Page 21 of Demons and Debts
He looks me up and down with an unimpressed expression. ‘Did they believe you?’
I nod even as I frown at his insinuation that I’m not a good liar. I’m an awesome liar, but maybe it’s better if he doesn’t know that in case I need to tell him some fibs at some point.
Vic turns to the doc. ‘Looks like it was a rival gang. Maybe from the city,’ he says in a low tone, forgetting me for the moment.
‘Maybe,’ Theo agrees. ‘The mutilations were pretty specific though. Haven’t heard of anyone around these parts cutting out the eyes before.’
‘Could be a new player in Metro. That might explain the missing shipments.’
I frown at them both. I’d assumed they’d know I was the reason their friend died. I thought that’s why they brought me here. But they think this has something to do with their world, not mine.
I wonder if I should tell them. If I do, will they blame me? Will they still let me go? But if I don’t say anything, they won’t realize the danger. Do I care? I don’t know, but if I want them to have the best chance of helping me, maybe I should make sure they know as much as I do.
‘Take her back to her shitty apartment in the morning.’ Vic turns to me. ‘We fulfilled our end of the bargain. Your stalkers won’t bother you again. Sie and Paris saw to that.’
I stare at him in confusion as he starts to leave. What is he talking about?
‘Wait.’
He swings back around, not bothering to hide his annoyance and leveling me with a look that says, ‘My time is worth more than you. Why are you wasting it?’
‘What exactly did ‘Sie and Paris’ do last night?’
‘They beat the shit out of your stalkers.’ He says it slowly, as if I’m the idiot here.
So I speak the same way back to him. ‘Those guys last night weren’t my stalkers, they’re just some asshole customers from the diner who like to fuck with me.’
Theo’s eyes narrow and his eyes flick down to the jacket I’m still wearing. I follow his gaze, but … it’s just a zipped-up jacket. What is he looking at?
‘Paris said they were assaulting you.’
I shrug, making the handcuffs clank and my panic rachet up a notch.
‘I might have pissed them off,’ I say, looking away because what happened was my fault. I’ve gotten cocky lately, figured Stacker wouldn’t even notice the money was gone, or that he wouldn’t care. I should have known he was smart enough to figure out who took it and get retribution.
‘What did you do?’ Theo asks, though I can see that Vic is impatient to leave and getting annoyed with his friend’s questions.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ I say, mostly to placate Vic because I need him to listen to what I’m saying. ‘What matters is that those guys weren’t the ones I’m afraid of.’
I flinch a little because that’s not quite true after tonight. They’ve gone from a group of annoying rich boys to a mob of men who were going to rape and kill me. The thought of them all crowding around me with their phones up while Stacker started touching me makes me break out in a cold sweat and I swallow hard, burying it.
‘You’re not clear of our deal yet,’ I say and I’m just a little bit satisfied by the crease that appears between Vic’s eyes as he mulls over what I’m telling him.
‘You said you’ve never seen them,’ he says. ‘How do you know it wasn’t those guys?’
‘Those little frat pricks?’ I scoff. ‘No way.’
I sit up, grabbing the headboard with my bound hand. I need to make them understand that I didn’t go to them with some dumb problem that the cops could have handled. This is a real thing and they’ll be earning their fee.
‘The ones I need help with have been dogging my steps for years. I run and they always find me. Wherever I settle, whatever new life I make. It’s always the same. Sometimes it’s only a matter of weeks. Once I had eighteen months. But, sooner or later, a note will appear. Always in different handwriting, or a text from a random number. It tells me to move on or someone I know will die.’ I heave a sigh. ‘So I go.’
Both of them look unconvinced.
‘What happens if you don’t do what they say? Youhavetried that, right?’ Theo asks with a smirk. ‘How do you know this isn’t some joke?’
‘Well, even if I could get past the idea that someone would actually spend years doing that to someone for no reason …’
I look down at the bedspread and I try not to remember the first time. I did think it was a weird joke that I didn’t get. I tore up the note and ignored the warning.Never again.
