Page 31 (1/1)
"You okay,down at the cruht inThis wo a seriously fucked up effect on me I can’t afford to be this distracted by her She’s consu moment of my day, when I need to re about things that probably aren’t even going to happen, either I’ve set up uys for that one specific reason--to watch out for Lace and Sloane, and to keep them from harm
"I want you to reach out to this DEA wo off my momentary freak-out "I want you to ask her which bikers she’s interested in I wanna knohat inforot onup Lacey" I scribble h still grease- stained napkin and tuck it roughly into the top pocket of the tee Rick’s wearing
The guy grunts his assent, although he’s clearly none too happy about it His sandy eyebrows knit together as he considers speaking After a short while he leans forward, saying, "Why d’you care about that piece of ass, anyway? She was sleeping with Georgio Ramerez for months You know he ain’t too careful with his possessions Word is Frankie Monterello had a go at her, too You never struckup sloppy seconds froested back in Chino--a coping mechanisine reaching across the table, pressing ers into the nape of Rick’s neck, engaging thehis face down into the table His nosecrunch and the explosion of blood follows right after It’s vaguely satisfying Like I said, I don’t do this very often; to ih is counterproductive The goal is usually to vent the anger away fro about it frequently directs ht now I can’t draw attention toto the action No, now’s the time for a cool head Rick knows his question was a aze and he shifts unco," he adds
"Can be very detrimental to the health, I’ve heard"
"Yeah, well--" Rick looks around, as if searching for a reason to leave He doesn’t need an excuse; our ’s over
"Call that nuet up and slidethe fast food place as inconspicuously as possible Which ends up being pretty fucking conspicuous when you’re six foot three and built like a tank
It’s not sosense of dread that settles overblanket as I lie frozen still in bed The house settles, creaking and sighing, wind teasing inquisitively at thepanes ofbeneath h the curtained floor-to-ceiling s at the other end of the rooilded silver hue It lights the roo the closet door, chest of drawers, small chestnut wooden blanket box and other small pieces of furniture easily visible
Nothing out of place Everything where it should be Perhaps Lacey’s presence in the house, her just being here, sleeping in the guest rooe I’ve always been able to do that--sense when I’ as this It always leads to broken sleep Yet somehow I know this isn’t that It feels different Aard Tense Resigningback the covers froer to an immediate halt out in the hallway, stunned Twogling foruy closest to the top of the stairs has a firainst hiuy has his ar her but also expertly cla his hand over her h she’s screa anyway so his efforts are probably unnecessary Lacey’s eyes are gripped with a pure terror that grabs me by the throat and spurs asp Pretty stupid question It’s obvious what they’re doing; they’re kidnapping Lacey The girl Zeth left in uy wrestling to pin down Lacey’s flailing legs shakes his head ly at me "Go back to bed, baby Othere’ll make sure to coet the fuck out of e that surprises even me The two men exhale in frustrated synchrony; they clearly don’t want to be dealing with ot a death wish, bitch?" the other one says "You don’t wanna be interfering right now Trust onna have to deal with her," the other guy says, a lint in his eye
Lacey lashes out with one foot, et it free, and for ht the wildly kicking leg I do the first thing I think of, backing up intothe lock closed behindas the barrier sla her I’et to the only offensive weapon--the baseball bat I keep by the front door--without having to pass the I find it where I always keep it, in my en suite carefully perched on top of the toilet cistern