Page 4 of Bloody Kingdom

Someone waves at me from the other end of the bar, and I quickly excuse myself to grab them another beer. When I return to Lucy and Duke, their heads are bent in a private conversation.

Clearing my throat to grab their attention again, I ask, “Duke, what is it that you do?” He asked about what I do, it’s only fair I get to ask, right?

Duke shrugs his broad shoulders. “I just run odd jobs for a local business owner. Sometimes I run errands for him around the city, other times he sends me out to check on his different ventures outside of the country. Depends on the week and what kind of mood he’s in.”

“Well,thatwasn’t vague as hell or anything.” I chuckle.

“You’re lucky, that’s more than most people get.” Lucy places her hand on his upper arm and gives him a playful shove. “I have my theories, butIdon’t even know who he actually works for.”

The pointed look she gives him doesn’t go unnoticed, and it makes me think Lucy knows more than she’s letting on.

“Luce, leave the poor man alone. If he’s going to keep up that allusive, mysterious air of his.” I gesture with my hands around Duke’s frame. “Then he can’t go around telling you all his secrets. How else would he keep you interested in him?”

The appalled look on Lucy’s face is priceless. She can claim all she wants that she wants men to leave her alone, but deep down, she’s a hopeless romantic.

Glancing at the ornate gold-trimmed clock mounted on the far wall, I nod at Lucy. “I’ll finish up here, it’s going to start slowing down in the next hour anyway. Why don’t you two go catch up?”

“What?” Lucy frowns. “I’m not going to leave you here alone. There’s still a lot of people in here.”

“Lucy, I’ve got this.” Lucy has been the person to get me through the past couple of months. Without her, I’d be jobless and homeless. The least I can do is cover for her for an hour or so. “Go have fun, go get into trouble like we used to.”

Prior to moving away, Lucy and I were the epitome of troublemakers. We were young and dumb, believing the laws and rules didn’t apply to us. We are lucky that we made it out of our teen years alive.

Lucy looks between Duke and me, the internal battle she’s having with herself written across her face. Finally, she points a finger at me. “Fine, but you have to promise to call me when you leave. I don’t like you walking the streets here alone, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you it’s a bad idea. We’ll talk on the phone until you make it home.”

“I have the Taser you gave me too.”

Duke stands from the barstool, his big arm wrapping casually over Lucy’s shoulders.

“Good.” Lucy nods once, blowing out a long breath. “Call me if you need anything.”

“I’ve got this,” I repeat. I may not have a lot of the shit in my life under control, but I know for a fact I can handle bartending alone for a little while.

I’m dead on my feet by the time I stumble out the back exit of the club. It’s just my luck that five minutes before closing, a rowdy group showed up. By the time I served each of them and they all left, I worked almost an hour longer than I planned.

My feet are killing me from standing all day in these black pumps and my stomach is all but screaming at me for food. The last time I ate was breakfast, and it’s close to one in the morning now.

Absentmindedly, I reach for the granola bar I had put in my bag a couple days ago. It’s only when my fingers can’t find the snack that I remember I gave it to a homeless man the other night. It’s okay. He needed it more than I do anyway. He’d been sitting out in the rain for God knows how long, huddled up under one of the awnings to avoid getting soaked. I didn’t have an umbrella or any cash on me to give him, the only thing I had to offer was the peanut butter-flavored granola bar.

Even though I don’t mind walking in the rain, I’m thankful for the clear sky tonight. The need to let the rain cleanse me of my problems isn’t as strong as it was the other night when I walked down Bourbon Street with my face tilted toward the downpour. People watching me probably thought I was crazy or just another drunk bystander.

Locking the back door with my key, I turn and trek down the dark alley. Cutting between the buildings is always the fastest way to Lucy’s small apartment a couple blocks away. My body is so desperate for sleep and food that shaving a few minutes off my commute is worth the sketchy walk.

Pulling my purse higher up on my shoulder and tucking it tighter under my arm, I march forward. The farther I get away from the bars and nightlife, the quieter it gets, but the louder the thoughts in my head become. The music and constant bustle of the club drowns them out, but each night when I leave, the unwanted thoughts start screaming at me until my head pounds.

I don’t see a light out of the dark tunnel I’ve suddenly found myself in. I don’t know how or when I’ll be able to acquire the kind of money it will take to pay off the debt. The salary I had as a nurse wouldn’t have come close to covering it. The logical thing would have been to go to the authorities about Barrett threatening me, but he knew that would be my first recourse. The night he showed up at my door in Boston, gun in hand, he showed me pictures of both Lucy and my mom, proving to me if I step out of line, they’ll be the collateral.

As much as I hate my mother, I still don’t want to risk her life like that and there was no way I was going to risk Lucy.

Barrett would know, too, if I tried to tell the cops. Since I’ve been back, I’ve felt the eyes on me, his little spies watching my every move. Just the other night while I walked in the rain, I saw the dark SUV sitting there alone on the street. It was blacked out, but I knew someone was in there watching me. Their gaze made my skin burn and the tiny hairs on my body rise.

The sound of a trash can being knocked over behind me brings me back to the present. I hold back the startled yelp that threatens to escape my lips and push forward, walking as fast as I can manage in the heels I wear. Silently cursing myself for forgetting the pair of flats I usually change into after my shift at home this morning.I’m an idiot.

I didn’t want to bug Lucy while she was with Duke by calling her like I promised I would. I’ve walked these streets alone before with no problem, tonight shouldn’t have been any different, but the sudden sound of footsteps behind me tells me I was wrong.

Glancing over my shoulder, I spot the hooded figure following after me.

Maybe they’re just following the same path home?I try to reason, to settle my nerves, but when I cut down another alley and the person follows behind, the alarm bells start going off in my head, screamingdanger.

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