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I was brooding and lost track of time, so when the car pulled to a stop on the street in front of what looked like an abandoned warehouse, it could have been an hour or five minutes later I rolledthe keys and cliave me a weird look, like he suddenly remembered I was there, and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up over his head

“You can wait in the car I’ll be back in a minute”

I looked around the area where ere parked and threw open my door No place in the Point was exactly safe, but just like in every bad part of any city, there were some areas that orse than others This was one of those places, and I had had enough of feeling rattled and shaken for one night Right now, sticking by Bax was the only thing giving hed and lit up a cigarette It was a nasty habit, but considering the guy stole things for a living, I guess there were far worse things he could be lighting up in my presence

“Just stick close, I uy about some money he owes me”

“It can’t wait until later?” I was emotionally exhausted I didn’t kno all this stuff after dark didn’t wear him out It was like an entirely different life in the shadows

“No”

Nothingless Just “no” Clearly prison hadn’t offered Bax any kind of awesoru behind hi to collapse under our weight In fact, the staircase was so rickety and dilapidated, I put a hand on the back of his sweatshirt so if ent down, there was a chance I could land on him instead of the concrete below This was creepy and didn’t look like anyplace I wanted to be, but Bax acted like he knew just where he was going, so I dutifully followed along

At the base of the stairway there was a bare lightbulb hanging over a ht purple It looked like the service entrance to the warehouse, but Bax punched in a nu open under the flat of his hand

“What is this place?” I didn’t really expect an answer, but he looked over his shoulder at me, most of his face obscured by the hood

“Just a bar”

I couldn’t contain an eye roll or the sarcasuided us down a narrow hallway toward the sounds and smells of what indeed seemed to be a bar