by Bella Jewel
Is she what broke him?
Or, did he break her?
15
ERIN
“We’re following them,” Lucy says, nodding once and then clapping her hands together, as if she’s just come up with the best idea under the sun.
“We’re not following them,” I say to her, shaking my head.
“I can’t, I’ve got Tommy,” Shania says. “But, if I didn’t, I’d totally be following them.”
Lucy’s eyes flicker when Shania says that, and I make a mental note to ask her what the hell is going on between the two of them, because whatever it is, Shania doesn’t seem to know about it, but obviously Lucy is keeping something. I’m curious to know what.
“We’re not following them,” I say again.
“I agree,” Ellie says. “It’s dangerous. They could be doing anything.”
Shania shrugs. “All I know is I heard Lincoln on the phone to Slater. He said something about getting them in, and that they needed to be smart. They’re going tonight. Finn, too. Whatever it is, they don’t want us knowing about it, it could be dangerous, and they’re all involved.”
I knew Finn was lying.
I knew he was keeping something.
What I didn’t know is that they’re all involved.
That does make me curious, I won’t lie.
“I’ll go alone,” Lucy says. “You don’t want me going alone, do you?”
“That’s cheeky, Lucy,” I shake my head with a smile, “Because now you know that if you go and get murdered, or sold, or something terrible happens and we find your body six months later floating in a river, we’ll never forgive ourselves for not going. So now I have to go.”
“You should write stories.” Shania laughs. “Your imagination is out of this world.”
I grin at her. It feels good to be joking again. To be happy. Even though I’m not thrilled about whatever Finn is lying about, or the fact that he’s lying in the first place, I have managed to find myself, and cool it, and get back to being a chilled little bean. Which feels nice.
“We won’t go in, we’ll just see where they go, that’s all,” Lucy points out. “There and back. Come on, you all must want to know what they’re up to?”
Shania purses her lips, “Yeah, I totally do. Lincoln hasn’t said anything to me, which means he doesn’t want me to know about it, so whatever it is, it must be good.”
“I am a little curious,” Ellie admits. “But it could be dangerous, and I’ve lived long enough in dangerous. I’m going to stay here.”
Lucy looks to me, those wild eyes of hers throwing a challenge at me. A challenge she knows I’ll take, because she knows damn well I’m curious, too. I want to know what they’re doing. So, with a long, and slightly dramatic exhale, I say, “Fine, fine, we’ll follow them, but we’re only driving. We’re not getting out.”
Lucy claps. “Oh, my god, this is exciting. I’ve always wanted to be a detective.”
Shania rolls her eyes, “You did not, you wanted to be a male nurse.”
I burst out laughing. “You know you’re not male, right?”
Lucy snorts. “I was four, and I thought you had a choice!”
We all laugh, making Lucy go a little red in the face. It’s nice to see her actually show a little of something other than that sassy attitude she throws around. I won’t lie, she’s got it going on when it comes to holding her own. I like her.
She’s quickly becoming a best friend.
Ellie, she’s like my sister.
I protect her like a sister.
But Lucy, she’s that bad friend, the one you know you shouldn’t have because they encourage you to follow a bunch of men into god knows what, but you can’t get enough, because she brings thrill to your life.
Yeah, Lucy is my bad friend.
God help me.
~*~*~*~
“Shania told me that they’re all taking Lincoln’s truck,” Lucy says, driving toward Lincoln’s place. “Leaving in ten. He told her they’re going to play poker. She said if she didn’t have Tommy for the night, she would be riding with us, because she wants to bust him in his lie. She’s pissed.”
“I get it,” I agree. “Whatever they’re doing, they’re lying big time.”
“I’m glad I’m single.” Lucy laughs. “Men!”
I chuckle, and we come to a stop a few blocks down from Lincoln’s place. We flick the lights off and watch. Lincoln’s truck is still there, and a few minutes later, we watch them all come out and get in. Slater, Lincoln, Finn, and whoever that other gorgeous piece of man meat is. I think it’s Brody. Finn went to pick him up before we went away, he’s apparently fighting for Lincoln.
That must be the friend he went to save.
He just told me they knew each other, he never said they were friends.
Apparently, he doesn’t have friends.
“Who is that?” Lucy whisper hisses. “Good lord. My panties.”
I giggle softly, like they can actually hear us from two blocks down.
“That’s Brody,” I say. “One of Finn’s friends.”
“Is he single? Tell me he’s single?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “I think so.”
Lincoln turns and looks down the street, as if he can hear us.
“Shit, fuck. Duck!” Lucy hisses and we duck.
My heart is racing as we stay down, just waiting for someone to appear and tap on the window, busting us before we even leave. Lucy is giggling softly, and I shove her with my hand, the biggest grin on my face.
“This is so fun. I always imagined what it would be like to be a spy, always following someone, the thrill of always having to hide,” she tells me.
I have to admit.
She’s right.
It is fun.
“Do you think they saw us?” I ask her.
“I’m going to peek. Hang on.”
She lifts her head, just enough to see. And then sits up straight. “They’re driving.”
I sit up, buckle in, and watch as the truck pulls out onto the road. Lucy pulls out too, flicking the lights back on and falling in behind them, not too close, but not too far that we can lose them if they suddenly turn.
My heart is racing, and I’m so damned filled with adrenaline I want to scream and run and drink a whole lot of alcohol because damn would it feel good tonight. I’m starting to see why these boys chase after this feeling, even when they’ve had enough of living dangerously, because it makes you feel alive, it makes you feel … almost crazy.
“I’ve gone over so many scenarios,” Lucy tells me. “To say I’m excited about what we might find is an understatement. I mean, it could be anything, anything at all.”
“You’re right about that,” I agree. “I hope it’s not something awful though, something we’d have to go back and tell the other girls, that would upset them.”
Lucy nods. “Yeah, you’re right, that would suck.”
“At least you don’t have to worry about it, right, the Knight family drama.”
Lucy laughs. “Thank god, I’ve got enough of my own issues let alone adding theirs. Mind you, here I am on some sort of spy mission, so I can’t say I’m completely free of it.”
I chuckle, and we keep a safe distance behind the truck as it heads out of town. I don’t know where we’re going, but it’s certainly not somewhere close by. I relax in the seat, and ask, “How is your love life going? Got anyone special?”
Lucy’s face, even in the darkness, scrunches up. An automatic, uncontrolled reaction to a question she didn’t see coming, a question that she is not going to answer truthfully, I already know it. Lucy is hiding something, or someone, and she doesn’t want any of us to know about it. Which bodes the question … who? And why?
“Is it Damon?” I ask her.
I’ve seen the two of them talking, maybe she has a relationship with him, and is worried about something.
“You’re not even letting me answer.” Lucy laughs, but her laugh i
s a little shaky, a little unsure.
Almost like she wants to tell me, but won’t, because she’s afraid of how it’ll end up for her. Maybe she doesn’t fully trust me, maybe she wants to but it’s not worth the risk of something going wrong. Maybe I’ll judge her and make her feel bad. Either way it goes, I don’t see her being completely honest with me right now, and that’s okay.
We all have our secrets.
“Damon and I aren’t like that.” She chuckles. “We’re actually becoming really good friends, which is nice. Damon, he’s okay in life, you know. He’s happy, he’s content, he’s one of the only men I know that is perfectly okay with being single and getting out and living his life without the hassle of a female. I like that about him. There is nothing romantic happening there, but … I guess we have been talking, and I have been opening up to him about things. He’s a good friend.”
Hmmm.
Damon, hey, who knew?
I must admit, she is right, though. Damon is content with his life. He seems completely happy just going about his business. He doesn’t go seeking women, or running around with issues, he’s just … Damon. I like that about him. Not everyone has an epic love story to tell, sometimes, people are just happy existing. Truly happy. Their epic tale is the fact that they wake up every day.
Damon is that person.
Bless him.
“So it’s not Damon, but it is something …”
“Look,” Lucy says, “I’m a smart girl, at least, I’ve always tried to see myself that way. But at the moment, some of the things I’ve done, they’re not so smart, and I’m trying really hard to separate myself from those things, believe me I am.”
“You don’t have to talk about it with me, I understand, believe me …”
“I’d love to, but this issue I have to deal with on my own. For now. But please don’t think I don’t trust you, if I want to talk, I promise you’ll be the one I turn to …”
“After Damon?” I giggle.
“Yeah,” she laughs. “After Damon.”
The truck in front of us starts coming to a slow, and they indicate that they’re turning right. I look to Lucy and she shrugs, turning, too. They seem to be going down a rather secluded street, off the main highway. I’ve always seen what happens to people in movies that go down secluded streets. They don’t seem to find a way back. Or they get brutally murdered. Or go missing never to be found again.
Of course these men would be turning down one of those streets.
Into the darkness.
Down a road that nobody knows the end to.
“I wonder where they’re going?” Lucy asks.
“Do you think they’ll notice us now we’re on a road following them without other cars?”
Lucy shrugs. “I don’t know. We can only hope that wherever they’re going, other people are going, too. So they don’t think it’s weird we’re driving down this road, late at night, following them.”
I hope she’s right.
God, I hope what we’re doing isn’t the stupidest thing we’ve ever done.
I guess we’re about to find out.
16
ERIN
“Where the hell are we?” I whisper to Lucy as she parks amongst a crowd of other cars, trying not to look like we’re fish out of water.
Which we are.
We really are.
We followed the guys for over two hours. Two freakin’ hours. We went down roads, twists and turns, and now we’re out in the middle of god knows where, nobody around, at a huge ass warehouse. It’s so rundown, I’m surprised people are even allowed inside. It looks like shit, like nobody would ever come near it except with a match to burn it down. Half the ceiling is caved in.
Is that what they’re aiming for?
Is that the look they want to take the attention away from the place?
I’m more than curious now to know what’s going on inside it.
Down in the depths, whatever they’re doing, it must be highly illegal.
I’ve kept my eye on the men, Slater leading the way, talking to a few people as they walk toward the warehouse. Obviously, Slater is a familiar face. Makes sense, considering he went pretty dark after he lost Ellie. He went above and beyond to find her and saw some pretty messed up things. It doesn’t surprise me to know that he’d be leading this mission, whatever it is.
“This looks dangerous,” Lucy says, her voice barely above a whisper, even though nobody can see us sitting here in this dark car.
“I’m guessing a fight,” I say to her, studying all the people going in. They’re all … dangerous looking.
There are a few women, so rough that you’d almost pass them to be men. The kind of women who spit as they walk and swear like a grown ass male. Probably junkies, by the looks of them and their lack of meat on the old bones. Also the hair. And the teeth. Definitely not the nice type, that’s for sure.
“I’m thinking you’re right; I’d bet a hefty amount there is an underground ring beneath this old shitty warehouse. It’s genius, really, most cops wouldn’t dare walk into this place, it looks like it’s about to collapse. They probably wouldn’t consider that anyone is doing business below it.”
“You’re right about that,” I agree. “We’ll never get in there, Lucy. For starters, we’re way too clean, we’re alone without males, and we’ll never pass as genuine.”
Lucy looks to me, and grins. “You underestimate me, and also, my vagina.”
“Your vagina?” I ask her, “What the hell does it have to do with anything?”
“Honey, it has the power to get us anywhere we want. See that group of men over there? We’re going to saunter our way over, after we make ourselves look less appealing, that is, and we’re going to go in with them.”
I stare at the group of rough looking young men, god, they look dangerous, this is a bad idea.
“They’ll probably rape and kill us!” I hiss.
“Not with all these people around.”
“These people aren’t about to stop them, have you taken a look at them?”
“What else do you want to do? Turn around and drive home?” Lucy asks, brows raised. “I know I want to see what the hell is going on beneath the ground here.”
I mean, so do I. We’re only human, and it’s hard not to wonder what the hell is happening beneath the depths. Especially when it involves people we care about.
“Fine,” I mutter. “But if we die, I’ll haunt you, even if you’re dead, too.”
Lucy laughs. “Good. Now come here, it’s time to get ugly.”
Lucy has a way with making us look … crappy. She messes up our clothes enough with a pair of scissors that we look worse for wear, she rubs my hair that much it very quickly gets the look that I haven’t brushed it in days. She pulls out a packet of cigarettes, I don’t dare ask her why she has them, and shoves them in my back pocket, but not before pulling one out and ramming it in my mouth. “Talk with this in, you’ll fit right in.”
Gross.
Lucy quickly turns herself into a ‘Furious woman beast’ as she so kindly puts it, and then tells me to follow her lead as we get out of the car. The bitter taste of cigarette makes my tongue feel rather disgusting, but I keep it hanging out the side of my mouth anyway. Whatever works. This is probably my last night on earth anyway. It was good while it lasted. Fun, even.
Goodbye, cruel world.
“Well hey there,” Lucy drawls and I blink a few times at her incredible accent skills, she does not even sound the same. I’m afraid if I try some back hill accent they’re going to know I’m a faker and be onto me. I’ll probably sound like a cow that got stuck in a fence and is calling out for help. It won’t be pretty. Nope, I’ll just go for very unladylike.
“Well, lookie what we’ve got here. Where did you two come from?”
The man that speaks is terrifyingly … hideous. I don’t mean to be awful, but he’s horrendous. He’s missing all his teeth, except a few stragglers, that honestly would be far
better pulled out leaving him toothless than hanging there terrifying everyone who speaks to him. Thankfully, the other three in the crowd aren’t awful, they’re not great, but they just look like badasses who have rolled in from the darkest parts of the world.
Covered in tattoos, wearing dark clothes, cigarettes, chains, empty expressions. You know the one.
“We’re here with friends, but we have seemed to have lost them. Mind if we roll with you lovely gentleman?” Lucy grins.
“Not ones to say no to pretty ladies,” a blonde man says, eyeing us both. “Who are you with?”
Lucy falters, but luckily for me, I saw Slater chatting to quite a number of people before, so I’m going to dare use his name, if it doesn’t work we’re just going to run really fast.
“Slater Knight,” I say. “Fuckin’ friend of ours.”
God.
That sounded so trashy.
“Knight hey,” Blondie mutters. “Know him. You ladies enjoy this kind of thing, do you?”
Lucy shrugs. “We all have our thing, plenty of other ladies here.”
A dark haired man purses his lips and then throws a pill down his throat before muttering, “None of them quite as nice as you two.”
God.
They think we’re nice.
I look like I got tossed out of a truck, rolled across the ground a few times, and then stood, dusted off, and strolled in here.
“Why thank you,” Lucy drawls, winking at the drug-popping weirdo who is now staring at her boobs.
“Happy for you to join us, you can sit by me,” Blondie says, winking at me.
Ew.
I force a smile, and we fall in step beside them as we enter the warehouse. There are quite a number of people, but not enough that it will be insanely crowded in there. I hope enough that none of the guys will see us, or we’re dead. I stick close to Blondie, hoping I can use him to cover myself if we see them.
When we’re inside the warehouse, I watch everyone going down into a basement, at least, I hope it’s a basement. There is a hole in the ground, fucking not normal, and a ladder you climb down. This isn’t weird. At all. People are talking to a huge man standing at the entrance to the death hole, and I wonder if he’s going to notice we’re out of place. If he does, we could get ourselves into a lot of trouble.