A chill crept through me. Crouched low, I stepped back and looked for a way out through the shadows where I could escape unseen. A twig snapped under my foot and I froze, but no one heard.
Lonny paced, tossing and catching his keys. “I’ve got friends in the system, Whelan. I heard about you. I know who you are. What you did.” The keys jangled. Up and down. “What I can’t figure out is how you walked.” Lonny stopped and ran a palm over his gelled spikes, back and forth. “Only two ways to walk from the shit on your record, kid. You either blow the right parole officer . . . or you narc.”
Reece’s cover was about to be blown.
Lonny turned to Reece. “So which is it?”
Reece’s expression was hard, but the cool steadiness was gone from his voice. “Just time out for good behavior, man.”
Lonny pointed two fingers at Reece’s chest. “Answer the question.”
“I’m not a narc.” Reece struggled to free his arms, his chest rising and falling faster.
“I’m glad to hear that.” Lonny launched a fist into Reece’s gut. I gripped the bat, squeezing my eyes shut as Reece dropped to his knees.
“It doesn’t change anything. I don’t trust you, and it wouldn’t matter even if you were a narc. Cops got nothing on me. I’ve learned a few things. My hands are clean . . .” Lonny wiped his knuckles and scrutinized his nails. “. . . Always clean. See, I have a business to run. I don’t like when things get messy.” A smile crept over his face. I wasn’t sure which was more frightening, watching Lonny inflict violence, or the promise of something worse in that smile. “I’ll need time to check your . . . credentials . . . before we try this again.”
Reece rolled onto his side, grunting and struggling for breath. Lonny motioned to Oleksa and I panicked when they hefted Reece to his knees. I wanted to run. Lock myself in my metal box and pretend this wasn’t happening. But I couldn’t make myself leave.
Oleksa’s fist smashed into Reece’s face. His head rocked back, blood flowing in a thick, dark stream. Lonny watched, tossing and catching his keys. I fisted the bat, hiding in the shadows like a coward, waiting for the police to come and save Reece—or arrest him. But they weren’t coming. He wasn’t wearing a wire. They had no way of knowing he was in trouble.
Oleksa hit him again.
I hope you’re worth it.
I grabbed the bat, creeping through the shadows in a wide arc and coming behind them near Lonny’s car. I pressed one hand on the hood and hauled myself up, planting my feet wide, steeling myself for the stupid, crazy thing I was about to do.
I raised the bat over my head.
“Let him go!” I shouted. “Or I’ll destroy your fucking car!” Loose hair whipped around my face. I looked into their eyes, one by one, then held Lonny’s stare. I wouldn’t let go.
Reece’s chin rested on his chest, bleeding into his shirt. Oleksa looked back and forth between me and Lonny, hands twitching at his side. Lonny shook his head with a bemused disbelief.
“My, my.” His voice was silky sweet and it terrified me as much as his smile. “Isn’t this something?”
He stepped toward me and every cell in my body screamed at me to run. Reece raised his head slowly, his eyes half closed and unfocused. His gaze sharpened on the hood of Lonny’s car. On me. His face paled, as if he were looking at a ghost. He opened his mouth to speak and struggled to one knee, but Oleksa kicked him in the gut, doubling him over.
“I said let him go!” I raised the bat higher, aimed at the windshield.
Lonny chuckled, but nobody moved. He was stalling. Calling my bluff. I tested the weight of the bat, letting it roll in my palms. Lonny raised an eyebrow.
“I heard about your run-in with DiMorello today. Heard Whelan came to your rescue. Is he your man now? Or are you just here to return the favor?”
I calculated my words carefully. Lonny was already suspicious of Reece. The wrong answer could get him killed.
“What I do with Reece is none of your business.”
“Maybe it should be, Boswell. Your boyfriend is looking for some pretty nasty little pills. Nasty little pills that make sweet girls like you do really nasty things.” Lonny shrugged. “But what do I care? Maybe you already do.”
His eyes skimmed over me, lingering on my breasts and hips in a way that made me feel sick inside. He ran his tongue over his teeth and toyed with the barbell above his chin, pushing and pulling it through the hole in his lip while he considered me.
“You keep your boyfriend on the right side of my street. I’m not sure I like him.” Lonny gestured to his goons. The stocky one tossed Reece’s limp body to the ground.
“You, however . . .” Lonny shook his finger at me. “. . . I am definitely beginning to like. Now get your skinny ass off my car. Next time you pull a stunt like this, I’ll break your pretty legs.”