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"So where did you du center&039;s rear exit
As Qhuinn waited for John and Blay to get out of the flatbed, he let one of them answer V&039;s question He was too done to bother - ander at the facility&039;s underground parking lot, he considered just stretching out across the truck&039;s front seat and going to sleep
Too fucking tired to bother with anything else
In the end, though, he followed John&039;s lead and shifted his sorry ass out the driver&039;s side door He had to go check on Layla, and that wasn&039;t going to happen fro, at least he and John and Blay had worked well together on the way home About ten miles before the cutoff to the Brotherhood co road, stripped the two dead men, and launched the bodies into a natural sinkhole that had no bottom that anyone could see Then it was a case of backtrack, K-turn out on the road, and ghost away, allowing the snohich had started to fall in earnest once again, to cover their tracks, as well as the various leaks that had left a trail of bright red blood By noonti the accu had happened at all
A perfect snow job Har-har
He supposed he should feel bad for the dead dudes&039; fa to find those reuys had lived on the fringes, and not because they were hippies: guns, knives, a switchblade, weed, and some X had been found in their various pockets And God only kneas in those backpacks
Violent lives tended to come to violent ends
" - son of a bitch," V was saying as he walked around the Hummer on its flatbed pedestal "What the fuck did they run into? A ce, and V looked over sharply at Qhuinn "What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed"
Qhuinn thu"
"Dus "Meh, I would have done the sa"
Out of the corner of his eye, Qhuinn noted that Blay was quietly and unobtrusively drifting toward the door that opened into the facility He was going to disappear in another second and a half, finished with the draain been dropped at his feet
Qhuinn felt a sudden, striking urge to follow the fighter into the hall and away froo at -
Your cousin is giving me what I need All day Every day
Oh, Jesus, he was going to throw up
"So any more personal effects?"
Qhuinn snapped out of the bullshit and got his useful on "I&039;ll get &039;e up onto the flatbed, he forced open the cruh a twelve-inch gap to the backseat It felt good to ja and didn&039;t fit - gave histo do, and the little ouchies from his injuries were another fantastic diversion
The two backpacks had been bounced around pretty daood He found the one they&039;d seen first in the wheel well behind the passenger&039;s seat, and the other was up in front on top of the brake and the accelerator Weird luggage for those two as far as he could tell; the pedestrian vibe didn&039;t go with all the other kinds of urban tuff guy that the stiffs had been sporting
Waytrade
Unless they needed a place to put their es or some shit
As Qhuinn crabbed his way back into the rear seat, he o out the way he ca hiht his knees to his chest With a sharp inhale, he punched his shitkickers into the other side door and blew it open, thewith a crash on the concrete
Satisfying
While the sounds echoed through the parking garage, V lit one of his hand-rolleds and leaned into the hole Qhuinn had just made "You know they have door handles for that, true?"
Qhuinn sat up - and realized he&039;d just kicked open the only side that hadn&039;t been wrecked
Well, if that wasn&039;t alife at this point
Throwing the pair of packs out, he launched hiht the payload and started to unzip
Crap Blay had left The door into the training center was just closing
Cursing under his breath, he otta be solass is still intact, so there should have been no fly-out"
"Well, well, well" the Brother said on the exhale
Qhuinn frowned and looked over at what John had found What thehell"Are you kidding me?"
His best friend had just pulled out a ceraet froet And what do you know The other guy had packed one, too
What were the chances?
"We need to find those phones," Qhuinn ot a flashlight?"
Vishous took off his lead-lined leather glove and held up his glowing hand "Right &039;chere"
As the Brother hopped up on the thin edge of the bed, Qhuinn went into a tuck and got back in the Hummer&039;s rear co, will ya, V?"
"It&039;d be a spanking you&039;d never forget, I promise you"
Man, that hand was handy As V put it inside, the whole interior was lit up bright as day, all the carnage inside throwing sharp, dark shadows Crawling around, Qhuinn reached under seats, patting with his palod-awful, a nasty coas, burned plastic, and fresh blood - and every time he put a hand down, it fluffed up the residue fros&039; powder
But it orth all the pseudo yoga positions
He eed with a pair of iPhones
"I hate these things," V love back on and took theto the relatively fresh air, Qhuinn caught his breath and cracked his neck, then ju at that point, and he nodded a couple of ti said
"Listen, you mind if I take a TO and check in for a sec," he interjected
V&039;s diaht on cue, John ju about the Hu a torch in front of a T rex to redirect it As V started talking about the SUV&039;s future as lawn sculpture, Qhuinn nearly blew a kiss at his buddy
No one knew about Layla except for John and Blay - and things needed to stay that way during this early period
As Qhuinn was John&039;s ahstrux nohtruo far - and he didn&039;t He eased on over to the door Blay had put to good use and got out his phone As he dialed one of the house extensions and waited through the rings, he stared at his ruined vehicle
He could reh his parents had hadneed to provide for him as they had for his brother and sister Before his transition, he&039;d gotten by selling red se aap of his paltry allowance, and keep fro off Blay all the time
The cash crunch had ended as soon as he&039;d been prouard His new job had corand a year And considering he didn&039;t pay taxes to the bullshit huovernreen leftover
The Hu purchase He&039;d done his research on the Internet, but the truth was, he&039;d already knohat he wanted Fritz had gone out and done the negotiating and the official purchasingand that first tiotten behind the wheel, cranked the key, and felt the rumble under the hood, he&039;d nearly teared up like a pussy
Noas ruined: He was hardly a e was so severe, it just made no sense to save it -
"Hello?"
The sound of Layla&039;s voice snapped hi?"
The precise enunciation that came back at him reminded him of his parents, every word perfectly pronounced and chosen with care "I am well, thank you very ested They had a Million Dollar Listing marathon"
"What the hell is that?"
"A shohere they sell houses in Los Angeles - I thought for a little bit that it was fiction, but it turns out it&039;s a reality show? I thought theyHe&039;s rather shrewd and very kind to his grandmother"
He asked her a couple more questions, like what had she eaten and had she taken a nap, just to keep her talking - because in between the syllables, he was looking for clues of discomfort or worry
"So you&039;re okay," he said
"Yes, and before you ask, I have already requested that Fritz bring me up Last Meal And yes, I will eat allher to feel caged "Listen, it&039;s not just for the young&039;s sake It&039;s also for yours I want you to be well, you know?"
Her voice dropped a little "You have always been thus Even before weyes, you have only ever wanted the best foron the car door he&039;d busted, he thought of how good it had felt to kick the shit out of soyain before I crash, &039;kay?"
"All right Be well"
"You, too"
As he hung up, he realized V had stopped talking and was looking over at hi ay off - hair on fire, pants around the ankles, eyebrows shaved
"You got yourself a female there, Qhuinn?" the Brother drawled
Qhuinn looked around for a life raft, and got a whole lot of nothing "Ah"
V exhaled over his shoulder and cao work on these phones And you need to buy yourself another vehicle - anything as long as it&039;s not a Prius Later"
When John and he were alone, it was pretty clear the guy ar about the shon at the side of the road
"I don&039;t want to hear it, John I just don&039;t have the strength right now"
Shit, John signed
"That about covers it,up to the house?"
Under the strict interpretation of the ahstrux nohtrum job, Qhuinn needed to be with John twenty-four/seven But the king had given them a dispensation if they ithin the confines of the co way too much about his buddy and Xhex