Page 61 of Dangerous Silence
“That’s weird,” she said. “Maybe it’s Axe’s neighbor?”
“Not a neighbor. They’re usually smoking or yelling.”
We stood there for a while, watching the shadow walk back and forth. It was as if they were hunting. Dark hair. Beady eyes. A bubbled chin.
“Screw it,” I said, going to the door. “I’m going to see what’s going on.”
“Demi,” Maddie said. “Stay in here. I told Axe—”
I went around the building. The back alley stretched, full of concrete, bicycles, and tiny plots of white and gray rocks. But it was empty.
Where was he?
Then a hand covered my mouth, a mildew scent penetrating me. A thin film of dirt brushed from his clothes onto my skin. I tried to scream, but he held my chest tighter. I couldn’t breathe. The rain came down, beating into us like pebbles, echoing in the alley. I swung my elbows, but his grip was firm. He breathed into my ear, hauling me back.
A gunshot sounded and the man let go of me. I fell to the ground. Maddie held a gun with a silencer, her elbows straight. The storm was so loud, you could barely hear her gun. Three more soft explosions, then nothing.
“Are you all right?” Maddie asked, racing to me. I looked back; the alley was empty. He was gone. My heart pounded.
“Did you get him?” I asked.
She shook her head. “But he’s gone now. And you’re safe.”
Maddie helped me inside; I could barely walk with the adrenaline. What did that man want? After we dried off, we sat on the floor, facing the back window.
The rain pounded into the apartment. You could hear it pummeling the entire building, echoing in the walkways between the units. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, while Maddie told stories that I didn’t listen to. The entire space darkened. A dark figure crept across the back again, but this time, it stopped in front of the window across from us. I couldn’t tell if it was a person or a shadow.
Axe’s van pulled up, the headlights visible from the front window. Maddie grabbed her bag.
“Don’t forget to tell Axe,” she said. “Good luck.”
Axe nodded at Maddie, then came through the door.
“What happened?” I asked. He closed the front door shut behind him, storming to the bathroom. There was dust caked in his fingernails and hair, and though it looked like he had rinsed his face, he was still oily. There wasn’t any blood on his clothes, but all that meant was that he had probably changed outfits. He ripped off his shirt, and I saw the flash of his hatchet tattoo, but no visible wounds. The tension released in my chest.
He closed the bathroom door in my face. I stood there, waiting. The shower started, and the splash of the water against the tub seemed abrupt, like he was scrubbing away his skin. I waited in the bedroom, sitting on the bed, and by the time he came out, wrapped in a towel, his skin was red, some patches darker than others. Scratched in places. Sweat beaded on his neck and face. Now that the dust was gone, I could see that his face was scraped up.
“What happened?” I asked. Axe said nothing. “You take me everywhere with you, and then suddenly, you leave me at home with a babysitter?”
“Are you a baby?” he asked. I shook my head. “Then she’s not a babysitter.”
“You made her come here towatchover me like I’m a child.”
“She’s supposed to clean,” he said, running a hand through his damp hair.
“You know it’s more than that.”
“Fuck, Demi. What more do you want? There’s a war going on and I’m not going to be able to think straight unless I know you’re—”
He stopped suddenly, his words slamming into his chest, making him halt.
Say it,I thought.Say it. Admit it. You do care. Just like I care.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said, my voice quiet. “All of this for the war? You don’t have to do it.” I stood up, stepping closer to him. “You can choose to do the right thing, Axe.”
“It wasn’t my choice to be born into the mafia,” he scowled, then leaned away from me. “I didn’t choose to be scouted by your father. I didn’t choose to live that day.”
Heat boiled in my chest. My dad wasn’t the enemy. Axe had to take responsibility for his own choices. He had made that call.
