Page 22 of Sinful
They know where I am. They know who I am.
Coming home won't make me any less safe—I'm not safe here. Maybe I never was.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"I'll come home. But Elfe—" I have to tell her. Have to warn her. "They know where I am. Los Coyotes. They've been watching me. They left me a note today. 'Tell your sister hello.'"
Silence greets me on the other end.
"Fuck. Okay. Get out of there. Now. Don't go back to your apartment if you can help it. Just get on your bike and head to Florida."
"I need to tell my boss?—"
"Do it fast. Then go." I can hear her moving, probably pacing. "I'll let Oskar know you're coming. He'll have people watching for you. Just get here safely."
"Elfe?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry. For everything."
"We'll talk when you get here. Just—be careful, okay? I love you."
"Love you too." The call ends. I sit there for another minute, smoking my dropped cigarette that's somehow still burning in the puddle.
Andrés. I see his face every night when I close my eyes.
The shock in his expression when he recognized me in that Houston alley.
The moment he understood why I was there. "Helle? Baby, no. I can explain?—"
But I didn't want explanations. I wanted him dead. And now my father's paying for what I did.
Inside, Jack's behind the bar, counting liquor bottles for inventory.
He looks up when I approach and takes in whatever my face is showing. "You look like hell, Bailey."
"I need to talk to you."
We go to his office—a small room that's more closet than office, packed with boxes and paperwork and the kind of organized chaos only Jack understands. It smells like cigarettes and old coffee.
"What's going on?"
"Family emergency. My dad." The words stick in my throat. "I need to go home. Maybe a week, maybe more. I don't know."
"Where's home?"
I hesitate telling him the truth. "Florida."
Jack studies me, and I can see him doing the math.
Bailey from Texas, who never talks about family,suddenly has a father in Florida who's having an emergency.
Add in the fact that I always pay cash, never gave him a social security number, and am clearly running from something.
"Are you in trouble?" he asks.
