Effing hel .
Lee told The Tribe that Daisy and Marcus would be our hosts for the evening and we’d get our orders the next day.
It was then my phone, which I was holding in my hand, rang.
“Sorry,” I muttered to the assemblage when al eyes swung to me.
I looked at the display; it said “Buzz Cal ing”. I flipped it open but before I could put it to my ear it was pul ed out of my hand.
My head shot up and I saw Mace, my phone to his ear, his back to me, walking away.
“Erm, excuse me?” I cal ed, getting up from my perch on the arm of a couch and fol owing him.
“Buzz, she’l talk to you tomorrow,” Mace told the phone.
“Yeah. She’s al right.” Then he flipped my phone shut.
Do something! My brain ordered me.
I did something. I poked him in the back. The Tribe had melted from existence (not real y, as people can’t melt, except in movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, they just melted from my mind) and my pissed off vibe came back with a vengeance.
“Excuse me? ” I repeated to his back.
Mace turned. I put my hand out for my phone.
Mace shoved my phone in his back pocket. My eyes fol owed this action then narrowed and shot back to Mace’s face.
“Give me my phone,” I demanded.
“No,” Mace replied.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Mace, give me my goddamned phone!” My voice was rising.
Mace leaned into me and responded calmly, “No.”
“I need to talk to Buzz,” I explained with rapidly waning patience. “He’s gonna need me. His girlfriend had her head blown off tonight, for God’s sake!”
“Lindsey’s head was blown off by Sid’s men. She’s the reason they were able to get close to you, watch you, figure you out, find a way to get to you. She’s the reason they knew Buzz would cal you and knew you’d come running when he did. Lindsey got herself kil ed so you could be target practice as a warning to me.”
My mouth snapped shut and I took a step back. I had not put this together but it made sense and the idea that I had anything to do with Lindsey’s death felt like the gut kick to end al gut kicks.
Mace took a step forward and his steps were longer than mine.
“Stel a, I’m not gonna let any of the members of that f**kin’ band of yours put you in harm’s way. No phone. No communication. Not until we know the lay of the land. Your band wants to talk to you, they do it through me.” Oh no. He did not just say what it seemed like he just said.
“Don’t cal them ‘that f**kin’ band’,” I snapped.
Mace was silent.
“And you can’t take my phone!”
Mace remained silent.
“And you aren’t going to order me around and stand between me and my boys!” I went on.