by Jeff Shelby
“Okay, so then you’ll know if the backpack is a little short?”
The playfulness and mirth left his expression as he looked down at the bag. He picked it up and set it on the bar, then glanced past me. “Red. Count it.”
Red, the guy who met me at the door and brought me in, came from behind me and pulled the bag off the counter. He set it on a round, glass table and pulled out the stacks of cash. He thumbed through it quickly. “There’s fifteen here.”
David’s face colored. “There should be twenty-five.”
I smiled. “Yes. There should be.”
“That’s my money.”
“Yes. It is.”
“It would be a mistake to steal from me,” he said slowly, his eyes raking over me.
I held his gaze. “It would be a mistake to mess with Bella anymore.”
No one moved.
“So, if I stay away from her, I let her out, I get my money?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“When?”
“When I’m convinced you’ll leave her alone.”
“And when the fuck is that gonna be?”
“Hard to say. And I’ll try to keep quiet about having ripped you off, too.”
His eyes hardened and narrowed. I knew it wasn’t the money he was worried about. It was that his reputation would take a hit. If word got out that you could steal from him, his grip over the area would be severely diminished.
“You’re making a mistake,” he said.
“Am I?” I asked. “You come after me, not only do you not see your cash, but then everyone starts talking. About the deal, about you. And I don’t think you wanna give that up. Not over something small like this. Just let her walk away and you can go on about your business.”
His nostrils flared.
“Be smart,” I said. “Don’t be like your boy Colin over there.”
Red snickered and Colin looked like he wanted to take a bite out of my face.
“Okay,” David said.
“Yeah?”
David nodded slowly, his mouth set in a firm, hard line. “Yeah. Deal.”
“Excellent,” I said. “I’ll be in touch.”
I backed out of the room, waving at Colin.
THIRTY-SIX
I knew David was full of shit.
As I drove back to Fort Walton, I knew we didn’t have a deal. All he wanted was for me to leave so he could think of a way to come at me. Like I figured, he wasn’t going to do anything right then and there. He wasn’t completely stupid. But he also wasn’t going to let me steal from him, take away one of his couriers, and make him look like a punk.
But it bought me some time.
Now, I just had to convince Bella that she needed to listen to me. And I thought that might be a little harder.
She and Alex were sitting on the sofa when I got to her house. Jackson was sprawled on the floor, building a Lego city. A large pizza box sat in the middle of the coffee table, surrounded by greasy paper plates and crumpled up napkins.
She looked at me anxiously.
“See, I’m okay,” I said. “No new bruises.”
“Ha,” she said. “What happened?”
She didn’t look convinced when I was done. “He won’t let it go.”
“I know.”
“So, what happens now, then?”
I sat down on the floor next to Jackson. “Hey, remember that space shuttle thing you wanted to build?”
Jackson looked up, his eyes bright. “Yeah. You wanna build it?”
“Maybe. Do you still have the instructions somewhere? On how to put it together?”
He bobbed his head. “In my room. I have a whole box full. I’ll go find it!” He hurried down the hallway.
I turned my attention back to Bella. “You need to think about moving.”
“Moving?”
“Yeah. And I don’t mean from this house. I mean out of the area. The state.”
She folded her arms across her chest and stared at me. “You have to be kidding me.”
“I’m not.”
“I was just telling Alex I’ve never lived anywhere but Florida,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t just pick up and leave.”
“If you truly wanna be free of David, then I think you need to.”
“Why?”
“Because I can only do so much for so long here,” I said, picking up a Lego piece and pinching it between my fingers. “You’re right. He won’t let it go. At least not right away. But you cut out of here, he won’t follow.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he won’t,” I said. “You won’t be a threat once you’re gone. He won’t have anything to prove. And he’s small-time. Not like he has some long reach.”
“He’s right,” Alex said. “Chances of him following are pretty slim. He’s running his mouth, but he won’t back it up. They never do.”
She glanced down the hallway toward Jackson’s room, then back to me. “Where the hell am I supposed to go?”
“San Diego,” I said.
“California? That’s the other side of the country!”
“Which makes it less likely that David will bug you any longer.”
“How would I swing that? And I don’t know anyone there.” She put her hands in her hair and rubbed her temples.
“Alex and I can set some things up.” I looked at him and he nodded. “Place to stay, probably a job, all of that stuff. And you’d be protected. Not just by Alex, but some of my other friends, too. If David ever did decide to show up, he’d be making a huge mistake.”
She stared at me. “What about you? Would you be there?”
I shook my head. “No. You know why.”
“What are you going to do?”
“This isn’t about me,” I said. “This is about making sure you’re safe and done with this stuff.”
Jackson reappeared, clutching a ragged instruction manual. He shuffled closer to me and set himself down in my lap and I wondered how much of the conversation he’d overheard.
“You should come with us,” he said. “So we can play Legos all the time.”
Bella raised an eyebrow at me.
“Hey, Jackson,” Alex said. “Do you know what’s in San Diego?”
“No, because I’ve never been there.”
Alex smiled. “Of course. But Legoland is in San Diego.”
“Legoland?”
He nodded. “Yep. It’s like Disneyland but with Legos.”
Jackson looked at his mom, wide-eyed. “Can we go to Legoland when we get to San Diego? Please?”
“Thanks a lot,” she whispered under her breath to Alex, but she smiled as she said. “We’ll see, Jax. If we go to San Diego.”
“I wanna go! I wanna go!” Jackson yelled.
She laughed at her son, but looked at me without any amusement. “I’ll think about it.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
I needed to find Zip.
I spent a few minutes helping Jackson build his space station before Alex took over.
“Can you build?” Jackson eyed him skeptically.
Alex nodded. “Sure can. Let me talk to Noah for a minute and then I’ll be back. And we’ll trick out your space station, I promise.”
I said goodbye and Alex walked outside with me.
“He likes you,” I said.
“He’s a good kid.” He rocked on his heels. “So. Anything I need to know?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t fudge on anything. It went the way I said it did.”
“You think he’ll stay off?”
“No. He’ll probably come after me again. But I’m okay with that. You need to work on getting her to understand that San Diego is a good idea.”
He nodded and something crossed into his expression. “I will. Is there anything I should know about? With Bella, I mean?”
“I’m not following.”
He hesitated. “Between you and her.”
I shook my head. “No. Nothing. I’m just try
ing to help her out.”
“Okay. Just wanted to make sure.”
“Why?”
“I just wanted to make sure I understood the dynamics here,” he said, shrugging. “That’s all.”
“She’s been really nice to me,” I said. “I like her. I like the kid. I wanna help her. That’s all.” I took a deep breath. “And she knows about your sister.”
“Everything?”
“I told her everything.”
“Wow,” he said. “Okay. Good to know.”
“I trust her,” I said. “If she asks questions, you can answer them.”
“Okay. Where are you headed?”
“To find Zip,” I said. “I need to know how stupid he’s been.”
“You want me to come along?”
“Nope. You stay with them. Convince her about San Diego.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“I’ll be back here later on. Okay if I take your car again?”
“Of course,” he said. “Be careful.”
As I walked to the rental, I thought about how careful I’d been for the previous few months. It had worn on me. It had changed me. And I wasn’t sure it was for the better. I was tired of being careful. If I was really going to help Bella and Jackson, I wasn’t going to be able to be careful.
I was going to need to be me.
THIRTY-EIGHT
The first place I’d run into Zip was the laundromat and I could make several guesses about why he was there.
He needed clean clothes.
He needed change.
Or he was dealing.
I went with the latter, which meant it might be the best place to find him anytime anyone needed him.
I parked across the street from the laundromat and waited for almost an hour before he finally showed up. No laundry basket, no clothes, no running in to get change. He just kind of meandered around the lot of the strip mall. Twice, he walked to a car that pulled up at the end of the lot, made small talk and then a quick exchange through the passenger window before the car took off.
Old habits die hard, especially with idiots.
I drove across the street and parked in the lot. I was already out of the car and heading toward him when he realized it was me.
That stupid, cocky smile spread over his face. “Hey, Noah. What’s shaking?”
“Not much,” I said. “Buy you dinner?”
“Dinner?”
“Yeah. Sandwich or something?”
“Isn't it a little late?” It was almost nine o'clock.
“Didn't know you had regular meal times, Zip. Dinner or no?”
He eyed me cautiously. “Why?”
“I was kind of a dick the other day, okay? You said if I wanted to hang out or something, we should. Here I am. Come on. Meal is on me.”
I headed for the car without giving him a chance to answer. I heard his footsteps behind me, following.
“Where’d you get the wheels?” he asked, slipping into the passenger seat.
“Just borrowed them. Had to run some errands this afternoon,” I said, turning the key and starting the engine.
He took out a cigarette, lit it with a cheap blue lighter, and exhaled out the window. “Right on.”
I backed out of the spot, but rather than driving out of the lot, I swung around the laundromat and into the alley behind it.
Which was empty.
“Where are we going, bro?” he asked, looking around.
I yanked the cigarette out of his mouth and jammed it into his thigh, just below the end of his shorts. He screamed and shot up out of his seat, smashing his head into the roof. I held it on his leg for another moment before flicking it out the window.
He writhed in his seat and reached for the door, pulling on the handle. It didn’t budge, thanks to the automatic door locks.
“What the hell, man?” he cried. “What the hell?”
I pushed the button on the door and his window rolled up. I didn’t need anyone hearing him scream again if I had to hurt him.
“Tell me what you told David Hanson about me,” I said.
“I don’t even know who that is, man.”
I put my hand behind his head and snapped it down into the dashboard, his forehead crashing against the glove box.
“Try again,” I said. “Tell me what you told David Hanson about me.”
He sat up slowly, shrinking into the seat, a bright red mark on his forehead. The red dot on his thigh puckered and blistered.
“Told him I knew you back in Cali,” he whimpered. “That we were friends. Well, not friends, but that I knew you.”
“What else?”
“Nothing, man.”
“If I slam your head down again, I’ll break your nose. What else did you tell him?”
He pushed back against the door. “Okay, okay. I told him you were in trouble in San Diego. I wasn’t exactly sure what for, but that you were. Man, he said he was gonna shoot me if I didn’t tell him. I’m sorry.”
Zip wasn’t sorry. He didn’t have it in him to be sorry. The only thing he was sorry about was that he’d been dumb enough to get in a car with me.
“But I didn’t give him any of the details, Noah,” he said. “I swear. Man, I don’t even know the details, alright?”
I didn’t know if that was true or not, but it was irrelevant. David could start digging, could reach out, start asking questions. At the very least, he could tell people where I was.
If Zip hadn’t already.
“What else?”
“Nothin’.”
“You didn’t tell him anything else about me? Nothing?”
His eyes darted around the interior of the car. “Man, I don’t remember.”
“Try. Hard. Everything you said about me.”
His hands were balled into fists and he couldn’t get comfortable in the seat. “I dunno, man. I told him you were from San Diego. That you were in trouble.”
“Tell him I was a detective?”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Pretty sure, yeah.”
“Tell him where I lived?”
He shook his head. “No. Just said San Diego.”
“Tell him about Carter?”
He shook his head emphatically. “No.”
I’m sure there were other details, but I didn’t think they really mattered. David had enough to get a decent picture of me now, probably enough to know I was a threat. But also enough to know I was vulnerable.
“I’m gonna say this one time,” I said. “One time. So pay attention.”
Zip nodded, rubbing at his leg, wincing from the pain.
“You open your mouth about me again to anyone and I find out?” I pointed at his leg. “I’ll put a bullet there instead of a cigarette.”
He squirmed in the seat.
“We clear?” I asked.
“Clear. Man, I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not. So quit saying it. And one other thing.”
He squirmed some more. “What?”
“Get out of here,” I said. “Get out of Fort Walton. Get out of Destin. Get out of the Panhandle. I don’t care where you go, but get out.”
“Man, I told you I was on my way to Miami…”
“Then go there,” I said. “I really don’t care. But pack your shit and get the hell out of here. Tonight.”
He grimaced, but I wasn’t sure if it was the leg or me telling him to leave.
“Noah, come on. I need a couple of days to get all my stuff together, get some cash, all that.”
“You don’t have a couple days,” I said. “You’ve got about an hour. Or that wound on your thigh gets a whole lot bigger and bloodier.”
He shook his head and muttered under his breath.
“And you don’t go near Hanson,” I said. “He calls you, don’t answer. He knocks on your door while you’re packing, don’t answer. He’s standing on the street as you’re driving away, run over him. Don’t ever speak to him again.”