Page 32 of Ravaged By the Dark (The Righteous 2)
“What happened,” she asked as she dared to venture further. J.J. clung to her like a little monkey, his face buried in her neck.
“I’ll explain later. We need to go now.” He grabbed the handle to the door, then remembered prints and used his shirt to wipe it down.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
“Renee, make sure you keep J.J.’s eyes covered.” She bit her lip, worry etched in the lines around her eyes, but she nodded.
Yanking the door open, he guided them out into the hall and past the dead gunman, careful not to step in any blood. He grabbed her hand and jogged the maze of hallways, passed old arcades and piled boxes, to the back door. He used his foot to kick it open, the force slamming it against the brick wall outside.
“Get in the back and stay down,” Arek ordered as he held open the back door.
“How did the Hummer get here?”
“Later, get in.”
Renee jumped in and laid down on the bench seat, holding J.J. to her chest. He jumped behind the wheel and pushed the GPS button on the steering wheel. Little red dots representing the police cars were coming from the North.
Arek turned the truck around and veered his way to the back of the strip mall property. The exit was blocked with a large truck trying to back into a loading dock, but a curb wasn’t going to stop him. The Hummer took the small obstacle with ease, and soon, he was cruising down the highway.
Arek looked in the rearview mirror, and Renee’s eyes stared back at him. Flicking his eyes back to the road, he gripped the steering wheel hard.
If nothing else, today showed him that he should leave Renee and J.J. alone. Dark shit followed him around like a goddamn personal cloud of crap. He couldn’t bring that into her life. He’d do what he could to help her from a distance, but being a part of her life...that was a pipedream.
J.J. was asleep by the time they pulled into the driveway. He helped her out of the Hummer, her body was still slightly shaking, but her eyes didn’t reveal any fear. She was strong. He’d give her that.
“Listen, I got a text from my brother. He said that your issue with the credit card would be dealt with,” he whispered as he walked her to the front door.
“That’s great, I would ask how, but at the moment, I don’t care how he did it.” She paused outside her door. “Listen, thanks for whatever you did at the arcade.”
She didn’t meet his gaze. He knew that she knew he’d killed people, but she wasn’t saying it out loud, so neither was he.
“Renee, if anyone comes around asking about what happened today—”
Renee held up her hand and shook her head.
“I never saw a thing. As far as I’m concerned, I was hiding in the bathroom and then ran out the back door.”
He gave her a small smile.
“I better go. I’m sorry today didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped. Believe me…this was not what I had in mind when I said I wanted to take your mind off…well, everything.”
“Well, it certainly did that. Nothing like a little public foreplay in a public place to spice shit up a bit from the mundane bills,” she teased. “Besides, it wasn’t all bad.”
He managed to give Renee a smile, but his heart hurt at the thought of never coming back, never kissing those lush lips, or never learning more about her. Hell, it hurt to think about never seeing J.J. again. Reaching out, he ran his hand through J.J.’s curls, wishing that they could all go inside and sleep peacefully.
He needed to get the hell out of here. It was obvious he was in over his head, and he needed to stop before he drowned.
“See you around, Renee. Take care of yourself,” he said and jogged down the stairs to his Hummer and slipped back inside. She was still staring at him from the landing. She looked confused or maybe hurt. He didn’t know, and he couldn’t contemplate it, or he’d march back up the steps. He swore every swear wood he knew as he backed up.
He had to leave her alone. It was the right thing to do.
