Page 99 of Violent Little Thing

I gave them a little wave as Gentry helped me into the back seat of the cruiser.

“I’ve never been in here before,” I said as I pulled my phone out. “Smile, y’all!”

Gentry gave a quick grin. Dempsey glared.

“This is nuts,” Dempsey muttered under her breath as we rolled out of the parking lot.

“I know, right?” I laughed.

“Bye, sweetie!” my mom called.

I waved at her through the partially open windows. “I love you!”

“Don’t be too much trouble for them, you hear?” Dad yelled.

I leaned into the open window and yelled, “Me? Never.”

Dempsey sighed. “Can we roll the windows up? It’s cold as fuck.”

I looked at her. “This is actually a pretty mild day. You better prepare, my friend. It feels pretty great. Though I hope that my parents or Court remembers to grab my jacket from the bar. It’s one of my few lightweight ones that I own.”

Dempsey opened her mouth to say something, but the cruiser was hit so hard that it started to flip.

It was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.

Twenty-Eight

My idea of help from above is a sniper on a roof.

—Court to Denver

Court

Everyone left, including my parents.

At least, what I thought was everyone.

I started to make my way back to the truck, Charleigh’s coat in my hand, when I rounded the corner of the building and heard Missy and Zee talking.

“Maybe we should leave.”

Zee.

“Honey,” Missy said. “I know, I know that you don’t want to hurt him. But you’re literally killing yourself trying to take care of Robby. I know, I know it’s hard. But if you don’t get this man, who you saw Robby actually respond to, to help him…I’m scared for you, Zinnia. I’m really, truly scared. If you keep up the way you’re going, he’s going to kill you in your sleep.”

What the fuck?

I rounded the corner, my eyes on the two women who were mostly in the dark standing beside the building.

“What’s going on?”

They both jumped, whirling.

Their reactions were fucking dramatic, which was concerning in and of itself.

They looked like someone was about to kill them.

The both of them.