Page 29 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

8

Angelo

Graham

Kane pushes his phone back into his pocket and shakes his head. “I’m in trouble now.”

“You wanna go back? I can drop you off; you don’t have to get involved.”

“Nah, I’m in.” He closes the window in my classic Charger by cranking the handle. “You know where this motherfucker lives?”

“I know where he sleeps. I know that he snores, and I know he wears socks to bed. I’ve done my homework.” I glance at Kane’s dark features, lit only by passing street lights. “You don’t know?”

“Nah, I know what color socks he wears, too. No way in hell am I going out on some bullshit vigilante mission with a dude I only just met without doing my own recon. I got a girl to take care of, and I’ve been shot at too much in my life not to learn from those lessons.”

Laughing, I move through the dark residential streets of town and head toward Graham’s place. “What was the scariest time? What was the closest?”

“The scariest time I was shot at?”

I nod.

“Jess.”

“Jessie?” My head snaps around. “My Jessie? She shot at you?”

“No, fuckface.MyJessie, not yours, and if you forget that again, I’ll show you what happens when an angry motherfucker starts shooting.”

“Jess shot at you? Jess Lenaghan?” I laugh. “Get the fuck outta here.”

“She really did.” He brushes invisible lint off his pants. “I was in my bed, dying from… stuff. And she shot at me because I pissed her off.”

“I don’t believe you.”

He laughs. “I’m not here to convince you, I’m just answering your question. You asked. She was the scariest. She was the closest. Blew a hole into my mattress and near gave me a heart attack.”

I don’t see it.“Jess is such a…” He watches me. If I say something bad, he’ll snap my neck. “She was the good girl, Kane. She was busy reading and skating and hanging out with us.”

“Yeah, she was reading Babysitter’s Little Sisters books. I know.”

“She shot at you?”

“Mm.” He runs a hand over his jaw. “She was fuckin’ pissed. She warned me, she said she’d shoot. I didn’t believe her, so she proved me wrong. Nearly blew my cover that day. My handler was blowing up my cell before the gun stopped smoking. He was in my apartment not ten minutes after that, freaking the fuck out. He said the only reason he didn’t break the door in already was because he heard me scream like a bitch and ask her what the fuck.”

I laugh. “She got you good.”

“She fucking called my bluff. The more you know…” He shakes his head. “I don’t challenge her anymore. She wins. Everything. Always. Forever. She’s unhinged, and she’s unapologetic about it.”

“But not this…” I pull into Graham’s street and roll past the dark houses. “She asked you to come back. You said no.”

“This is important. I’ll have a bullet in my leg tomorrow, no doubt, but I can’t let this go.” His eyes meet mine. “They’re identical, Ang. It’s like he touched mine. I can’t stop seeing it. I can’t get over it. So I’m here to do something about it.”

I take a deep breath through my nose. Letting it out again, I study the eagle tattoo covering his throat. “I think you and I need to talk. Once we do this, we need a come-to-Jesus talk, because you’re struggling to separate them. One of them is yours, but the other isn’t, so you better fuckin’ figure it out before I flip the script and show you what happens when an angry motherfucker starts shooting.”

“How do you separate them? They’re exactly the fuckin’ same, but you act like they’re so different.”

I pull up in the street and cut the engine. The Charger is a loud car, and this is a quiet street, but I’ve done this enough now, I know how far away I need to park.

“They are different. There are a million differences, and when you start looking, it’s hard not to notice them anymore. I’ve known those girls since…” I shake my head. “Since forever. To me, they’re nothing alike.” When his eyes narrow, I tap my steering wheel in thought. “I dunno how to explain. I guess maybe you see their looks. You see the blonde hair, blue eyes, tight jeans, and pretty smiles. I see all that, but I see something else, too. Like their soul has a physical appearance. I see their personality. Their aura.” I shrug. “I dunno. Sounds weird, but it’s the only way I can explain.”

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