“Don’t have to go anymore?” He asked.
“I do, but I can’t pee with you staring at me like that. Just turn around. It’s not like I’m going anywhere. This room doesn’t even have a window.”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware that your highness had stage fright,” Preppy said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
He opened the bathroom door again and this time he turned his back to me. The second I knew he wasn’t looking, my body was able to relax and let go. The relief felt so amazing I moaned out loud.
“I may appear nice, kid, but don’t get it twisted. King and I are cut from the same cloth.”
“If he asked you to kill me, would you do it?” I asked, needing to know if he would be the one to possibly end my life.
“Yes,” he answered. No hesitation.
When I was done, Preppy led me back to the bed and secured my cuff around my wrist. This time, he connected it to a lower rung on the headboard so I wouldn’t have to sit with my arm raised above my head.
“Prep,” King’s deep voice boomed from the doorway, startling me. He motioned to Preppy with a lift of his chin. Preppy tightened the cuff around my wrist and left the room. King glanced at me for a brief second, then followed Preppy out, closing the door behind them.
Did they find Nikki? Did she tell them I didn’t have anything to do with stealing from him? Or maybe, she turned on me and told them it was all my idea. Nikki was oddly overprotective of me when she was sober, but when she was high she was unpredictable, and if her life or her drugs were on the line, there was no doubt in my mind that she would throw me to the wolves.
I heard a door slam, and then their muffled voices rose up to the window from outside. I strained my neck and peered out. King and Preppy were on the lawn, just beyond the deck. The sun was just setting; the sky glowed orange.
I stretched out my leg and slid the window open a crack with my bare foot.
“Found the redhead,” King said. He lit a cigarette.
“Where?” Preppy asked.
“Andrews’ place up the highway. That old motel with the pool in the parking lot.”
“You get the cash?” Preppy asked. He leaned back against the railing and crossed his arms over his chest.
King shook his head and blew out the smoke.
“I think she’s telling the truth, man,” Preppy said, gesturing up to my window with his hands. I ducked in reaction although from that angle there was no way they could see me. “I think you know I’m pretty good at detecting a liar, and this girl doesn’t scream thief to me. What did the redhead say about her?”
“She didn’t say shit.”
“How come?”
“Cause she’s fucking dead.”
*
Nikki was dead.
I couldn’t catch my breath.
My head spun.
King had said that anyone who stole from him would have to pay a price, and Nikki had paid it.
With her life.
There was no doubt, that without King being able to ask Nikki about my involvement, that I was next.
Thunderclouds clapped overhead. King and Preppy walked back toward the house, but I could no longer make out what they were saying. I closed the window and propped myself on the bed just as they’d left me.
The first chance I got I was going to make a run for it. There was no time to wait and plan. This was going to have to be quick and on-the-fly.
After a few minutes, Preppy came back into the room and uncuffed me. “Let’s go,” he said. Yanking me into an upright position, he dragged me toward the door.
“Where are we going?” I asked frantically. Then, it came to me. This was King’s house. His bedroom. He wouldn’t carry out killing me in his own home, so it was very likely they would take me somewhere else first. This was my only shot, and I was going to have to take it.
“Not far,” Preppy said.
It was getting dark, and it was about to storm. Couldn’t they at least wait until morning? I could think better when I wasn’t being choked by my own fear of the dark.
“Why?”
“Come on. You’ll see.”
We walked down the narrow hallway and down the stairs to the main living area of the house. King was nowhere in sight. Figures he would ask Preppy to do his dirty work for him. A part of me wanted King to do it.
I wanted him to see the look in my eyes as he killed an innocent person.
But it didn’t look like I was going to get that chance.
Preppy led me out onto the balcony, and I stopped short when we reached the stairs. Preppy was already a few steps below me, his grip on my wrist still tight. He turned around when he felt me come to a stop. This was my only chance to escape with my life. I didn’t think. I just acted.
I reared my foot back and kicked him in the balls. HARD. He released my wrist to grab his crotch and I shoved on his shoulders with all my might, sending him tumbling backwards down the steep staircase.