Page 101 of Taking Denver

“Well, fuck me!” He puts his hands on his knees, his face close to mine. “I think I might solve your case after all!”

“No, Hayes, please?—”

“What was that?” he says, cupping his ear. “The great Deluxe is begging?”

I can hardly breathe. “You don’t understand what happened!”

He seizes my hair, and pain blasts across my scalp. “No, I don’tcarewhat happened. You killed a man, and that’s all that matters. And now you’re going to prison for it. I am so going to enjoy watching you rot.”

Crack.

Blood spatters across my face.

The smell of iron fills my nostrils.

I squeeze my eyes closed, thick clumps of something sliding down my cheeks and neck. I tremble, my breath coming out in quick puffs.

Hayes feels heavy on me. I can’t breathe.

I blink quickly, wiping at my eyes, the smell of blood turning my stomach. And then I see him.

No.

No, no, no, no.

Not him.

Anyone but him.

“Axel, no.” I reach for him and try to blink again, but there’s blood in my eyelashes. There’s blood everywhere. I wipe my sleeve over my face.

Axel stares at me. Wide-eyed. Trembling. Gun in hand.

I manage to get from under Hayes and to my feet but stumble. There’s blood. So much blood. Axel is still holding the gun, but his hand is limp.

“Denver…” He looks at me, then at Hayes. “I didn’t… There’s…” He looks at me again. “You have blood.”

“Axel.” I take the gun from him.

“I killed him.”

“You had to.”

“I killed him.”

“Axel.” I cup his face. “You have to go. You have to leave now, okay? I’m going to fix this.”

He trembles. He has spots of blood on his face. I lick my thumb, rubbing the crimson marks from his cheeks.

“I’m…”

“No, you’re not,” I say, tears stinging my eyes. “He was going to hurt me. You protected me. Axel,look at me,” I whisper. “The alternative was letting me die.”

It’s a lie. Hayes wouldn’t have killed me. He was going to do what he’d always wanted and lock me away for the crime I committed. But I can’t let Axel know that. I can’t let him believe he’s killed a good man.

Oh god, Axel. My Axel. The kid who played video games and thinks drugs aren’t cool and hates the life his father leads. He’s killed for me.

“Okay.” I take a deep breath. I can smell the blood, feel it drying on my face. “1182 Forster’s Avenue. Say that back to me.”

---