by Fox, Harley
“Georgie was one of the ones killed at the warehouse fight, eight months ago,” Matthias tells me as Chloe wipes away a tear. “Did you hear about that?”
I nod. Of course I’ve heard about it, I think as my grip on my beer tightens. That was the fight where Sal was killed.
“Terrible,” I say through gritted teeth, trying to look sympathetic. It could’ve been one of you two who did it! Deep breath in, deep breath out.
“Yeah,” Chloe sniffs. “We lost a lot of good people.”
Suddenly Matthias slams his fist onto his thigh.
“Those fucking Chains!” he roars, and gets some calls of assent from the others. “Those fuckers have to pay.” He shakes his head.
“They will,” Chloe assures him, and I look at her. “Don’t worry.”
“Are they … do we … have a plan?” I ask, lowering my voice. Chloe’s eyes meet mine, and she gives a hardened smile.
“Maddox is on it,” she says. “Soon this truce’ll be over, and then they’ll really get what’s coming to them.”
The rest of the night goes by, and soon enough I say I’m tired and I leave. Flynn and I never got to spend time together, but maybe that’s for the best. Good to keep distance between us. And besides, time spent together might lead to other places, and I need to get up for work tomorrow.
The next day at work is normal—Captain Hartridge only yelled at me twice—and soon enough I’ve eaten dinner, fed my mom, and gotten ready to go to the bar. I didn’t have much to add to my dossiers from the night before, just that the Chains will “get what’s coming to them” at “some point soon.” Tonight I’m going to get something. No more messing around.
But when I get there, the conversation’s been taken over by talk of a job that Maddox brought up today in a meeting.
“It’s gutting out some old building, right?” Kendal asks.
“I think an office,” Chris puts in.
“I thought he said restaurant,” Jackie says, unsure.
“Shit, is he trying to get Mario’s back up and running?” Alyssa asks. “That was such a mistake.”
“Hey, that wasn’t Will’s fault, what happened,” Flynn points out. “It was electrical, wasn’t it? The fire?”
“So they say,” Chloe says with a raised eyebrow as she takes a sip of her beer.
“When are we doing it?” Jackie asks. “I didn’t really feel like doing any hard work tonight.”
Tonight? I think, worried. How long will this take, if it’s tonight? I have work tomorrow, and Captain Hartridge wanted that filing done by tomorrow.
“Ugh, I hope it’s not tonight,” Tyrone says next to me. “I was planning on getting fucked up tonight.”
He laughs and raises his beer to mine, but then he gets a look like he just noticed I’m sitting here.
“Hey Trista,” he says. “Why weren’t you at the meeting?”
My heart jumps in my chest.
“I was busy,” I say.
“Busy doing what?”
I open my mouth, excuses flying through my brain as I try to pick the best one, but right at that moment the door to the bar opens and Maddox walks in.
“Maddox!” Flynn shouts to him by way of greeting, and Tyrone’s attention is pulled off of me. I breathe a sigh of relief. “When’re we doing this job?”
“Tomorrow,” Maddox says, and everybody sounds relieved. I even join in with the smiles, taking a drink of my beer.
“Great!” Flynn says to Maddox, who still hasn’t sat down yet. “Grab a beer, man! Let’s all get fucked!”
“Can’t,” Maddox says, shaking his head. His eyes land on me and he holds my gaze a second too long, almost uncomfortably so. It breaks off soon enough, but not before giving me a nervous feeling. “I got the details on the place. Wrote the address down,” he takes a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket and hands it to Tyrone. “It’s not far from the warehouse, so that’s good. We’ll get a dumpster in for garbage. Basically I want the place stripped, down to the bare bones. Leave the drywall, that’s fine. Just whatever’s inside can go to the dump.”
“Is it a restaurant?” Jackie asks.
“Office,” Maddox tells him, and Chris gives Jackie a gloating look. “The usual shit. Chairs, desks, those cubicle wall things. Just get it all out. And remember to vacuum up after! I don’t want any fucking thumb tacks or some shit all over the floor.”
“Hey, that was Kendal’s job last time!” Matthias says.
“Fuck you, I vacuumed!” Kendal says. “Not my problem if you dropped a potted plant after.”
“Whatever, just make sure it’s clean when you’re done,” Maddox says. Then, turning to leave, he says, “Be there at ten. This’ll take all day.”
Some groans come up as Maddox leaves the bar, but inside I’m excited. This is an actual job. Something real. I’ll have an address, and maybe there will be special instructions for the gutting that’ll help me figure out what the building’s going to be used for. Maybe another weapons cache? Maybe a grow op house? Maybe the Bullets are moving their headquarters to that building? Maddox did say it wasn’t that far from the warehouse. I’ll have to wait and see. I don’t think anyone here knows any more than I do at this point, and I’ll have to play it cool. Don’t want to seem too eager. I take a drink of my beer, the glass almost empty.
“Well, all right, kids,” Flynn says to the gang. “You heard Papa Bear. Work starts at ten, so we can’t get too drunk. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get at least a little drunk!”
Flynn proceeds to chug his beer, downing it in one go while everybody watches. When he finishes Alyssa lets out a whoop and Flynn suppresses a burp. He stands up from the couch.
“Trista,” he says, smiling at me. “Can I get you another beer?”
I’m caught by surprise. “Sure,” I say, and I finish off the one I have before handing the glass to him. He winks and turns, heading for the bar.
“Hey!” Matthias calls out. “Get me another beer too!”
Flynn responds by flipping Matthias the bird from behind his back as others laugh. Matthias grumbles and gets up off the couch, joining Flynn at the bar.
“Flynn’s sweet on you,” Jackie says, coming to sit beside me on the couch as others start up conversation.
“Oh,” I say, not sure how to respond. The memories of our trysts come into my head and I try to wave them away. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ve never seen him offer to get a beer for any girl before. You must be special.”
I can’t help the smile that comes to my face.
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I say.
“Just be careful,” Jackie warns me, and my smile falters. “He’s got a bad past. He’s haunted.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, but Jackie’s eyes move up and she smiles over my head. I turn to see where she’s looking and it’s Flynn, holding two glasses of beer.
“Here you go,” he says, handing me one. I thank him and he sits back down in his spot, giving me a smile before joining in on a conversation with Tyrone and Chris.
He didn’t want to sit closer to me? I think, taking a sip of my beer. I turn to Jackie, to ask her what she meant when she said Flynn was haunted, but she’s talking with Chloe, Matthias, and Kendal. So I join them instead, trying to enjoy myself, at the same time wondering what exactly could be haunting Flynn.
I only have the one more beer before declaring that I need to leave. Everybody—Flynn included—pleads with me to stay but I just tell them I have business to take care of and leave it at that. In reality, I don’t want to get too drunk. I need to call in sick tomorrow morning, before work starts, to get the day off. Calling in the night before doesn’t fly with Captain Hartridge—she just tells you to call again in the morning, and if I’m too hung over to do that it’ll be my ass.
I go home and go to sleep, waking up at my normal time. I call in to the station and, faking a hoarse throat, tell them I’ve come down with something and am going to need the day off. I
t goes over fine, and I get up, slipping on my bathrobe and heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Once it’s ready I go into my mom’s room where she’s lying in bed, staring out of the window. I sit down next to her, my own food on one plate, her bowl of yogurt and her pills on another.
“Good morning, Mom,” I say to her. “How did you sleep?”
No answer. Her head doesn’t turn. Of course, it’s not like I was expecting a response. I’m just too nervous to sit quietly.
“I’ve got some big news for today,” I tell her. “I’m finally going to be able to get some information about the Bullets.”
I put a pill in her mouth and spoon some yogurt in afterward. Her jaw muscles move mechanically and she swallows it.
“We’re going to empty out an old office building, getting it ready for something,” I say, giving her some more yogurt and her next pill. “This past week has been a little slow with getting any information. But it’s not the members’ faults. They don’t really know anything themselves. It actually kind of sounds like they’re getting anxious, sitting on their hands. But something’s going to happen with the Chains soon. Chloe and Matthias told me. I don’t know what, and I don’t think they know what either. But I’m just waiting to hear more.”
My mom doesn’t say anything. I spoon the last of the yogurt into her mouth before putting the bowl and spoon back on the plate, getting ready to tuck into my own breakfast.
“I’m not sure what to do about Flynn, though,” I say out loud as I eat some scrambled egg on toast. “I don’t … I think I don’t want him to get into too much trouble. I mean, obviously … he’s a Bullet. He’s guilty of doing terrible things. Just like the rest of them.”
No response.
“But that doesn’t mean … I don’t know. Maybe I need to keep my head on straight. They’re nice people, yes, but they’re also Bullets. They killed Sal. At least one of them did. And if one of them’s guilty, they’re all guilty.” I take another bite of my food, hardly tasting it, memories of Sal threatening to bring tears to my eyes. I push them back down. “They should go to jail. All of them. This will do it. I’ll find out what I can, and hopefully we can get this place shut down right at the right time. And then every single one of them will be culpable.”
I take another bite, but thoughts of Flynn come into my mind and I slow down my chewing. Flynn. That man … I don’t know how I feel about him. I mean, I know how I feel about him. But I don’t know … could he ever change? If I’m taking one of the Bullets down, I’m taking all of them down. I don’t think I can keep Flynn completely innocent. But if I’m being completely honest with myself, I don’t want him to be guilty. I don’t want anything to happen to him. Maybe I can warn him. Maybe I can let him know he’s in danger, and that he has to get out, and …
… and get killed in the process.
I give myself a shake. Snap out of it, Trista! Flynn doesn’t care for you. He’s just playing you. He just wants to get laid. And besides, in case you forgot, he’s a Bullet! He’s the enemy. He’s guilty. He has to go to jail. End of story.
I pop the last bite of egg and toast into my mouth with derision and get up, picking up my mom’s dishes as well. She hasn’t moved or looked at me this entire time. I give her a kiss on the forehead and leave the room, shutting her door behind me.
It’s still early in the morning and I have a couple of hours to kill before leaving to go to the office building, so I go over the information I have on the Bullets. It’s pathetically weak. I can hardly make a case that’ll do much damage. Attempted drug dealing on a college campus. Some rough housing in the bar when they’ve had too much to drink, which could be public drunkenness and assault, although everyone was laughing afterward. Possession of marijuana. Ugh … these are all petty crimes. If I don’t get something landing in my lap soon, I’m going to have to take the reins and go out and get it.
Soon enough it’s time to leave, so I get on my gear, go to say goodbye to my mom, and head out on my bike. The morning sun beats down hot on me, warming my arms and back through my leather jacket. I and some others are the first to arrive at the building, Maddox already waiting outside for us. The others show up shortly after, Flynn among them, and Maddox opens the door for us. We go in.
“So this is it,” Maddox tells us. “The dumpster’ll be here around noon. Just start tearing things down for now, break down some of the bigger things like the walls and desks if you can. Throw everything out. Vacuum when you’re done.”
“What, you’re not staying to do this with us?” Alyssa asks.
“I’ve got bigger fish to fry,” Maddox tells her with a wink. “Call me if you need me!”
And with that, he leaves. The rest of us look around the building: it’s open-concept, with cubicle walls being the only things to give any sense of privacy. There are assembled desks and chairs inside the cubicles, some filing cabinets, but apart from that mostly empty. There’s an office kitchen, a conference room, and a couple of bigger offices near the back.
We begin working, the lot of us. Flynn and I don’t start working near to each other, but with this type of thing you’re moving around a lot, so every now and again we find ourselves close to one another. I get to see firsthand just how strong Flynn is, too. All those muscles … after a while you start to think that they’re just for show. But no: he’s able to rip apart cubicle walls on his own, picking up desks, even filing cabinets that I know are still loaded with files.
The dumpster shows up, just like Maddox promised, and we haul things out. The work is hard but it doesn’t take as long as Maddox seemed to think it would. After a while the fervor that people had dies down and things go at a more leisurely pace.
“How’re you doing?” Flynn asks me during one of the times when we’re nearby.
“Not bad,” I say to him. “This isn’t going to take much longer.”
“Yeah,” he says with a grin. “We’ll have some free time soon.”
I see his eyes move down my body and it gives me a thrill. All this work certainly gets the blood pumping … gets you in the mood for a little fun. I don’t know if Flynn feels the same way or not. But he’s certainly looking like it.
“Want to check out those back offices?” he asks me, and there’s something in his eyes that tell me he’s been reading my mind.
“I’d love to,” I reply.
So we both leave what we’re doing and head toward the back together. Others turn to see us leave, but nobody stops us. Sometimes I wonder if Flynn’s told the others about what’s happened between us, or if they just suspect things on their own. To be honest, right now I couldn’t care less. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that hard body and even harder cock. If Flynn doesn’t make a move soon, then it’ll be me who makes it.
We get to the office—big desk, chair, potted plant, filing cabinet—and I close the door behind us. Flynn turns around at the sound and his eyes find mine. I don’t say anything. Neither does he. I take two steps toward him and already he’s smiling. He reaches forward and immediately I’m swept into his arms, our lips connecting, our hands moving fast like we’re teenage lovers who haven’t seen each other in weeks.
With our mouths open and our tongues greeting each other in their fervid, lashing way, Flynn reaches down and grabs onto my ass with both hands, lifting me up with ease. I let out a squeal into his mouth and giggle as my legs instinctively wrap around his body. He carries me over to the desk and puts me down, the solid wooden top feeling cool through my jeans.
His hands move up and he strips my leather jacket off, revealing the shirt I’m wearing underneath. Then they go down to my stomach and he slides them back up, over my bare skin. I wrap my own arms around his neck as he grabs onto both of my breasts over the top of my bra. I inhale sharply through my nose, my pussy glowing damp between my open legs. I moan against his lips as he fondles me, squeezing, drawing my nipples out and making them hard, making them throb, sending pleasure directly into me fro
m his touch.
I pull away from his mouth and suck in breath—I’m not getting enough oxygen—and immediately his lips latch onto the side of my neck. It’s like I’m in heaven, and I moan out loud, quickly clamping my lips shut in case the others can hear us. But something’s not right. I think to what Flynn’s said. Something isn’t right.
“Flynn,” I whisper, and he moans against my neck. It feels amazing, and I don’t want him to stop, but I need an answer.
“Flynn,” I say again, and this time he pulls himself away, his face not far from mine, his eyes burning with lust and desire. Oh fuck me, is he hot. I can already feel him hard, pressing through our jeans up against my pussy and it’s all that I want, to feel him inside me again. But I take a deep breath and try to clear my head. “Flynn, didn’t you say …” I have to swallow, I’m breathing too quickly. “Didn’t you tell me you never sleep with the same girl twice?”
He looks at me. For a moment I think I’ve fucked things up—that I’ve made him mad.
“We already fucked more than once,” he says in that growl he has. “Why not go for broke?”
He smiles and a shiver runs down my spine. But it’s not enough.
“But … why?” I ask. “You said … you told me it’s your rule. It has to exist for a reason, doesn’t it?”
His smile fades. And he nods.
“Yes. It exists for a reason.”
“Why?”
His gaze is so penetrating, but he doesn’t smile again. Now my arousal is tinged with something else: fear.
“It’s not important,” he says. And then, “I don’t want to get into it.”
“Okay …” I say. “But then … why did you fuck me in that alleyway? Why did you break your rule for me? And what are we doing here? I mean, I know what we’re doing …” He smiles, and so do I. “But why?”
His smile fades again, but doesn’t go away completely. His eyes have never left mine. He takes a breath through his nose and lets it out.
“I don’t know,” he admits, and although it sounds like a cop-out, I’m pretty sure it’s true. “There’s something about you, Trista. Something … different. You’re not like any of the other women I’ve met. You make me feel something I haven’t felt in a long time. And … besides that, you’ve got to be the best lay I’ve ever had.”