places?”
“He’s been doing fine, and Jem’s there.”
Locke frowned. “What good is Jem?”
Exasperated, I sighed. “What is it with you and him? Why can’t you guys just get along?”
“Ask him that.”
“I’d rather not be involved in your drama, Locke. I’ve had enough of your drama as it is.”
He mulled my words over. “Is this regarding Reid again?”
“Partly.”
“I haven’t messed with his shop, Charlotte. Like I said, I’m not eager to cut ties with the guy.”
“Funny, he’s convinced you’ve been sending guys around to fuck his shit up.”
“I’m not lying.”
I resisted asking him what good his word was after his lies over Conor’s safety. Instead, I clenched my jaw shut, determined not to open that can of worms.
Locke sensed it. “Whatever you want to say, say it.”
“I feel betrayed obviously, and you know why,” I unleashed, voice high with fury. “You promised to protect Conor in that shithole, Locke. Instead, he had to fight for his life, and you want to know the fucked-up part? The guy that put him through all that hell is at Jem’s bar right now with a few of his men! And I left him. Oh, my God, I just left him there…”
What would I find when I got back to the bar? Would there be police officers, would Conor have done something irreversible? My gut was telling me no, he would not have thrown it all away in a crowded place because of that prick with the sick smirk. But what was that guy capable of?
Locke was quiet, staring at the road ahead with an indecipherable expression.
Then he demanded, “What did they make Conor do, Charlotte?”
I didn’t hesitate. “He hurt people. People who tried to hurt him.”
“Tried?”
“He fought them off. Then…he hurt them later to make an example out of them. He said he would not have survived that first year if not for doing what he had to do. Holden, the man he was in prison with, refused to give him protection until he’d completed a bunch of tasks. He was essentially alone with Dominic.”
“What does Holden want from him now?”
“Conor wouldn’t say.”
Locke asked no more questions.
Pulling the phone out of my pocket, I found no messages from Jem, which should have been a good sign.
But I didn’t feel at ease.
Worrying my lip, I felt tense the entire ride.
The parking lot outside Jem’s bar was completely empty. There were no people around, either. My brows came together in confusion as Locke pulled in, coming to a stop just outside it. The lights in the bar were still on, but as I rolled the window down I heard not a sound. There was no music playing, no chatter filling the air.
My anxiety levels skyrocketed.
“Something is wrong,” I whispered.
Locke glanced at his watch – the broken one he never took off – a faraway look in his eye. He wasn’t checking the time. That quick look was loaded with emotion.
Then he slowly looked up at the bar, assessing.
“If I asked you to stay here, would you?” he wondered.
“No,” I answered honestly.
“Okay.”
Now he was mute and thinking. His chest rose and fell slowly, but I could tell there was a storm in his eyes. I watched him, waiting for him to react. I needed his strength to get me out of the car because I was trembling.
He didn’t move for a while.
Something halted him.
Conflicted, he shut his eyes and breathed through his nose, like he was trying to prepare himself. I didn’t pry. I kept my mouth shut, giving him his space.
Finally, he opened his eyes.
His next words stunned me silent.
“I took a girl.”
My mouth went dry as I stuttered, “W-what?”
“After I killed him, I took a girl. I had no choice. She saw everything.”
I went still, feeling fear prick my skin. In a voice so quiet I could hardly hear myself, I whispered, “No, Locke, no.”
“Yes.”
“Is she…alive?”
“Yes,” he answered. “She is.”
“Where is she?”
He didn’t answer.
“Locke,” I started, panicked. “You can’t do anything to her, understand? She is innocent.”
“She interfered,” he argued.
Oh, my God. “No, Locke, please…let her go.”
The look in his eye told me he didn’t want to.
“It got complicated,” he explained quietly. “It got really…really complicated. This wasn’t like the others. This was different.”
“Okay, well you have to let her go.”
“If something happens to me tonight, she’s at my apartment.”
“Oh, shit.”
“Bound.”
“Oh, my God!”
“Maybe still unconscious.”
“This is not the time to be telling me this.”
Oh, my fucking God.
What…
I didn’t…
What the fuck?
“This is escalation,” I hissed, shaking my head now. “I warned you this would happen. I kept