Dirty Sex (28 page)

“San Francisco.” I wouldn’t sell Ryan out. Not all the way. Just

enough for them to back off because if thirty-four million didn’t sate

my hunger, then revenge did, and the twins and I were going to get the

fuck out if only to show them that we could.

“Ryan or the money?” Vito was fucking gleeful.

“Both, I think.” I took a moment to hawk up some bloody mucus.

“He’s going to Canada, but I think he put whatever it was he stole in

a storage unit in San Francisco.” I took my time committing to the lie,

convincing myself it was real. If it were true, how would I feel?

“Where in Canada?”

“Don’t hit me,” I begged. “I don’t know.”

“But you have an idea,” Vito said.

I started to nod, but the pressure in my skull ratcheted up a couple

notches. “He once told me that if he was going to disappear it would be

where no one could find him, where no one would think to look.” I tried

to remember the name of a city in Canada, any city. Hell, a province

would do. What was in Canada? Damn, it was hard to focus. “Best

guess, Nova Scotia.” That was a province or something, I was sure of it.

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“And the money?” Vito was probably envisioning a fat bonus

from Christopher.

“He gave Reese two gold bars, gave me one. Told us to get the fuck

out of EDH, and the next morning, he was gone. I don’t know anything

else.” The ache that was my body had mellowed so I could pinpoint

the various centers of pain. My head hurt, of course, the whole thing

was just a mass of blood and pressure and nausea. My back and ribs all

along my sides and spine felt broken and splintered. I got visions of my

shredded bones floating through me. Even my arms, where I had a set

of meaty hands gripping my biceps on either side, burned from holding

up my body. At least I’d stopped crying.

“How do you know he went to San Francisco?”

“I got a call.” I tried to lie, but the truth bled out a little. “From a

friend, a guy I knew at Sac State. He saw Ryan in a bar. Said he didn’t

look too good. So the guy called me. By the time I got the message,

Ryan was gone.”

“Good kid.” Vito praised me again. “That wasn’t so hard was it?”

I didn’t answer because all I knew was pain and it showed no signs

of abating.

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I tried, I really tried to stay conscious, but it so wasn’t happening.

At that point, why bother? So I could relive the past few hours?

Fuck that. I’m not sure if I passed out or fell asleep, but I woke up to

car doors slamming and a sudden rush of noise. It was wind and voices

and competing strains of music. Then there were hands grabbing me

and yanking me onto a floor that was really hard. There were people

and buildings and enough chaos that nobody noticed when I hit the curb

and the car squealed away. I sat there trying to orient myself, but it was

hard because the world kept moving and I couldn’t tell if the lights and

colors were real.

“Sugar, are you all right?” A woman crouched in front of me, her

knees to one side because of her skintight dress. The wind blew her

teased blond hair across her cheek and she brushed it away with long

blue nails.

“I think…I don’t know,” I said. “My head hurts.”

“You look pretty beat up.” That wasn’t a woman. Her voice, it was

slow and melodic and just a little too deep. I liked the sound of it. “Can

you stand?”

“Maybe.” My mouth was all metallic. The blood caked on my

lips made them tight and dry. Experimentally, I opened my mouth and

moved my jaw around a little. At least it was working. I attempted

unsuccessfully to get up.

“Careful, sugar. Take it slow.” Her wide hand gripped my elbow

and guided me to my feet. As we stood, she slid an arm around my

waist. Fuck, that hurt. It was like shards of glass were in my stomach

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and just fucking stabbing everything. “There. Better?” She started to

let go and I swayed.

“Uh-oh.”

She tightened her grip again and I gritted my teeth against the

onslaught of pain, which just made my head hurt more.

“Let’s get you inside.” She guided me toward a doorway facing

the street. I tried to read the sign, but the lights were so damn bright.

Inside it was darker and somehow pinker. There were half naked women

dancing, gyrating together, with poles, and walls of glass. My savior

guided me to an even darker corner where I fell into a padded chair.

“I need to call my girlfriend.” I dug into my pocket for my cell

phone. A fan of hundreds came out with it and floated to the chair and

floor. The woman was kind enough to gather them and stuff them back

into my pocket. I pushed the green button on my phone until I heard it

ringing.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been fucking worried.”

Reese’s voice was easily the best thing I’d ever heard in my life.

“Babe. Vito got me.”

“Vito? What do you mean he got you?” She sounded scared now.

“I…he…” I couldn’t really remember how to talk. My face hurt;

talking hurt. “I’m hurt.” I just told her what I was thinking.

“Where are you?”

“It’s, like, a bar, I guess. There are lots of women here.” Eloquent.

“They’re dancing.” Helpful. Man, I was tired.

“Can you walk?”

“I’m sleepy.”

“Just stay there. Can you talk to me?”

“Yep,” I promised and promptly fell asleep.

❖

I loved the smell of Reese. She smelled like…Reese. And Reese

smelled good.

“Cooper. Sweetheart. Wake up.” Warm hands held my face.

I opened my eyes and it was Reese. “You smell good,” I told her.

“Good to know. I need you to wake up though. Can you do that?”

I wanted to do what she wanted, really I did. The problem was

that everything hurt. Just fucking everything. Even my eyelashes and

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toenails. I raised a hand to touch my eyes. I wanted to know how they

could hurt so much. My hand brushed my nose and then I really hurt. It

came away with fresh blood.

“Coop, look at me.” I did. Reese was so pretty. “We need to get

you out of here, okay?”

“Okay. Be careful.” She probably already knew we had to be

careful.

“I know, babe.” She slid an arm around me and someone on my

other side did the same. We navigated through a dark, sultry room and

were suddenly on the street. My head was kind of hanging and I saw

that I was leaving a trail of blood. It was dripping off my face every

couple steps.

“I’m bleeding.”

“Don’t worry about that,” came a melodic voice from the side that

wasn’t Reese.

I turned to look into some of the most serious eyes I’d seen on a

woman. Or was that a woman? “Who are you?”

“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled. It was a real smile. It went all

the way to her eyes, not like Vito.

“Shit. Reese. Vito. They got me.” The past few hours started

coming back to me and I remembered. “We gotta get out. They’re

coming.” We reached the rental car. Reese opened the door and the

woman half lifted me into the seat.

“Thank you,” Reese told the woman. “You’re very kind.”

“Just trying to help, sugar.” There was that smile again. “You kids

try to be safe, all right?”

“We will, thank you.” Reese went around and got in the driver’s

seat.

“Reese.” I had to tell her. “Vito knows Ryan’s in San Francisco.

We’ve got to tell him.”

“What do you mean?” She wasn’t even listening, just watching

the road. She thought I was crazy.

“I had to tell him something. They already had me, but Tommy

was going to get you and so I told them Ryan was in San Francisco.” It

made sense in my head. Not as much when I said it out loud.

We drove another block and Reese pulled to the side of the road

again. “I’ll call him, okay?” Reese traced a finger over my cheek. Her

hand was shaking. “Tell me what happened.”

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“I told you. Tommy—”

“No. Start at the beginning.”

“Vito told me to get in the car. I shouldn’t have gotten in the car.”

What a dumbass. “He hit me. In the head. A lot.” I tried to remember.

It was all messed up though, a jumble of sound and feeling. “He kicked

me. It hurts. Right here.” I waved my hand from pelvis to shoulders.

“Did anything else happen?” For once, Reese’s eyes were

unreadable. They looked a lot like when Ryan was about to lose a video

game, but more. Way more.

“There was a guy―Tommy.” I wanted to explain what kind of

guy Tommy was so Reese would know. If she thought I just sold Ryan

out, she’d never forgive me. I was protecting her though. “He has, like,

a specialty.” Very carefully, I wiped my upper lip with the back of my

hand. Half-congealed blood left a streak on my skin.

“I know Tommy.” Her jaw started working back and forth. “What

happened, Coop?”

“Vito threatened me with Tommy and I was like fuck that. But,

Reese,” I was begging her to understand. “Reese, he was going to come

after you. I had to do it.”

“Do what, babe?” She seemed frustrated and I didn’t know why.

Maybe she was mad about Ryan.

“Tell them where Ryan was. I swear I lied about most of it, but I

told them he was in San Francisco.”

“But what about Tommy?”

I turned to stare out the windshield. “He’s a creepy motherfucker.”

A shudder went through my shoulders.

“But he didn’t…” Reese swallowed hard and tears started to

gather in her brown-gray eyes. “He didn’t get out his knife, right?”

“No. He had it out.” Her tears started to fall. “Thank God he didn’t

fucking use it. I mean, what a douche bag.”

“Oh. My. Fucking. God.” She gasped through her tears. “Cooper,

you asshole.”

“What?” I hated when girls cried. I always thought it was my fault.

“I thought he raped you.” More gasping and sobbing. She wasn’t

listening.

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

“What?” she screamed.

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“He threatened me and he said they were going to come after you.

I had to tell them where Ryan was,” I explained for the millionth time.

Reese collapsed back in her seat breathing hard and staring at

nothing.

“Reese?” It finally clicked. “Are you crying because you thought

he raped me?”

“I can’t believe we dragged you into this,” she whispered. “Money

isn’t worth it. Nothing is.”

“But he didn’t. They just beat me up.”

“What?” Screaming again. “You fucking asshole.”

“Stop yelling. It hurts my head.”

“Sorry.” Reese finally looked at me. “But you’re okay? Fuck. I

was so fucking scared.”

“I still feel like shit.” I don’t know if that was supposed to make

her feel better or worse.

“You look pretty fucked up.”

“Thanks.” I attempted to grin. It hurt so I stopped. “I wanna go to

sleep.”

“That’s a bad idea.” Reese started the car up.

“Why?” I leaned back and closed my eyes. My whole body was

killing me. I just wanted to take some painkillers, curl up, and sleep.

Except I was pretty sure curling up would hurt.

“You need to stay awake.”

“Nuh-uh.” I was already drifting.

“Don’t fall asleep,” Reese said.

“Whatever you say.” I opened my eyes to look at her. She had her

cell phone out and was dialing a number. “Who you calling?”

“Hey, it’s me,” Reese said to the person on the other end of the

line. “Sorry to wake you up. I’ve got a problem.”

“Who you talkin’ to?”

“I’m with Cooper. She got beat up really bad.” She paused. “Hit

in the head repeatedly and kicked in the ribs.” Another pause. “I’m not

sure. She seems coherent, but a little out of it.”

“You’re out of it,” I told her.

“I don’t know, Kerry.” What the fuck? “I’m kind of freaking out.”

“Fucking Kerry?” That pissed me off. She called her ex to see what

to do with me? Bitch. I snatched the phone away from her, clicked it shut,

and tossed it in the backseat. “Why are you calling your fuckin’ ex?”

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“What the fuck?” Reese kept one hand on the wheel and reached

into the backseat. It took her a second to find the phone.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“What are you doing? What is wrong with you?” Reese started

dialing again. “She’s an EMT. I want to know if I should take you to

a hospital or not. If not, she can walk me through how to take care of

you.”

“Well, call someone else.”

“You think I want to call her?” Yes. “I don’t. I’m doing this for

you.”

“Yeah, right. Fuck that.” I reached for the door handle and opened

it. We weren’t going that fast.

Reese grabbed my T-shirt and yanked me back as she tapped the

breaks then sped up. The door slammed shut. “Sit down and shut the

fuck up,” she yelled at me. “Don’t even think about moving.” Her hand

was still fisted in my shirt. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Don’t use me as an excuse to call her,” I said. I wasn’t going to

be some pawn for her.