Page 103 of Carnage
Nodding, I crack my knuckles. “Leon’s a shifty bastard, so backup is good.”
“We’ve got you, man.”
After talking with Boone, I head up to my bedroom, where Rue is curled up in bed holding his old phone in his hand.
“What are you doing?”
He looks over at me, his face pale and brow creased. “I was thinking maybe he’s tried to get a hold of me again after what happened.”
“Did you turn it on?”
He shakes his head. “I was too nervous.”
“Give it to me.”
He shakes his head again. “I should do it. You have to stop sheltering me from everything.”
“Oh, do I?”
“I need to grow up at some point.”
I walk over and sit perched on the edge of the bed. “There are lots of ways to grow up that don’t involve traumatizing yourself.”
He takes a deep breath then exhales slowly and hands over the phone. “You’re right. Okay.”
I take the phone and keep my eyes fixed on my pretty lover as I press the power button to turn it on. As it flickers back to life, I brace for whatever we might hear.
But there’s nothing. Not a single text message or missed call.
“Nothing.”
Rue looks relieved. “Do you think he’s stopped looking for me, then?”
“No idea, precious. Word around town is that he’s pretty freaked out about what happened when he agreed to meet with me, so he could just be lying low and biding his time or he might have given up.” I toss the phone onto the bed. “Doesn’t matter though. I’m gonna find him, and when I do…” I drag my finger across my neck. “Lights out.”
Rue nods, biting his bottom lip as the color returns to his cheeks. “I’m safe.”
“Very.”
I end up falling into bed with him and claiming his gorgeous mouth, filling the time until I have to get up and deal with this Leon mess again with Rue instead. I can only hope my intel was right and he shows up at the warehouse so I can end all this and get back to making my Rue happy.
The warehouse area is pitch black and completely abandoned. It’s clear no one has been here in a very long time, but it’s an ideal spot for illicit deals. We arrived an hour early, parking the van behind a building away from the main warehouse, out of sight of anyone approaching. Now I’m huddled near the warehouse behind a discarded pile of old pallets with Ghost and Phantom flanking me. Whisper is a short distance away on top of a shipping container, keeping a bird’s eye view.
About forty minutes in, the sound of tires on gravel reaches us and a car approaches with its headlights off. It pulls to a stop, and when the doors open a man steps out that clearly isn’t Leon.He’s tall and has bright red hair noticeable even in the dark. That’s not a natural color at all. No way.
He glances around then waves his hand. A few seconds later, a van pulls up and when the door slides open, three girls are shoved out onto the hard ground. I tense and Ghost whispers, “Fuck.”
Another body is shoved out of the van, this time a man wrapped in ropes. We watch as the redhead pulls a gun out and kneels by the man.
“Where the fuck is Leon?” the man asks, yanking the gag off the other man’s mouth.
“I don’t know. He sent me instead.”
I recognize that voice. “Brooklyn,” I whisper.
“Did he lie?” Phantom asks.
“No clue, but something’s up. He said he was meeting Leon alone.”
