by Jade Kuzma
“Where outside?” Garnet said. “Did the bastard just set it next to the wall? The cops have been scouting this place. They would have noticed something like that.”
“There’s nothing out there,” Ghost added. “There’s just a dumpster…”
Their eyes widened at the realization.
We all rushed out of the bar and headed to the back. As soon as we got to the dumpster, Brawn looked down at me.
“After you,” he said as he held his hand out to me.
“Wait a second,” I said with my hands up. “I can’t go into the dumpster.”
“If it’s in there, you have to get it,” Garnet said with a smirk. “You’re the smallest one.”
“But…”
They were all looking at me.
“Fine.”
The hulking Brawn gave me a boost into the dumpster.
“Check the bags,” Garnet said. “Be careful.”
“I know, I know,” I replied.
Sorting through the trash bags in a dumpster in the middle of a rainstorm.
“This is just lovely,” I muttered.
I grabbed all of the bags filled with empty bottles and removed them out of the dumpster. One by one, the Reapers all started searching them.
“I think I got something.”
Of course it was the last bag that was heavier than all of the others. I picked it up and handed it over to them. Brawn helped me out of the dumpster. When I got down, I saw all of them surrounded by the small briefcase. I didn’t know what a bomb looked like but all of the wires and chemicals didn’t exactly look safe.
“Can you do it, Petey?” Garnet said.
“This might take a bit,” Petey replied.
He grabbed a Swiss Army knife from inside of his vest and started going to work.
“Um… Maybe we should step away from him,” I said. “Is it really safe to be standing here?”
“There are enough explosives in here to blow up this city block,” Petey explained. “Whoever planted this wanted to make sure it got the job done.”
I grinded my teeth as I stood there and watched helplessly as Petey worked. Having all of the other Reapers next to me wasn’t as reassuring as I thought it would be.
I kept staring at the bomb when I suddenly saw a digital clock light-up.
“What the hell is that?” I said.
The counter started counting down from a minute. It dropped past 50 seconds but nobody had said anything.
“Is that… Is that a countdown timer?” I said.
“I almost have it,” Petey said.
There was a noticeable amount of sweat on his forehead. His hands started to shake.
The timer dropped below 30.
“Petey…”
“Quiet,” Ghost said. “Let him concentrate.”
Petey kept fumbling with his fingers over all of the wires. The work was messy and delicate all at the same time.
My heart started pounding in my chest. My throat went dry. I clenched my teeth so hard that my jaw started to hurt.
The timer was under 15 seconds.
“Petey,” I said.
“Oh, shit,” he responded.
“Petey?”
“Oh, no!” he said. “Everybody get down!”
We all turned around and started running toward the end of the alley. I’d never moved so fast in my life.
I turned the corner of the clubhouse, jumped to the ground, and shut my eyes.
I kept waiting.
And waiting.
And waiting.
Am I dead?
It had been more than 15 seconds. If the bomb had gone off, it would have done so by now.
I slowly rolled over onto my back. I looked up and saw all of the Reapers staring down at me.
“Are you all right, Gina?” Garnet said.
“I’m fine… What the…”
I saw Petey approaching from the back alley. He held the explosive in his hands. On his face, there was a grin like an obnoxious teenager.
“Got it,” he said.
The other Reapers all celebrated around the meek biker and congratulated him. I sighed a deep breath of relief and dropped my head down.
The threat at The Grindhouse was over. But now that it was taken care of, my thoughts immediately shifted to Dorian. I wouldn’t be able to sleep comfortably tonight until he kept his promise.
Chapter 23
DORIAN
Logan and I had been best friends ever since we were teenagers. I told him all of my secrets. I told him all of my thoughts. I could tell him anything without worrying about being judged or embarrassed. I knew him better than anybody and he knew me just the same.
There was a part of me that didn’t want to believe he was the man responsible for what happened. There was still a chance I could save him from himself…
The storm was raging harder than ever as I raced through the streets. The muddy tracks that led toward the farmlands were something different.
But the only thing on my mind now was getting to Logan and stopping him from making things worse than they already were.
I saw the red pickup truck parked in the distance. The farm was completely abandoned. I didn’t know where he was exactly but I knew it would take long before I got to him.
I parked George’s ride right next to the truck and headed toward the nearby barn. As soon as I peeked inside of the barren building, a light turned on.
Logan held up a kerosene lamp and illuminated the entire barn. The way the light reflected off of his face made him look like the ghost I thought he was. His beard was thick. His hair was longer. But when I looked into his eyes, I knew it was him.
Sitting in front of him, tied to a chair, was Adams. He was still unconscious. A gash on his head from where he was pistol-whipped leaked a small trail of blood.
Logan walked toward me, the lamp still held high in the air.
“Do you remember this place?” he asked.
“I’ll always remember this place,” I said.
“My daddy would always complain about his liquor missing. But he didn’t get angry when he found out I was the one who took it. He said it was normal for a teenager to wanna get drunk with his friends.”
He chuckled at me.
“You remember that, don’t you, Dorian?”
“Yeah… I remember… We used to come out to this farm all the time. It was a long time ago…”
He started pacing back and forth in front of me.
“I remember one night you were talking to me about Tracy. She was fucking gorgeous. Head cheerleader. Hottest chick at the school. And you were the one fucking her. I was jealous.
“You talked about having to decide between going off to school with her and joining the Marines. It must’ve been a real tough choice for you. Having to choose between studying with the hot girlfriend or going off to war to go be a hero.”
“It was a hard choice.”
“At least you had one. Joining the Marines was my only option. I didn’t get any scholarship offers. I didn’t have a hot girlfriend telling me to go to college. No…”
He started shaking his head at me. Despite the anger in his eyes, I could see the sadness behind them as they started to glaze over.
“I was your best friend,” he said. “I was on that football team, too. I blocked for you. I protected you. But you were the star quarterback. You were the one who got all of the glory. You were the one on the front page of the newspaper when we won the state championship. You were the one that all the girls wanted to fuck.”
“I…”
I struggled to find the words.
Logan was my best friend. But to hear him say everything he did was like a knife in my heart.
“And then we went on tour,” he said. “I was the one who had to pay the price. I was the one who got left behind.”
He held his other hand up.
“Four years,” he said. “I spent four years in that prisoner camp. I was a hostage. A hostage that you le
ft behind.”
“I didn’t have a choice! I was following orders.”
“You had a choice. You could have tried.”
“I tried! I tried, okay? But… But I couldn’t save you. You’re right. I failed…”
I clenched my jaw and held everything back. Seeing Logan standing right there in front of me… The biggest mistake of my life was staring back at me.
“I failed,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
He pursed his lips as his eyes started to water even more.
“Why wasn’t it me?” he said. “Why couldn’t I have been the one who was celebrated? Why couldn’t I be the one with the hot girlfriend? Why couldn’t I be the war hero?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m not a hero. I didn’t try to be any of those things. That’s… That’s just what happened. Neither of us could change what happened.”
“You’re right. We can’t change what happened. But we can change what happens now.”
He moved back toward Adams and put a hand on his shoulder. Adams’s head rolled back but he was still in a daze.
“Why did you do it?” I asked. “Why did you blow up those buildings?”
“I did it because I wanted you to know what it felt like. I wanted you to know what it’s like for nobody to care about you. I wanted you to know what it’s like when your life is meaningless.”
“Someone does care about you, Logan. I care about you. Your life isn’t meaningless.”
“It’s too late. There’s no turning back now.”
“It’s not too late—”
“It’s over, Dorian! I’m not a hero. I never will be. Now we’re gonna find out if you are…”
“What are you saying?”
He tossed the lantern over to the side. The flames caught on a bale of hay in the corner. The fire immediately started raging up the side of the barn.
“You can run away,” he said. “Run away like you did when you left me out there in the field.”
“Logan…”
“Or you can save this man. Save this innocent man like you didn’t save me.”
I took a step forward.
“But I won’t let you do it so easily.”
“Logan, you can’t do this. You have to let Adams go.”
“If you want to save him, come and save him.”
The fire was burning even hotter. The smoke started to fill the empty barn.
“Logan, all of us are gonna die—”
“I don’t care. If I do die, I’ll at least die knowing that I should have been the hero. I deserved everything you ever got.”
I clenched my jaw and took another step toward Adam. Logan got in my path and stood a few feet in front of me.
“Don’t make me do this,” I said, trying to hold everything back.
“What’s it gonna be, Dorian? Time’s running out.”
I moved forward. I tried to push Logan out of the way but he met me with a stiff right fist across the temple.
Shit.
I stumbled to my knee in a daze.
“Come on, Dorian. You can do better than that.”
I didn’t have any other choice.
Logan stalked me but I slugged him right in the stomach. The big man folded over. I scrambled back up to my feet but he tackled me before I could get my bearings.
He pounced on top of me. Lefts and rights. I lost track of all of the punches that he hammered me with. I writhed on the ground, trying to break free from his ham fists.
The fire around the barn continued to burn even hotter. The flames danced around me and the smoke billowed in the air. It was getting harder to see.
“It’s over for us, Dorian. That’s okay… It was never meant to be.”
With my last ounce of strength, I reached up and grabbed Logan by the throat. I pulled him down just enough to put a thumb into his eye. He yelped in pain. I pushed him off of me and rolled away from him.
The pain in my head was throbbing. The smell of my own blood and sweat filled my nose. I pressed my fists into the dirt and pushed myself up from the ground.
Logan stood up straight, blocking my path toward Adams again.
I moved toward him and swung but missed. Logan connected with a hard punch to my gut, crumpling me in half. He followed up with another punch to my face that sent me to all fours.
“Come on, Dorian!”
He kicked me in the ribs and I yelled out in pain.
I was having trouble breathing. I was having trouble seeing. Shit, I was having trouble thinking
“Is that all you got? I’m disappointed.”
He tried to kick me again but I managed to roll out of the way.
He gave me a moment to recover. But I couldn’t take too much time with the flames continuing to burn even hotter around us.
I don’t know how but I somehow got up to my wobbly feet.
“What are you waiting for?” Logan said with his arms out. “You just gonna die in here? Or are you gonna do the smart thing and walk away?”
I should have just left. There was no shame. Hell, I didn’t even like Adams.
And I had to keep my promise. I had to stay safe. For Gina.
But I refused to keep my promise the easy way.
I charged at him and put my hand into the air. Logan rushed toward me. Just before we collided, I ducked out of the way. As soon as Logan spun around, I swung as hard as I could. My punch cracked him in the jaw and he crumpled to the ground on all fours.
I rushed up to Adams and started undoing his binds. The flames were so close they were starting to burn me. I got Adams free and lifted him onto my shoulders then raced out of the barn as fast as I could. I got away from the barn and dropped him into the dirt.
I was exhausted. I could barely breathe. I couldn’t even see straight.
Not yet.
It wasn’t over.
I turned around and saw the barn still going up in flames. But there was still a chance.
I moved back into the barn and saw Logan still down on the ground, blood trickling from his mouth. I took a knee down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Come on!” I shouted. “We have to go! Now!”
He turned his face up to me. He smiled a bloody smile at me and nodded.
“Just leave me,” he said. “It’s too late for me. I died out on the field that day…”
“You’re not the one giving orders. Nobody is.”
I wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I dug my soles into the ground. With all of my strength, I pushed the massive man up from the ground and lifted him on my shoulders. Logan’s dead weight was more than any man I’d ever had to carry before. It didn’t matter though.
Just a bit farther. Don’t stop.
I gritted my teeth as I stumbled out of the barn. The flames were surrounding me from every side. The smoke made it hard for me to see.
Come on!
I pushed myself as hard as I could before tumbling out of the barn. I tumbled to the ground and Logan fell off my shoulders. With my last ounce of strength, I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away from the barn just as it was consumed by the fire.
I crawled toward Logan and looked down at him.
He was barely breathing but he was still with me.
“Do you remember that time I told you to tip a cow?” he said.
“Yeah,” I sighed with a nod. “I remember.”
“You should have seen yourself. You were pushing so hard. Nobody is strong enough to tip one of those things over, you idiot.”
“I’m sure I looked like one,” I said with a smile.
“A face full of mud. You’re such a dumb ass, Dorian.”
“Yeah… I’m a dumb ass…”
I started chuckling softly. Logan looked up at me and smiled. Seeing the anger in his eyes disappear filled me with a relief I’d never felt before.
The rain continued to pour down even harder. In the distance, I could hear the familiar sound of sirens approaching.
“
Dorian…”
I grabbed his hand and clenched it as I looked down into his eyes.
“Yeah?”
“I’m scared…”
My throat shifted with a swallow.
The sirens were deafening around us as multiple fire trucks and police cars surrounded us.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m here. I’ll always be here for you, Logan.”
“Freeze! Hands up!”
I ignored the police officer shouting at me. It didn’t matter what they did to me. I’d already done what I needed to do.
Chapter 24
DORIAN
I’d never had a reason to go to the police station. I was the only Black Reaper whose record was completely spotless. I knew that there was a possibility that would change once I got patched in. I was prepared for it.
As I sat underneath the yellow lights of the small room, I leaned forward with my elbows propped up on the table. My head rested in my palm with an index finger rubbing against my temple.
I was still feeling the effects of all of Logan’s punches. The bastard hit like a truck. I didn’t realize until now how fortunate I was that I was always on his side when we got into scraps.
The door opened and a familiar-looking hard-ass woman stepped inside. The federal agent who led a task force that had the entire town on edge plopped down a manila folder in front of me.
“You wanna tell me what happened?”
I looked up at her. Agent Lieberman crossed her arms as she tried to burn a hole through me with her stare. I was too tired to even pretend I was intimidated by her.
“You know what happened,” I said.
“Humor me.”
“Where should I start?” I sighed.
“The Cobras’ warehouse.”
I leaned back and slumped in my seat.
“It was Logan,” I said.
“You were good friends with Logan. You two grew up together.”
“That’s right.”
“How do I know that you and Logan weren’t working together?”
She kept glaring at me. All of the other cops in this town didn’t share her demeanor. A small town like Ivory… People didn’t waste their energy on being so serious.
“Because we weren’t,” I said.
“Can you prove it?”