“I’m already going seventy in a fifty-five and I can’t see shit.” Tommy presses down on the peddle with a little more tenacity, and I finally sit back in the seat.
We’re only five minutes away from Briarwood, but five minutes feels like a lifetime. “I can’t believe fucking Lars. How the hell could he do this shit?” I slap my hand on the dashboard. “When this is all over with, I’ve got a few choice words for that backstabbing son of a bitch.”
“Yeah, what he did was pretty messed up. But at least he’s trying to atone for his fuck-up.”
“Well, he’s atoning a little too late. Zed could have done just about anything to her at this point.” I can’t let my mind go there. I swear to God if he laid one harmful finger on her, I’ll break ‘em all. I resume chewing on my nail and suck the drop of blood into my mouth.
Tommy snarls in disgust as he side-eyes me. “Would you quit that shit.”
I slap both hands on my legs, rubbing my sweaty palms onto my jeans. This is a disaster. If anything happens to Marni, I’ll never forgive myself. Should have just found another way once I felt that first twinge in my chest. That new feeling that told me she was more than just another girl—that she was special. Instead, I got her tangled up in this mess and now she’s under the hands of a guy who has not a single ounce of empathy in his heartless body. “Bout damn time.” I huff, as we pull down the driveway of Briarwood.
Zed’s car is parked right out front and I’m well aware that he’s expecting us. Lars filled me in on that much. What Zed doesn’t know is that Tommy and I have brought backup. Didn’t wanna do it. Really didn’t want to. I hate Axel Thorn with a passion, but we have the same agenda here. Get Marni out alive, while keeping our asses alive as well.
I shoot Lars a text from Tommy’s phone to let him know we’re here. “They’ll be coming through the back. My guess is that he has Marni in the basement, so I’ll head straight there. You search the upstairs while Lars and Axel hide out until it’s time.”
“Not gonna lie, bro. I’m really fucking nervous about this,” Tommy says, killing the engine and tugging his hood up.
“We all are.” I lift my hood up as well, but waste no time jumping out and booking it to the front door. Thunder ripples all around me, followed by a strike of lightning that shoots across the sky. Looking behind me, before I open the door, I see Tommy trailing me, none too eagerly. “C’mon.”
When he’s finally at the top of the stairs, I slowly open the door. Not that it matters much, the old wooden structure scrapes so loudly against the floor that I’ve just announced our presence to everyone inside, dead and alive.
“Ah, there’s the man of the hour,” Zed says, as he stands in the middle of the narrow hallway with his hands in the air. “We’ve been expecting you.”
My first instinct is to charge at him and rip his fucking head off for touching Marni. Then every other limb on his body for this mess he’s stirred. Everything I’ve replayed in my head the entire drive is a scrambled mess. “Cut the shit. Where is she?”
“She’s around. And trust me, she’s not going anywhere this time. You see, I know how to keep the ladies right where I want them. You, on the other hand, let them run amuck and fuck shit up.” He holds up the SD card. “You’re lucky I got my hands on her...I mean this, when I did.” He corrects himself, although it’s crystal clear that it was intentional.
“Give that to me.” I hold my hand out, knowing full on that he won’t just hand it over. I’m just buying time for Lars and Axel to get in the house.
“Could you imagine if she would have stuck this baby into her computer? Your entire secret would have crashed down on you before she even knew she had feelings for you. She would have run right to Daddy.”
“Doesn’t matter. None of that shit matters anymore.”
“Oh,” he perks up. “You won’t care if she knows that her dad killed the boy in the basement?”
I take a step closer to him and he doesn’t budge. “Just give me the card and tell me where she is.” My hands pat my puffed-out chest. “It’s me you want. I’m right here.”
“You’re right. It is you. But it’s also her. You don’t deserve a girl like that.” His voice raises a few octaves. “Because of you, my mom is dead and she’s never coming back.”
“My mom’s gone too, Zed. You think that I don’t mourn her, even though she’s living. At least you had a mom for most of your life. Mine never even deserved that title.”
“And that makes it ok? Your mom was a fuck-up, so it doesn’t matter that you killed mine?”
“Zed,” I take another step, “your mom committed suicide. It doesn’t matter who gave her the pills, one way or another, she would have gotten her hands on them. I had no idea that was her plan when I gave them to her. I know I screwed up.”
I’d been doing pill drops for Zed’s mom for weeks. Didn’t think that day was any different. She was an addict, like me. I didn’t have two cents to rub together since I blew through my savings and Dad cut me off. At that time, I thought my trust fund was years away, so I started selling for a high-end dealer. I was making damn good money and I was getting my fix. It was a win-win.
I had no idea that Rose was planning to overdose that day. I ended up going to the football game, living my life like nothing
