to the door. “I don’t know, honestly. I’m sure there were much better people to save.”
“But not richer.” He puts the dog in the bathroom and stares at it. “Don’t fuck shit up, dog.”
The dog wags his tail.
“He’s gonna fuck shit up,” I tell Shepherd.
“Probably.”
“That’s why we should get rid of him now.”
“I’m not getting rid of my dog.”
At least I tried.
We head back downstairs and out the door together. “When I was checking in, the guy said there’s a store just a block this way.”
“So… what’s our plan?” I ask.
“Depends how much money there is. We’ll count it when we get back.”
“So… we’re safe now, right?” I’m just begging he says we are.
“No.”
My shoulders sag. “Why can’t you just lie to me? Be like one of those parents who tell the kid they’re at Disney World, but really, they’re just at some knock-off theme park in the middle of nowhere.”
“Alright.” He takes my wrist and pulls me around. “Killian, guess what?”
“What!” I ask, voice filled with excitement.
“We’re at Disney World! Look, there’s Mickey!” he says as he nods at a beefy guy with a skull face tattoo going into a flower shop.
“Yay.” I make sure it’s extra sarcastic.
Shepherd grins. “We don’t know if someone’s been watching us already. They could be following us or even tracking us. Right now, you live your life like someone’s waiting around the corner to take it, got it? Nothing stupid. Just be smart. We’re going to just start moving and traveling and hope we’re both alive at the end of this.”
“Tony’s reign really goes that far?” I ask in disbelief.
“Tony made it in this business without ever being caught for this long because he knew how to work the system. He knew how to control what he needed to control to keep things quiet. I wouldn’t be surprised if the drugs your father is buying for your mother weren’t supplied by Tony.”
“No. My father hates Tony, and it’s clear there’s shit between them. What about Tony being an arms dealer?”
He looks over at me. “And how do you think Tony is transporting all these weapons without ever getting caught? How do you think your father’s house is so fucking big?”
“It’s… family money,” I say quickly.
“Yes, family money as in your grandfather and Tony’s father struck up a deal. I don’t know enough about it to tell you everything, I was just a bodyguard.”
I feel like I don’t know what to say to him. “My father hates Tony. I’d hear shit about him all the time.”
“Hating someone and working with them are two completely different things. I can hate the hell out of my boss or coworker but still work with them.”
I stare at him, realizing that he’s right. “I guess.” I sigh as I keep walking with him. “This is all a bunch of bullshit. I just want to be free of it all.”
“Why’d you stay with your father for so long then?” he asks curiously.
I consider lying to him, but I feel like it’s not worth lying more than I already have to. “My father didn’t want me to leave, and I was also afraid to go. I felt like no one cared for my mother when I wasn’t around. No one else made sure she ate well or did anything other than lie around and beg for more drugs. It didn’t used to be this bad. What you saw yesterday… she’s gotten bad lately. But there was nothing I could do about it. And after a while… it’s horrible to say… but I think I stopped caring. Why should I care about what happens to her when she never cared about me? She never cared about herself or anyone. She only cares about when she can get her next fix. She’ll die soon from this and I’m not sure I’ll even cry. And doesn’t that make me a horrible person?”
Shepherd looks over at me as he stops walking to wait for the light to change. “Does it? Why do you think so?”
I cross my arms, glad to finally have my arm to myself even if it’s a little achy from being stabbed. “I just told you I don’t care if she dies.”
“That doesn’t make you a horrible person, Killian. Being a horrible person would be going in there and killing her yourself whether it’s by giving her more drugs or by holding a gun to her head. Nothing’s black and white, so don’t try to force it to be. There are