Page 19 of Property of Sugar
I repeated her phone number slightly slower and anxiously waited to hear her voice. Seconds later, my stomach dropped when her pre-recorded message played. Cookie ended the call and tried calling her again, as if he knew I was going to ask.
“Why isn’t she answering?” I mumbled to myself.
“They probably turned their phones off to conserve their batteries in case the power goes out. Coochie said water was already pooling in places around Makani,” Sugar explained.
I wasn’t sure I believed him, but I accepted his answer for the time being. What else could I do?
“I have to pee.”
Sugar exhaled heavily. “Of course you do.”
“I’ll stay until she’s finished,” Cookie said with a wry grin. “In case she gets away from you again.”
“She doesn’t have a knife this time,” he said. “But I think she’ll keep her shit together if she wants to see her grandmother again.”
Yes, I would keep my shit together so I could see Birdie again, but not in the way he thought. I’d cooperate, but if an opportunity to escape presented itself, I’d take it.
He cut the tape and removed it from my chest and legs, but not my hands. “Unless you’re planning on wiping my ass for me, I’m gonna need to use these.”
“Fine,” he said and cut through the paracord binding my wrists before he drew a gun and pointed it at me. “Bathroom is the first door on the left.”
I stood and slowly took one step toward him. “Guns are so impersonal.” Then I turned and hurried to the bathroom.
Once inside, I shut the door and took a moment to close my eyes and think. I knew they were lying to me, but I didn’t know why. Whatever the reason, it couldn’t be good. I needed to play along until I could figure out how to get away from the Kings and find Birdie.
Inhaling deeply, I opened my eyes and turned to use the facilities when I noticed a simple black comb on the counter. I slipped it into the upper part of my sleeve so it was concealed against my body. Then I peed and left the bathroom without flushing or washing my hands. It was petty and childish, but I didn’t give a single fuck.
“Where do you want me?” I asked, holding my hands up so he could see them.
“Pinned to the floor with a knife through your thigh,” Sugar deadpanned.
“For fuck’s sake,” Cookie grumbled. “Chair.”
“Oh good. Somewhere familiar,” I said as I forced myself to sit and allowed him to restrain me.
“You got this now?” Cookie asked Sugar.
“Fuck off.”
I almost laughed. Sugar was the enforcer for an outlaw motorcycle club, and I’d given him hell every time I’d interacted with him. And I was going to give him more.
ELEVEN
SUGAR
Ifollowed Cookie to the front door and stepped outside. “What’s going on with Coochie and Birdie?”
“They spent the night at her house and left this morning. Coochie called and said it took them over two hours to get to Hilo. He said they were going to stop somewhere to wait for a break in the rain. He was supposed to call when they got back on the road. It’s been a couple of hours. We haven’t heard from them, and Beaver can’t track their phones.”
“Fuck,” I said quietly. “Where could they be?”
“I’d guess they’re pulled over because of heavy rain or flooded roads,” he said.
“And their phones?”
“Probably dead.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, even though I didn’t think it was that simple. I could understand one of them having a dead battery, but both? It didn’t sit well with me. “How’s Whisker?”
