Page 35 of Petty's Crime

“Oh, and if you get a chance, have a word with RoseLyn about getting out of Vegas. See if she can make a short-notice visit to her parents.”

Again I dip then raise my head.

His body language suggests this interview is over. I leave his office but pause outside taking a second to think. I’m pleased Red listened to me about RoseLyn, and pleased they’ve come up with a plan. Idly I wonder whether it will be Cobra they’ll be sending with her to Texas, and clench my hands.Kylie and RoseLyn were surely joking about hitting up my brothers, weren’t they?I snort to myself. Even if they weren’t, it’s none of my business.

Though that dream… when I thought it was RoseLyn, I hadn’t been complaining.

Fuck it. I’m a married man, possibly a soon-to-be father. Heaven help me.

I slap the side of my head and try to get my mind back into the game. I’m hoping to be a part of the sting that takes Saul down. While I might not be able to do anything about an abusive woman, just let me get my hands on an abusive man. He’ll be begging for death long before the final blow is delivered. But then, I might not get the chance. I’m just a grunt. I’ll go where my club instructs me.

Luckily, nothing’s compelling me to go home.

I instruct Owl to take Britney wherever she wants to go, and make sure he has her number and vice versa. Then I take my bike and just ride, wanting nothing more than the freedom of the road.

I head out into the desert and for a while the wind blows my worries away. I feel the cleanest I’ve felt since early this morning. But the downside is that I have to go back. With each mile taking me in the direction of Vegas, my concerns flood back, my problems descending in full force when I reach the city limits.

For the next eight hours, I’ll be with RoseLyn and working.

After that, I’ll have to return to face Britney. And maybe, due to the time I’ve left her alone, for once, I’ll deserve any punishment she metes out.

CHAPTERTWELVE

RoseLyn

I’m bored out of my mind.

Roller took over from Sarge as normal this morning, but he didn’t want me to go out of the hotel. Luckily there’s a gym here, but apart from that, I’ve been stuck in this room. While I normally would appreciate time to do nothing except catch up on a book I wanted to read, as I’m forced to, I resent it and can’t settle.

I want to return to my house, the home that I made mine. But even thinking of going back makes chills run down my spine. I hate snakes with a vengeance. It’s more than that, it’s true ophidiophobia. Even a picture can trigger a flight response, the actual creature a full-blown panic attack.

While the Devils have assured me they’ve caught and removed every one, my mind can’t accept it, and I have no idea if I’ll ever be able to go back.

I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed I was lying in my bed and it felt all too real as I woke to a rattling sound and the feeling of something slithering over me. I’d woken Sarge with my screaming. Luckily for me, unfortunately for him, Sarge knows about nightmares only too well. He’d calmed me by talking to me, and not trying to dismiss my fears, instead trying to help me work through them.

While I hate staying in this hotel, hate that Saul has pushed me out of my home, I’m far from ready to return.

Most of all, I hate Saul. Hate that he’s doing this to me. I hate myself for ever getting involved with him. I wish the police or the Devils could find him and lock him away. Mind you, if the Devils got a hold of him, I’m not sure he’d be left alive. Surprisingly, that thought doesn’t bother me.

It’s not hard to rationalise why. If a snake had bitten me, there’s a chance I might have died. I’m not sure my phobia would have allowed me to cope rationally, or whether I’d have been able to seek help in time. Of course, with my protectors with me day and night, the chances are I’d have been saved. But alone? I think I would have frozen into a curled-up ball and died.

Saul knew how the venomous creatures scared me. Putting them in my house was not the action of a sane man, nor one who had my comfort and health in mind.

Picking up my e-reader again, I try to concentrate on the story, but it’s hard to keep my mind on the words. Instead I watch the clock, ticking off the minutes until I can get ready to go for my show tonight, my slice of normality where I become someone else, if only for a while. On stage, my musical persona takes me over, the beat stirs my heart, the words flow automatically out of my mouth. The music energises me and while my performance leaves me exhausted, I also feel refreshed and cleansed. That’s what I need to get out of my head. To put Saul and all he’s putting me through out of my mind.

At four, there’s the normal shift change. I don’t know whether Petty will be back, or whether it will again be Cobra, but when Roller opens the door, it’s to them both. A few words explain that with the risk of me being followed, both will be escorting me again.

Petty seems quieter than normal when he and Cobra arrive. Well, perhaps that’s a bit of a stretch seeing as, apart from yesterday, he’s usually not talkative. Even so, he normally manages to get quite a lot across, with a roll of his eyes, a grunt, or a sarcastic shake of his head, showing his disproval of just about everything.

Today though, he’s zombie-like, as if he’s given up caring. When I drop a folder of music I’m carrying, he comes across, bends, collects the sheets up, then hands them back without saying a word, nor giving the sneering look that conveys women can’t do anything.

A closer look at his face shows his forehead is lined and his eyes are slightly reddened, and an unsuppressed yawn shows that he’s tired.

Hmm. I suspect his wife’s been keeping him busy, but if she’s been gone as long as I’ve been told, they’ve got a hell of a lot to make up for. No wonder he looks like he can’t keep awake, they probably fucked all night.

I suppress the disappointment I’ve no business nor sense to be feeling, and as I’ve still got time to go before leaving for the casino, I ask, “Want a coffee?”

Cobra answers immediately. I have to ask Petty a second time before I get his attention. He seems so distracted that I’m glad they’ve doubled up on the protection tonight. I bristle. If his head’s with his wife and not on the job, maybe he shouldn’t be working.

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