As he walked away, I dropped the grin and fisted my hands. “Thanks.”
Chris didn’t say anything. Just walked up to the newly loaded truck, the men in either the cab or their own vehicles. He tapped the back of the truck to signify that all was well, and the truck took off. Chris followed behind it in his car, the others falling in line behind him. He’d make sure everything got to the warehouse, unpacked, and inventoried. I stared at the convoy as it disappeared from sight, then turned around and left, making sure to keep my steps light and unhurried. As I walked away, I buried my hands in my jeans pockets and whistled “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
No matter what I did, I couldn’t show my certainty that Chris was right. I’d been thinking the same thing, so hearing it straight from the mouth of the only man I trusted in this world? Yeah, that pretty much answered my unasked questions. It seemed clear as day that this was an inside job, and that meant . . .
Someone in Steel Row wanted me dead.
CHAPTER 2
HEIDI
This whole city was going to hell, and it was determined to take me with it. I’d grown up here and all, so this really wasn’t new information, but standing behind the bar, watching a bunch of gangbangers argue over who got to hit up the convenience store down the road first, only drove that point home.
Sometimes I could ignore the degradation and overall shittiness and just feed off the energy of Steel Row. Accept the slums of Boston for what they were. This was my life, and I was okay with that, but on nights like this one? It sucked.
Shaking my hips to the beat of the music pounding through the sound system, I attempted to ignore the pestering voice in the back of my head that screamed for me to strive for better.
There was no better. This was it. All she wrote. Cue the pig at the end of the Looney Tunes strip to pop up and say, “That’s all, folks.”
I’d always hated that little pig.
But really, I couldn’t complain. I had a better deal than others. I’d run far away from home and had been living on the streets of Steel Row before I’d been taken in by an old man who became more of a parent to me than my parents ever had been. And when Frankie died? he’d left me the Patriot, his bar, my bar. I loved this shitty little bar more than I’d ever loved any person.
With one exception.
The man who’d given it to me.
A drunk asshole leaned across the bar, grinning at me. He came in every Friday night, and he never ceased to hit on me, despite the fact that I shot him down every time. “Hey, gorgeous.”
“Hey, Jimmy,” I said, grabbing an empty mug and filling it up with Bud Lite. “How’s it going?”
“Good. It would be better if you’d go home with me, though,” he said, eyeing my tits. Big shocker there. “Much better. What do you say? Is tonight the night?”
I rolled my eyes while I turned away from him. It wasn’t that he wasn’t hot. He was. But he was a dealer, and I’d be damned if I was going to date a guy who would end up dead in an alley somewhere right after my stupid self fell in love with him. I’d seen way too many women in Steel Row go down that road. There was no way I’d join their ranks. Before I turned around, I forced a smile. “Yeah, sorry. I’m not in the mood tonight. I have a headache.”
“Aw, baby, but I can make you feel like new,” he said, reaching out and gently tugging on a piece of my hair. I slid his beer to him, and he fumbled to catch it. “Oh, I like it when you play rough.”
Holding my hand out, I leveled a look on him. “Sure you do. That’ll be five bucks, hot stuff.”
“One of these days, you’re going to regret turning me away,” he teased, handing me a ten.
“That day hasn’t come yet,” I said, reaching out for the ten. “And I don’t think it ever will, but, hey, whatever keeps your juices flowing, man.”
He caught my fingers, his grip tight. “I know exactly what will do that.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” I yanked free and scowled at him. “Too bad it’s never going to happen.”
“I love the way you tease,” he said, picking up his beer and heading toward his obnoxious buddies. “Keep the change, baby. It’ll help with your headache.”
I watched him go, flexing my hand. “Asshole.”
“I heard that,” my bouncer, Marco, said. His brown hair stuck up all over the place, but there was no doubt in my mind he styled it that way on purpose. “Was he bothering you again, Heidi?”
“Just being his normal cocky self,” I said, shoving the ten into the register drawer. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. How’s the floor tonight?”
“Rowdy.”
“I noticed that, too.” I eyed the crowd, my eyes lingering on the group of gangbangers, who were watching me with alarming uniformity. “Trouble’s in the air.”
Marco cracked his knuckles, his green eyes locked on the same group of men I’d been looking at. “Don’t go home alone. I’ll walk you.”
“Thanks, Marco.” I put away clean wineglasses, peeking over my shoulder at him. “I appreciate it.”