“I don’t… I thought all that stuff was for the movies.”
“This is not a movie,” I cried out. “This is my life. It has been my life for years. So now I have two different people that want me dead. And I should have been dead… they rigged my car to explode.”
Macie’s eyes went wider. “What?”
I backed up to the wall and tried to fan myself with my hand. The room felt small, cramped. I turned and rushed to the bathroom. I barely made it to the toilet before I got sick. I was so scared and nervous, my body couldn’t handle it.
“Are you pregnant?” Macie asked, coming into the bathroom.
“Are you fucking serious?” I asked. “You have to have sex to get pregnant, first off. And second, I just told you everything about my brother.”
“So he really kills people? Like with his hands? Or a gun?”
I forced myself to stand. I grabbed a towel and wiped my mouth.
“Are you really asking me this stuff?” I asked. “This is serious.”
“But it’s sort of hot,” Macie said. “I mean, I slept with a killer. You know? How many women get to say that?”
I started to shake. Then I jumped at Macie. My hands shoved her shoulders. She went flying from the bathroom, out, and to the closet door. Her body slammed against it and she let out a scream. My hand was then at her neck. I wanted to slap her. I wanted to hit. I wanted to keep hitting and slapping and hitting and slapping…
I backed up. “Oh, shit. Macie…”
“You need help,” she said.
“You need to listen to me,” I said. “This isn’t a joke. If Luke finds me. If he finds us… oh my God, you shouldn’t be here. You should go. Leave, Macie. Just don’t tell anyone you saw me.”
“Do you hear yourself, Rose? Look, I’m sorry for whatever you’re going through. Luke would never hurt you. He’s spent how much time protecting you? Why would he hurt you?”
There was no use in arguing with Macie.
I got a drink of water and then grabbed my cell.
“Where are you going?” Macie asked.
“I need to take a walk. Just stay here. Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Let me figure out a plan. I’m sorry I even called you.”
“You’re losing your mind, Rose. For real. Luke was in a suit and tie. He wasn’t dressed to kill.”
I looked at Macie. It was pathetic I even considered her a friend, let alone some kind of best friend.
The thing she didn’t realize was that Luke wore a suit when he went on business, even if he was going to make a kill. It was either a suit or that black mask. When he was the assassin. When he killed Wes’s brother.
My heart sank.
Where was Wes?
14.
(Wes)
The fucking floors were too white. Every fourth tile was half blue which looked dumb. There were scuff marks everywhere, probably from gurneys and doctors and nurses shoes rushing to save lives. Or maybe from people collapsing when they got some bad news.
“Here. Drink.”
I looked up from my hands and Tommy had a cup of coffee in his hand.
I took it from him. “What’s in it?”
“I take my coffee like my woman, black as night.”
“Thanks,” I said.
I held the hot cup between my hands and looked at the floor again.
“How long is this going to take?” Danny asked. He leaned against the wall with his arms folded.
I looked at him. “Are you fucking kidding, man? Doctors are trying to save his life. Who cares how long it takes?”
Danny pushed from the wall. “I was just asking, Wes. Calm the fuck down, buddy.”
I stood up. “Don’t buddy me. Where the fuck were you?”
“Me?” Danny asked. “What about you? All of a sudden you’re married and go off to a cabin for a night. I smell bullshit everywhere I step near you.”
I threw the coffee to the floor. It splashed everywhere.
I stepped toward Danny and he put his hand out, egging me on. “Yeah, come on, Wes. Come on.”
“Do you realize the heat this is going to cause?” I asked. “I shouldn’t even be this involved.”
“But you are,” Tommy said. “Your brother-in-law did it.”
Brother-in-law. That’s a goddamn lie!
I gritted my teeth.
“Leave it to you, Wes,” Danny said. “Some scrub of a fighter to fuck all this up.”
“Danny!” Tommy bellowed.
That was it for me. Next thing I knew, I threw a right hook and socked Danny in the face. He then slammed into the wall and stumbled away. He looked surprised for about a second and then looking fucking pissed. He came at me and we tangled up right there in the waiting room outside the surgery wing.
I turned and pushed, sending Danny into the spilled coffee. His legs twisted as his shoes slipped on the coffee. He went down on his ass, right in the coffee, splashing it.
“Fuck,” Tommy said, putting a hand to my chest. “Knock it off. Both of you. This is about Aton. If he doesn’t come out of that surgery with a pulse, this is going to be really bad. Really fucking bad.”
I punched Tommy’s hand away. “You think I don’t know that?”
“You’re fucked either way,” Danny said. “Irishman. You stink of shit.”