Page 65 of Revenge At Raleigh High
“Your dad didn’t just look at you like he was seeing you, Silver. He looked at you like you were the most important thing in the world, and it made me so fuckingangry. None of that matters now, I guess. He isn’t here to see you tonight, is he?”
When the door to the closet opens, it isn’t a theatrical reveal. Jake doesn’t rip it off its hinges, trying to surprise me. He opens it slowly, letting the lacquered wood swing open. He stands there with his hands driven deep into the pockets of his Raleigh High sweatpants, disappointment mingling with boredom on his handsome, blood-streaked face.
His shirt is soaked in blood. His bare forearms are coated red.
The bruises I gave him when he attacked me at Raleigh haven’t faded all that much. Leaning against the wall beside the closet, the captain of the Roughnecks football team, king of Raleigh High, is a terrifying sight to behold.
“Silver? Silver?” The operator’s hushed voice whispering out of my cell phone’s speaker sounds worried.
Jacob arches a sardonic eyebrow at me. “Hang up the phone, Silver. You and me, we’re going for a little ride.”
26
ALEX
“What thefuckwere you doing in there?”
I slam the driver’s side door, abandoning all attempts to be quiet. Cam’s already in the passenger seat beside me. Zander’s casually sprawled out across the back seat, long legs bent at the knee while he hikes his hips up and zips the fly on his jeans; I barely gave him enough time to stick his legs inside the damn things before I was dragging him out of the pool house and up the long driveway, spitting out curse words in Italian between my bared teeth. These are the first words I’ve been calm enough to utter in English since I realized it was Zander inside that bed and not Jacob.
“I told you I’d found myself some sweet digs, didn’t I? I would have explained everything the other night outside the Rock, but you weren’t feeling particularly friendly, were you? This is on you, bro.”
“Onme? Fuck you, man. You’ve had plenty of opportunities to tell me what the fuck you’re up to since then and you haven’t breathed a word.”
The Impala’s engine roars to life, snarling in the dark. I don’t even bother to wait and see if a light goes on inside the Weaving’s main residence. My blood’s up; I don’t give a shit about being covert anymore. I only care about dragging Zander Hawkins’ carcass somewhere secluded, so I can beat the living shit out of him for fucking up our take-down.
Next to me, Cam hasn’t said a word. He’s been quiet ever since I forced him to lower the desert eagle he was aiming at Zander’s head. His eyes are distant, a deep, miserable frown forming two lines between his brows.
I peel out of the Weaving’s driveway, glaring at Silver’s father out of the corner of my eye. “What? No sarcastic commentary?” I demand. “No, ‘what the fuck’s going on?’ No, ‘who the fuck is this?’”
Cameron blinks. “Not worth it,” he responds tightly. “I also don’t care.”
“You don’t care.”
“No. The kid’s annoying as fuck, but he’s not Jacob. We need to find Jacob. That’s the only thing I care about. I’m going to fucking kill him, Alex.”
“You sure are hanging out with some weird types these days,” Zander comments. “I mean, I know they told us at Denney that spending time with older, wiser people might help us make better choices, but for real, yo. This guy’s talking about murder. I wouldn’t call that asmartchoice if you’re looking for some Friday night entertainment. I heard they’re having some sort of lucha libre event over in—”
“Shut the fuck up, Hawk.”
“Ooookay. Shutting the fuck up.”
“Get rid of him,” Cam growls.
“Oh, you guys just dragged me out of my only crash pad in Raleigh,” Hawk says. “You’re not just dumping me on the side of the street in the snow and ditching me like an unwanted child. I’ve already been through that shit. I’m gonna have to object pretty fucking strongly if you—”
I slam my fist into the steering wheel. “God, can you just please be fucking quiet!”Breathe,passarrotto. That’s it,mi amore. In…and out. In…and out. See. You control your temper. Your temper does not control you.Va bene.“Either tell us what you were doing in Jacob Weaving’s pool house, or keep your goddamn mouth closed while I try and figure all of this out, Zander.” I’m going to fucking killhimin a minute.
Zander makes a familiar bored sound. “All right, all right. Jesus. Q sent me here to try and find Caleb Weaving’s safe. He wants reparations. We’ve had to turn down shipments now that we’re down three guys. As far as Q’s concerned, Caleb was the one who sold him out to the cops, so now he owes him. Big time.”
“So Caleb’s just letting you stay in the fucking pool house while you snoop around, searching for a fuckingsafe?”
In the rearview, Zander rolls his eyes dramatically. “Stupidity isnota good look on you. Caleb has no idea Q knows he snitched on us. He thinks everything’s copasetic between the Dreadnaughts and the Weaving operation. We have a huge deal going down at the end of next week. Like,huge. Caleb’s sitting on a monster delivery at his place until then. He asked Q to provide a little extra protection until the trades are ready to be made. He essentially invited a Dreadnaught into his home. Dumb motherfucker.”
This can only be the same deal Monty mentioned to me in his office. The deal that the DEA are going to bust. The one that will lead to Jake subsequently being arrested for raping Zen, and his life finally ending as he knows it.
I grunt as I swing the car through the narrow switchback turns that guides us down the mountainside, toward the town of Raleigh. The Christmas lights in the trees twinkle merrily down in the bottom of the valley, and for a moment I just stare at the little knot of glowing yellow light. Eventually, I say, “What has any that got to do with Raleigh High? Why the fuck have you shown up there, pretending to be something you’re not, when the Caleb Weaving’ll be behind bars by the end of next weekend.”
“I’m on loan.”
