Page 79 of Reckless At Raleigh High
I can take Kyle down without too much hassle. The other boys are big and strong, and certainly pose a considerable threat, but they’re not smart. The second Kyle’s decommissioned, they’ll tuck their tails and run. Lawrence will probably have enough courage to stand his ground, but the fucker’s on steroids. He’s too big not to be. He’s slow and cumbersome, and I’ll have him on the ground in a few seconds flat. Once he's on his back in the snow, taking him out will be fairly simple. I just need to make sure he doesn’t try and lock his legs around my torso—
“Damn, Alex. Cogs are whirring away, huh?” Jake spins his index finger in a fast circle, mimicking a spinning wheel. “I admire the optimism. You’re hoping that you’re gonna get out of this. I hate to break it to you, but you’re not. Let me break this down. I’m gonna break some of your bones. I’m gonna have these boys hold you down while I shoot you in the stomach, the way you shotmein the stomach, remember? And then you and I are gonna hang out for a while. I’m gonna take great pleasure spending a few hours with you somewhere nice and quiet, just so I really get to soak up the experience of you writhing in immense pain. And when I’m bored of that, the guys behind you? Those fine gentlemen are gonna drag your carcass out into the Walker Forest, and they’re gonna tie you to a tree. Won’t be long before the wolves scent the blood on you and come looking to feast. I hate to miss that part, I really fucking do, but it’s better if I’m here when prom ends. Gotta have an alibi, right? Not that anyone will ever find your remains. Everyone will think you simply proved them right by bailing on your girl here and skipping town. No one’s gonna look too hard for you, Alex. You’re your father’s son, after all. Bailing is what Morettis do best.”
The guys behind me are much, much closer. I can practically feel them breathing down my neck. I glance back over my shoulder, curious to see who else Jake’s managed to talk into to participating in this messy affair, and I have to say I’m shocked by who I find standing at my back.
My money was on another couple of guys from the football team. Maybe some of the less athletic members of the Jacob Weaving fan club. I sure as shit wasn’t expecting to find Monty and Paulie creeping up on me.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” I groan. “Paulie?”
“Sorry, dude. Nothing personal. Maisy’s pregnant. I can’t afford to lose my job.” Paulie and I have been friends ever since Monty took me in and I began working at the Rock. Admittedly, not the very best of friends, but the amount of tequila this guy’s poured for me over the past year could drown a small nation. He works his mouth—looks like he’s chewing on the inside of his cheek—as he comes to stand beside Monty.
The old man doesn’t look remorseful in the slightest; his long hair’s pulled back in a tight ponytail, which has always symbolized that he means business. His eyes flash like razor sharp steel, his quick intelligence working overtime as he looks me up and down with a disappointment on his face. “I could have gotten over the bag, kid,” he says. “Eventually. You might have lost a finger, but fuck. What’s a finger or two between friends? The way you came steamrolling into my office like King Shit, though? That kind of reckless behavior’s worrying, son. It points to more reckless behavior down the line, and I don’t operate well knowing that a threat like that exists. You could bring my whole operation down with one careless word. You gotta go. I’m just sorry it had to be like this. I coulda made it a little easier if you’d just come to me, but…”
He is so full of shit. The way he’s talking, you’d think he was Mother fucking Theresa and he was brought here against his will. Monty’s always been a vindictive cunt, though. He’s enjoying this just fine. He’ll sleep in his bed tonight, untroubled by a guilty conscience.
“Looks like you got over your spat with the Weavings, then?” I don’t really care who Monty has or hasn’t mended fences with. Now that he’s here, I’m not walking away from this alive. I’ve seen Monty murder indiscriminately. He’s not a seventeen-year-old high school jock with a mean streak. He’s a seasoned criminal, and he knows precisely what he’s doing. He’s not about to fuck this up, and he will not hesitate to put me down.
“Q wouldn’t hand over Giacomo,” Monty provides. He knows perfectly well that I’ve wanted your father’s head for a long time now. He wasn’t willing to give him to me, so that was that. You know how this business goes. One week, you’re a Capulet, the next you’re a Montague. I don’t know what to tell ya, kid.”
I overestimated the strength of Monty’s ties to the Dreadnaughts. Or I underestimated just how much Monty hates my father. Either way, I’m fucked.
“I admit, I was a little unsure about working with your old boss,” Jake says. “But Lowell’s got him on a leash, right, Montgomery? Lowell promised to turn Giacomo over to him if he did as he was told and took care of you for us. Looks like your old man’s career as a CI is in the gutter. I gotta say, I’m surprised at how perfectly all of this is working out.”
“You really think Silver’s really gonna believe I just got on my bike and rode off into the night without her?”
“I don’t care what she thinks. It won’t matter. I haveplansfor her. She won’t be causing trouble for me soon enough. And when she’s learned how to be a good, obedient little girl and she knows how to please me, I might just let her suck my dick from time to time. Don’t worry, she’s gonna be so fucking grateful of the attention—”
No.
Fucking.
Way.
Fire ignites in my chest, roaring to life.
I’ve remained calm throughout all of this, but the moment Jake starts talking about Silver, I’m done for. How am I supposed to keep a clear head when the images he paints with his words are so dark, disturbing and royally fucked up? Without me here to keep her safe, Jacobwillget his way. He’ll find an opening, all he needs is one, and he’ll snatch her again. He’ll secret her away to some underground bunker, and he’ll keep her there for months, abusing and raping her over and over again until she finally cracks and gives him what he’s so desperately desired all along: her submission.
He'll be careful. He’ll be protected. He’ll make sure he’s never caught, and no one will find her body, either. They’ll think she ran away to findme. Fuck!
It’s futile, but I run. I charge at Jake with such a furious rage in my belly that all I can taste is copper and acid and pain. My ears are muffled, like they’re stuffed up with cotton wool. My heart’s seized—I can’t tell if it’s beating too fast or not beating at all. All I know is that it hurts, a crippling, sharp agony spreading across the front of my ribcage.
I drop my shoulder, planting it right into Jake’s stomach, and I crash into him with the force of a battering ram, tackling him to the ground. Dead men don’t usually charge the living. Jacob likely thought I was going to drop to my knees, piss my pants, and start begging for mercy. I am, if nothing else, a constant source of disappointment, though.
Jake’s kicking and throwing his fists before he even hits the ground. Heufffffffsout a hard exhale when his back hits the compacted snow but manages to land a jab to my ribcage. I don’t feel any pain. I feel nothing but rage. It sweeps through me like fire across a lake of gasoline, and I become a crazed, burning thing that cannot be stopped.
Jake screams, shouting out sounds that might be people’s names. I have his head in my hands, and my thumbs are digging into his eyelids, gouging, and gouging.
I fall sideways, hitting the deck so hard that my vision splinters for a second. Everything’s black and red, and the light from the moon blazes too, too bright. I can’t breathe. I can’t fucking breathe.
I’ve got to get back inside the gym.
I’ve got to get back to Silver.
Someone’s got an arm around my throat.
It’s Paulie.
His boots kick and scramble against the snow as he struggles to subdue me, but I’ll be fucking dead before I stop fighting.
