like he might start crying again. He leveled the gun at my head, right between my eyes. His hand steadied.
Oh, God. This is it. I closed my eyes and braced myself, saying a prayer that it would be fast. I love you, Sabrina. I love you, Gabriel.
It was like he heard me think his name. “Thorn!” His voice came from outside, an angry bellow. I dared to open my eyes and looked to the window, where everyone else looked as well. Tony peered out from behind the curtain.
“Shit! It’s Gabriel!”
I nearly wept with relief, my whole body shaking. He came. I knew he would. Thank you, God.
“I should have fucking known he’d get here fast.” Thorn cast a disgusted look my way, but the gun never wavered. He was still aiming at my head. He turned to Tony and Mike. “What’s he doing?”
&
nbsp; “He’s holding on to a girl…and he has a gun to her head, too.” Tony looked back at me, then out the window again. “Oh, shit,” he muttered.
“What? What is it?” Thorn asked, panic in his voice.
Tony didn’t need to say what had him so rattled, because Gabriel’s next words cleared up the confusion.
“Thorn! I have her! I have Sabrina! I’ll blow her head off, I swear!”
The gun lowered, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I caught myself. He had her? She was outside? I struggled to see, craning my neck. But I was too far away to get a look.
Thorn was struggling to understand this. He’d spent so long believing she was dead, and now he was being told she was alive.
“God,” Tony muttered, looking back at me again. “You look just alike.”
I couldn’t help crying out as the tears burst from me, knowing it had to be her. Oh, Sabrina. She was with Gabriel, at least. He would take care of her. I wished I’d let him take care of me the way he’d wanted to.
I knew he didn’t mean to hurt Sabrina. I knew what he was doing. He was so smart. She was the only thing that could get through to Thorn.
“Thorn! I mean it! I’ll kill her!”
Thorn roared, livid, Gabriel’s words finally getting through to him. He rushed to the door and flung it open, the gun still in his hand. “What do you think you’re doing?”
As soon as his eyes were off me, I began wriggling in my chair. They’d bound my wrists with packing tape, so there was little chance of getting out. All I was doing was exhausting myself and pulling muscles in my arms by struggling.
I looked around the room. Hadn’t Thorn left his knife laying around somewhere? Yes, but it was on the other side of the room, on top of the dresser. There went that idea.
I heard a lot of shouting coming from outside. I hoped Gabriel knew what he was doing. Now it wasn’t just my life hanging in the balance. It was Sabrina’s, too. Not to mention his own.
Chapter 24
Gabriel
I heard her whimpering, like she was going to cry again. I knew she was afraid—for the first time in my life, I knew how it felt. “It’ll be all right,” I said, pulling her behind me as I walked toward the room. Then I spun, pulling her against me.
“Just act like you’re trying to get away,” I muttered in Sabrina’s ear. “I’ll keep you safe, I swear.”
She started to squirm under my arm. Good girl. I called Thorn’s name as loudly as I could.
We were standing in the parking lot, directly in front of room twenty-seven. I had one arm around Sabrina’s chest, holding her to me. The other held my gun, pointed at her head.
The curtain moved. Someone was looking out. Kat? No, he would have tied her up somehow. Otherwise, knowing her, she would have been all over the room and probably out the door by now.
“I’ll blow her head off!” I shouted. Sabrina whimpered again. “I won’t. Just play along.” She nodded. “I’ll kill her!” I shouted again.
Then I heard a roar. The door flew open, and there was Thorn. His eyes went wide as saucers when he saw who I was holding against my chest.
“Sabrina?” he whispered, his hands reaching for her. He took two steps toward us.
“No way! Back off!” I screamed, taking two steps away from him. “You don’t come anywhere near us!”
He ignored me. He only had eyes for her. “Sabrina! How are you alive? Where have you been?”
“Looks like you didn’t do the job all the way, man. She was alive all this time, and hiding from you because you hurt her!”
“No…” he moaned, staring at her. “No. You didn’t have to hide from me! I love you! This whole time, my heart was breaking because I thought I’d killed you! Because I love you!”
“You don’t love her,” I said. I was tired of playing these games with him. “If you did, you wouldn’t have done anything to her. You wouldn’t have made her so afraid of you, she had to hide in a place like this for six weeks. She would have gone to the hospital, or to her sister. She came here instead. Because it was better than being with you.”
“That’s not true!” He looked at her, his arms still reaching out. “I do love you. It’s been tearing me apart inside, thinking I killed you. I swear, I haven’t been able to sleep this entire time. I’m falling apart without you. I hated myself. You have to believe me.”
“Keep fighting,” I whispered. She struggled against me. I looked at Thorn. “It doesn’t fucking matter now! I’ll blow her head off, I shit you not.”
“No!”
“Fine. You wanna keep her safe? Then give me Kat. I’ll give you Sabrina if you give me Kat.”
He hesitated, still staring at Sabrina. I pressed the gun to her head. She cried out, though I didn’t know if it was pretend or if she were really afraid I would kill her if I didn’t get her sister back.
“Don’t you hurt her!” he screamed. I wondered how long it would be before somebody called the cops. I hoped someone already had, actually. I was counting on it.
“Then you give me proof that Kat’s still alive and unhurt. I swear, if she’s already dead…!”
“No, no, she’s fine!” He held up his hands, motioning for me to stop. He stuck his head in the room. “Say something!”
“Gabriel?” I could have collapsed with relief. It was her voice. She sounded strong.
“See?” Thorn asked. “She’s fine. Now give me Sabrina!”
“No! Not until I see Kat!” I knew him. He was stubborn, just the way he had always been when we were kids. Even when I had him cornered like this, he was still trying to fight back like he had a leg to stand on. We could be here all night if he had his way. Both of us threatening the other and getting nowhere.
Thorn slumped against the door to the room. I didn’t know if he could take much more of this. I had never seen a person so close to falling apart. If I pushed much harder, he might kill her just because he felt like it. Or he might kill himself.
“Why did you do this?” I asked. I had to know. Sabrina didn’t matter at the moment, and neither did Kat. All I saw was my best friend. “Why? What happened?”
He was crying. He’d cried more today than I’d ever seen him cry in the years we knew each other. He didn’t even cry in front of me when his parents died—I thought for a long time that he might never have cried for them at all. I never knew exactly what they had done to him, since he would never tell me. I knew it was enough to kill any chance of him mourning their passing, though.
“It was all too much,” he sobbed. “I thought I could handle it, but it was too much. I was never meant to be a leader, like you are.” He looked at me, and I saw all the pain in his eyes. My heart went out to him for a minute, but then I remembered the girl inside the room and what she meant to me. I hardened myself. I had made my choice.
“What was too much? Tell me.”
“I thought…if I could score us a deal…it would make you look good, strong. I don’t know what I was thinking…”
I was so surprised, I almost let go of Sabrina. This was totally unexpected. I thought this was all about his guilt over thinking he killed her, and maybe drug paranoia. I knew Tracee couldn’t be the only person in the house getting high. It would explain the way he was crumbling, too. But now he was talking about a deal. “What did you do?”
He shook his head. “It’s too much. You’ll hate me.”
I did what I could to hide how frustrated he was making me. “I won’t. I would never hate you. You’re my brother.” I had to be careful. He was ready to crack. He had already cracked, actually.
“I was working with Jorge and the rest of them. I thought I could make us strong…”
“Jesus Christ.” It all made sense, at least a little bit. “You were selling to them?”
He nodded. “I thought if we could work with them, instead of against them, we could be a stronger club. The more allies, the better, right?”
“Fuck, Thorn! They killed Spike and everybody else! Why woul
d you do it?” He might have gotten us all killed. There was no trusting Jorge, not after what he did to our club. Thorn had been way out of line to even consider doing something so risky. He wasn’t exactly skilled when it came to negotiation, either. I could have blown his head off right there, I was so enraged. I didn’t notice how tightly I was squeezing Sabrina until she cried out a little. I loosened my grip.
“I don’t know how I did it. I don’t remember anymore, it’s all so confusing. It seemed like a good idea at the time…”
“Where’s the money?” I asked. He wouldn’t look at me. “Where is it, man?”
