Case takes the bait. “Fuck that,” he says. “I’m out too. All this is for you, Thomas.”
“How the fuck do you figure?” Thomas asks, realizing he’s losing. “Have you forgotten who was there that night?”
“You left,” I say. “You left and made your fortune off us.”
“I funded you two assholes,” Thomas says. “You have your toy company, Case. And you have your”—Thomas stops to consider me—“whatever the fuck it is you do down there in that cave.”
“Whatever the fuck I do?” I ask. “Are you kidding me?”
“Well, you’re the one backing out, Lincoln. I figure you’re realizing you’re not quite ready for prime time and it’s got you running scared.”
“Huh.” I grunt out a laugh. “I’m ready, motherfucker. I could take this whole town down with the shit I have down there.”
“So do it,” Thomas challenges. “What was the point of all that killing if you’re not going to finish the job?”
“That’s the only thing you care about,” Case says. “It’s always been about taking him down. Nothing else has ever mattered to you, has it, Thomas? Not me, not Lincoln.”
“Not Molly,” I add. “Or that girl of yours, Case. He didn’t threaten her father to keep her safe.”
“The hell I didn’t!” Thomas yells. I look over at Mac and he’s already ducking into the back room. An angry Thomas is terrifying if you’re not under the protection of the inhibitor. “You were gonna get that girl killed, Case. The Blue fucking Boar had his claws in her father good and tight. He was just about to bring him in, and then what do you think would’ve happened to her? All you gotta do is look at Molly for that answer.”
“Don’t bring Molly into this,” I say.
“She’s my fucking sister, Lincoln. I’ll bring her—”
“Lincoln,” Sheila says, through my phone. “An unauthorized text has been sent to Molly from your number.”
“What?” All three of us go silent.
“She was told to head to Thomas’ cathedral maze. She left on her bike and I’ve been trying to contact her, but the phone powered down just seconds after the message was sent.”
I look at Thomas and growl, “You better not walk away from her this time, you cold piece of shit. You better not walk away. If this is him, I’ll take him out. But you had better be invested, asshole. Or I will hunt you for the rest of your life. I will sit down in my little cave and create a drug that will undo this protection you have. And then I will torture you in ways you can’t even imagine.” I look over at Case and say, “Coming or not?”
He nods. “You know I’m there.”
“I’m taking the bike.” I look back at Thomas, who is still silently glaring at me. “And you better have my back.”
I know better than to wait for an acknowledgement from Thomas.
But I also know he’ll be there.
We are, after all, in this together. You don’t kill all those people for a guy like Thomas and not get what’s due. He might not be completely loyal, he might be selfish, and pretentious, and evil as fuck. But he pays his debts.
“We’ll do it just like we planned.”
I catch his words just before the door slams closed behind me and I’m already on the bike, racing towards the cathedral, when I ask myself if I ever really knew the plan.
Chapter Forty-Five - Molly
The SkyEye Cathedral is dark when I pull up to the front. It’s silent and imposing as my eyes wander up to the top of the spire where the light that’s been shining from the tip every night since I got to town is off.
Lincoln is probably out back. So I give the bike some throttle and ease into the alley, looking for the delivery truck gates.
They’re open, and I breathe a sigh of relief. For a minute I thought he wasn’t here yet. I pull the bike through and park it in front of the back stairs leading up to the cathedral as I look around.
“Lincoln?” I call out. The maze is just as dark as it was the first time I was back here. But the center light that illuminates the statue in the middle is on. I can see the glow. “Lincoln?”
I can see tall shadows moving in the middle of the hedge.
“Jesus,” I mutter. “You’re gonna make me work for this, aren’t you?”
But I smile. I can find my way in. I think. That makes me laugh.
I kick the stand down, swing my leg over the bike, and take my helmet off and place it on the seat. OK then. Into the creepy hedge maze.
The lengths I will go to for this guy. Gah!
I consider cheating by walking around to the back of the hedge the way I came out last time. I think I can remember the way. But he’s probably expecting me from this end. And whatever he’s got planned, I know it will be good. I don’t want to ruin it.
So I walk in, buzzing with anticipation. I picture myself last weekend, floating through this maze in that ball gown. God, one week ago I knew nothing. My memories were still lost and Lincoln was just a glimmer of something I knew I was missing.