Burndown (Nitro Crew Book 1)

by Winter Travers

  There was a couple sitting at one of the tables in a dark corner and three old guys playing cards at a table by the door.

  I nodded over Jay’s shoulder. “There’s your chicks you were looking for.” Two women who had to be well into their eighties were sitting at the other end of the bar, nursing their drinks and watching Wheel of Fortune on the large TV over the bar.

  He craned his head to the right. “You’re a dick,” he muttered. “They’re old enough to be my grandma.”

  “That’s called experience, Jay. You might be able to learn a thing or two from them,” Frankie suggested.

  “Learn what? How to soak my dentures? Jesus, Remy. You’re killing me, man.” He shook his head and turned his back to his possible girlfriends.

  “You never know, man, they could have some crazy stories. I bet the one in blue got a concussion one time being bent over a desk.”

  My jaw dropped, and Jay sputtered. “What… How do… What in the hell is going on in that head of yours?!”

  Frankie shrugged and took a sip of her drink. “It was just a thought.”

  “A fucked-up thought,” Jay muttered. “Now, which one of you fuckers am I going to beat in pool?”

  Frankie pointed at me. “Him. I plan on drinking. That’s it.”

  I took a long drink from my glass, then set it on the bar. “One game.” Jay wasn’t exaggerating when he said he was going to kick my ass at pool. If the pit crew thing didn’t work out for him, he could always fall back on being a pool shark.

  Jay set down his drink and clapped his hands together. “Rack ‘em up, brother.”

  *

  Chapter 3

  Harlyn

  “Come on, girl. Don’t quit on me now.”

  The car sputtered to a stop on the side of the dark road.

  “Or quit on me, whatever.” I hung my head and slammed my hand on the steering wheel. “Son of a bitch.” I was so close to being to Leeds Square. The whole five-hundred-mile drive, I hadn’t had a problem with my ‘97 Grand Am, but as soon as I had hit the border of Michigan, she started putting up a noisy fuss.

  It was half-past twelve, and I was stuck on some back road in the middle of nowhere. My GPS had said I was only thirteen miles from Leeds Square, which wasn’t that far if you were driving, but walking in the middle of the night was not an option. I didn’t want to have call my dad to come get me, but I was running out of options fast.

  Just as I reached for my phone, headlights bounced in my rearview. A car pulled off the side of the road behind me, and I quickly locked the doors. What kind of person pulls over to help someone on the side of the road?

  A serial killer. That was who.

  I clutched my phone to my chest and tried to decide if I should play dead or get out of the car.

  A glance in my rearview mirror showed the driver’s side door of the serial killer’s car opened, and I decided playing dead was my best bet. I laid my head against the headrest, and my arms went limp to my sides. Don’t breathe, Harlyn. Don’t. Breath.

  Knuckles rapped on my window. I jumped up, the seat belt digging into my lap and shoulder. Way to play dead, Harlyn.

  “You okay?”

  Hmm, so I had a concerned serial killer. Interesting.

  I looked to my left and came face-to-face with the most handsome serial killer I had ever seen in my life. Not that I had come face-to-face with many serial killers in my life, but if I had, I knew that this guy would be at the top of the pile.

  Backwards ball cap. Mossy green eyes. Perfect lips that begged to be kissed. Goddamn, he was a sexy serial killer.

  “Are you okay?” he repeated.

  I managed to close my mouth and reached up to swipe away residual drool. “Um, yeah.”

  He motioned for me to roll down the window. “I can’t hear you.”

  Nope. Not going to happen. He may be hot as hell, but he was still a possible serial killer. “I’m fine,” I yelled.

  “Then why are you parked on the side of the road?”

  I looked around the dark, deserted road. “Uh, I thought I saw a cat.”

  He tilted his head to the side and smiled. “A cat?”

  Lord have mercy. It should be illegal for this man to smile. I nodded my head. Yelling though the closed window was going to give me a headache really quick.

  He stood back from the car and looked around. “Okay. Well, I’ll let you get back to, uh, cat watching.”

  He headed back to his car, and I watched him in the rearview mirror. While it was nice to watch his backside, one glance at the clock on my car told me I was making a mistake. I didn’t really want to have to call my dad in the middle of the night, and this guy didn’t seem like he would try to kill me. At least, I hoped he wouldn’t.

  I cracked the window. “Wait,” I called. My lips were plastered to the small space between the glass and the doorframe.

  “Yeah?”

  “Uh, well, the cat is gone.” Lord have mercy. I was a tool. “And I think there might be something wrong with my car.” I leaned back from the window and turned in my seat to see that he was standing next to the back of my car.

  “You sure the cat is gone?” he asked.

  He was concerned about the imaginary cat? “Yeah, totally.”

  He turned around with a huge smile on his lips. “Good. I’m not really a cat person, anyway.” He walked past my window and stood in front of my car. “Pop the hood, pretty girl.”

  I blinked slowly, trying to process everything he had just said. Pop the hood, and you can think about everything he said later. I reached under the dash and pulled the lever.

  He raised the hood and peeked around to look at me. “Try starting it.”

  My fingers fumbled with the keys, and I managed to jab them back into the ignition. I cranked the key and nothing happened. No lights turned on, no sound. Nothing.

  “Let me go grab some stuff from my car. I’ll be right back.”

  I nodded and rolled up my window. Also known as he’ll be back with an axe to murder me. I really needed to stop watching those murder shows on Discovery.

  My eyes stayed on him through my rearview mirror. He popped his trunk, grabbed a bag, and leaned into his car. There was movement on the passenger side of the car, and I saw he had someone else with him.

  Oh goody, two serial killers.

  The passenger side door opened, and I closed my eyes. Here comes the end. At least I was going to be murdered by a hot guy.

  Here lies Harlyn Krinston. Beloved daughter and spinster. Her time may have ended too soon, but at least her murderer was cute.

  I cracked open one eye and was able to see the guy and his passenger walk past my window to the front of the car.

  Were they going to fix my car and then kill me? He was back to being the nice and concerned serial killer.

  Handsome moved to my window again and peered in. “You wanna roll down the window?”

  I nodded once and cranked the window down half an inch. “Yes?” I breathed out.

  His low chuckle drifted through the small opening. “You wanna maybe roll it down a little bit more?”

  “I think this is good. I can hear you.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not gonna hurt ya.”

  “How am I supposed to know that? I don’t know who you are or even what your name is.” Not knowing his name would help me when I was dead, but I figured it was proper etiquette to know your murderer’s name.

  “I’m Remy.”

  Hmm, not what I have expected him to say. I had figured he was going to say your typical hot guy’s name. Brad. Knox. Luke. Although, I was going to have to add Remy to the list of hot guy names. “Hi.”

  “You maybe wanna tell me your name?”

  “So you know the name of your victim?”

  “Victim?”

  Jesus, Harlyn. Let’s try not to piss off the serial killer. Not that he seemed pissed, but you have to think he wouldn’t appreciate me knowing his plan. “Err, I mean, I’m Harlyn.”
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  “I’d shake your hand, Harlyn, but I don’t think I can fit my hand through the tiny crack.”

  I cleared my throat, tried not to get mesmerized by his green eyes, and not to think about the size of his hands. “I can call for help. I have my phone. It’s in my hand” I was like the rain man sputtering out whatever, although the rain man was much more eloquent than I was.

  “I’m sure you can, but Frank and I can get you fixed up.”

  “Frank?” Obviously my second murderer didn’t have a hot guy name.

  “Yeah. I think your battery is going. Frank is testing it to see if we’ll be able to get you running again.”

  “We should be able to jump her.”

  My eyes opened wide, and my jaw dropped. That did not sound like the voice of any Frank I had ever met before. I plastered my face to the window and tried to get a glimpse of the very feminine voice coming from the front of my car.

  “You know if you rolled down the window or even got out of the car, you could see her.”

  Remy’s face was about six inches away from mine, and I was face-to-face with his handsome smile. “You promise not to kill me?” My face was still smushed to the glass, and I’m sure I sounded and looked like a nut-job.

  “No plans of killing you.” He stepped back and held up his hands. “Scout’s honor.”

  I leaned back and rubbed my nose with the back of my hand. “You damn sure don’t look like a boy scout,” I mumbled.

  “What was that?” he called.

  I shook my head and unhooked my seat belt. It was time to go meet my death.

  *

  Remy

  This night had taken a turn for the odd.

  After having Jay kick my ass in four games of pool, then watching him down a shit-ton of rum, Frankie and I had struggled to get him into the car. He passed out in the backseat before I even pulled out of the parking lot of The Waterhole.

  “I’ll pull your car around to give her a jump.” Frankie strutted back to the Challenger while I hung back to watch the odd and mysterious Harlyn step out of her car.

  I got a good view of what she looked like while sitting in the car, but the full version of her standing in front of me was damn fine—gorgeous face, long brown hair that fell to her waist, and a body all of my wet dreams were made of. She had a tiny waist and full hips that begged to be held onto while I thrust into her from behind.

  “So, what’s the verdict?” She rested her hands on her hips and looked up at me.

  I shook my head, trying to get rid of the vision of her bent over in front of me, and heard the Challenger fire up. “Frank is going to pull my car around, and we’re gonna give your battery a jump. Where are you headed?” We were going to be able to get her going, but I didn’t know how long her battery would last before it died again.

  “Leeds Square.”

  “Visiting?” I had never seen her around before. I had just moved there three months ago, but since Leeds Square was fucking tiny, I knew basically everyone.

  “Moving there.”

  Hmm. “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.” She hitched her thumb to the front of the car. “Don’t you think you should be helping your girlfriend?”

  “Frank?” I chuckled.

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I’m not talking about me.”

  I leaned close. “Frank isn’t my girlfriend, babe.” I leaned back. “Not like you’d have me anyway, right, Frank?”

  Frankie stepped out of the Challenger and slammed the door shut. “In your dreams, Remington.”

  I fucking hated when she called me that. Even my mom didn’t call me that unless I was in trouble. “You grab the jumper cables out of the back.”

  “Last I checked, I was the damn car chief,” she mumbled as she turned around.

  “So she’s your sister?” Harlyn asked.

  “Nah, we just work together.”

  She nodded and bit her bottom lip.

  “Hang tight here, babe, and we’ll have you running in no time.”

  I jogged over to the Challenger, popped the hood, and grabbed the cables from Frankie. We hooked them up, I motioned to Harlyn to try starting it, and the car came to life.

  “That should get you down the road a good bit.” Frankie unhooked the cables, and I slammed the hood shut on Harlyn’s car.

  “Um, thank you,” Harlyn called to Frankie’s retreating back.

  Frankie raised her arm in the air. “No problem. Cars are kind of our thing.”

  I slammed the hood shut on the Challenger and leaned against the car.

  “I think I have some money in my—”

  “No.” I cut her off before she could get another word out. “I won’t take your money, but I will take your number.”

  “Real smooth, Remington,” Frankie called. She opened the passenger door and slipped into the car. I was going to have a talk with her to lay off the Remington thing.

  “She’s kind of terrifying,” Harlyn whispered.

  “That’s just Frankie.”

  She shuffled her feet and edged back toward her car. “I should probably get going before the car dies again.”

  “I’ll follow you into town in case she stops running.”

  She nodded.

  “Am I gonna get that number, Harlyn?” I didn’t care how desperate I sounded. After only spending ten minutes with her, I wanted to get to know her a little better.

  She held out her hand. “Give me your phone.”

  I pulled it out of my pocket and laid it in her outstretched hand. She quickly entered her number and handed it back to me. My finger swiped the send button, and I heard her phone ringing in her car.

  “Did you think I gave you a bogus number?”

  I shrugged and put the phone back in my pocket. “Just wanted you to have mine.”

  She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. “All right. Well, I think I better get going before I fall asleep standing up.”

  I nodded at her car. “I’ll follow you until you get to where you’re going.”

  She turned, walked to her car, and looked back toward me. “Thank you again for helping me.”

  “Just did what anyone else would have done.”

  She nodded and ducked into her car.

  I moved around the hood of the car to the driver’s side and slipped inside.

  “About damn time. While you were trying to get her number, I was listening to Jay saw logs,” Frankie complained.

  Harlyn took off in the direction of Leeds Square, and I did a quick three-point turn to catch up to her. “Chill, Frank. We’ll be home in ten minutes.”

  She scoffed. “You don’t even know where we are following this chick to.”

  “She said she was moving here, so it can’t be too far.”

  Frankie laid her head back on the headrest. “Just wake me when we get home.”

  I followed the tail lights of Harlyn’s car ‘til we got to the far side of town, and she pulled into the driveway of a duplex. I slowly drove by, and she stuck her hand out the window, waving.

  “Take me home, Grain. I’m tired. You can drive by the chick’s house fifty times tomorrow.” Frankie smothered a yawn with the back of her hand. “You have her number. Call her.”

  I headed back to the other side of Leeds Square to the house Frankie, Jay, and I shared.

  My phone dinged when I shifted into park.

  “He’s all yours,” Frankie muttered. “I’m not dealing with his drunk ass anymore tonight.” She got out of the car, leaving her door wide open, and walked into the house.

  Jay snored noisily in the backseat, and I pulled my phone out to see Harlyn had messaged me.

  Thank you. Have a good night.

  “I’ll have three more puppies,” Jay slurred from the backseat.

  Lord, help me. I needed to get his drunken ass out of my car before his ten shots caught up with him and he emptied the contents of his stomach on my leather seats.

  You’re welcome. Sweet dreams, pre
tty girl.

  Jay moaned from the backseat, and I closed my eyes.

  This was going to be a long night.

  *

  Chapter 4

  Harlyn

  “Why didn’t you call me when you got in last night?”

  I looked around the various boxes in the kitchen, trying to decide which one was keeping my coffee pot from me.

  “Harlyn, are you listening to me?”

  I rolled my eyes and decided to go with the box closest to me. I sandwiched the phone between my ear and shoulder. “Yes, Dad. I hear you. I didn’t call because, by the time I got into the duplex, all I wanted to do was fall into bed.”

  “Why did you get in so late?”

  I crouched down next to the box and folded back the flaps. “Because my junky car battery decided to stop working. She died on the side of the road about ten miles from Leeds Square.”

  “Why the hell didn't you call me?” he demanded. Demanding things was one of my dad’s fortes.

  “Because it was late, and a couple of people stopped to help me. There wasn’t any point in calling you after they stopped.”

  “Dammit, Harlyn. Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?”

  Serial killer. “Yeah, I thought about that, Dad, but I was fine.” The box I opened had all my silverware and three pots in it.

  “Next time, call me, okay?”

  I rolled my eyes and reached for the box behind the one I had just opened. “Aye, aye, captain.”

  “You think I’m kidding, Harlyn, but I’m not. I don’t care what time of day it is, you call me if you need help.”

  “All right, all right.” I opened the second box, and the glorious coffee maker was nestled in a sea of crumpled paper.

  “You coming in today?”

  I hoisted the coffee maker out of the box. “Uh, I hadn’t planned on it. I wanted to get my place set up.”

  “Good, good. There isn’t much for you to do right now. Marion still has three weeks before she goes on maternity leave, so you’ll have plenty of time to get the gist of everything with the crew and paperwork.”

  “With the crew?” I asked. “I thought I just took care of payroll and paying bills.” I set the coffee maker on the counter and plugged it in. Now I just needed to find the canister of coffee.