Page 11 of Carnage
“He monitors it.”
“Hand it over to me. Carefully. He has people watching you.”
“Back pocket,” I say, not turning in his direction as my pulse races.
“Keep dancing.”
I lean in to Trudy, yelling how much I like this song even though it’s the first time I’ve heard it. If Leon and his thugs are watching, I’ll look innocent.
I feel the phone leave my pocket, and only seconds later, it’s back.
Carnage moves to my side. “I’ll find you.”
Then he’s gone. I’m so tempted to turn and follow him, but for some reason I decide to believe him. I’m putting a lot of faith in a man I don’t know and who could turn out to be far worse than Leon, but what other options do I have? The devil I know is terrifying. Hopefully Carnage isn’t as bad.
After the second song ends, I hear an ear-piercing whistle over the music. Trudy and Jasmine smile, motioning for me to follow them. We return to the table and Leon eyes me up and down like he’s looking for something. I dutifully sit next to him, offering a slight smile.
“Did you have fun?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Good.” Leon turns to Sven, who is fawning over Trudy and Jasmine, then roughly takes my mouth in a kiss—an obvious show of possession.
I hate every second of it and tense as his hand moves between my legs, squeezing my thigh painfully.
Sven laughs. “I get it, Leon. He’s yours. Calm down.”
Leon bites my bottom lip before releasing me, and I have to fight the urge to wipe his disgusting kiss off my lips. Instead, I sip my gross drink to at least replace the lingering taste of him. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Fuck, I hope Carnage is legit and somehow finds me. I need a hero right now.
Even a scary one.
CHAPTER 4
Carnage
“Got the tracker installed.”
Whisper nods, typing on his laptop in the back of the van. “Connection made.”
Something inside me settles. I’ve been taking a chance coming back here every night since I saw him, and it paid off. It took three days, but it worked. Leon, it seems, is a creature of habit. He frequents a lot of the same places. The problem is he’s erratic. He’ll go weeks showing up at the same places, then there’ll be long stretches where he doesn’t show up at all. This is all according to his former parole officer, who we have a relationship with. He’s managed to keep himself off the radar of law enforcement, but no one believes he’s turned over a new leaf.
From the little bit we’ve been able to learn about him since last night, he’s got his fingers in a few pies, but mostly drug dealing. He’s a low-level criminal trying to level up, which is good for us and bad for him. His increased visibility will help me get closer to Rue.
For a hot minute tonight, I considered just kidnapping Rue, but there were too many eyes on him and too many innocent people who could get caught in the fallout. Now that I have thetracking in place, I’ll be able to find Rue. There’s gotta be some time when he’s alone, and that’s when I’ll make my move. What I’ll do once I’ve got him is anyone’s guess.
“How did he look tonight?” Whisper asks. “Safe enough?”
“He was dancing with some women. Thank fuck. I thought I’d never get him away from that table of goons.”
“Guess your instinct to case this place was right on.”
“Luckily, yeah.”
My phone buzzes and I pull it out as Whisper does the same with his. Our Murder Buddies chat is popping.
Nimble: Who’s up for some mayhem?
Stealth: I’m down. What’s going on?
