Out of Time (Nine Minutes #2) (13 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

1976

Grunt leaned his
head back against the wall and sighed. He’d been sitting on his bed trying to concentrate on his homework, but he just couldn’t do it.

He closed his eyes and immediately saw her. Kit. She was laughing at something he’d said over one of their many chess lessons. They used to be lessons, but now they were just matches, really. She was smart and at this point could almost beat him. He’d thought more than once about letting her win, but that wasn’t Kit’s way. The girl would have to beat him fair and square. Maybe one day she would.

Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t call her a girl. She’d been living with the gang since she’d been abducted last year and was married to their leader. She was now sixteen and had experienced more in the last year than some grown women would in a lifetime.

No, Kit was definitely no longer a girl. She was a woman. And she was the woman Grunt had been in love with for a very long time.

Even before she came to the motel.

Over the years, he’d accompanied Grizz to keep an eye on the young girl then called Gwinny, later just Ginny. Sometimes, he was the one that suggested it—that they go take a drive by her house, check up on things. Grizz didn’t seem to have a problem taking him along. Maybe people were less suspicious of a man who had a kid with him. He was sure they assumed he was Grizz’s kid.

It didn’t matter. He always looked forward to the times he would be able to watch her. He didn’t remember the exact moment it became love. There had been too many times to count how often he’d observed her doing something that melted his heart.

He remembered her first night at the motel. It was last May. He didn’t know then that Grizz was going to have her brought here. He’d secretly hoped that maybe Grizz would step aside, let her find her own destiny. If that was the case, Grunt was certain he could insert himself into her life.

He’d imagined it a thousand times. Casually running into her somewhere. Making small talk. Making her laugh. He’d even thought about enrolling in her school, but that charade would be too difficult to maintain. Especially since he was already in college and he had no doubt that Grizz wouldn’t have allowed it. He laughed to himself at the memory. People in love are willing to do desperate things.

He’d never imagined Grizz was falling for her, too. He knew about the obsession, but somehow he believed the story, believed that Grizz truly was looking out for the girl. A favor to an old friend, he’d said. Maybe Grunt was just too busy wrapping himself in his own fantasies of a life with her. A future.

Unfortunately, as long as Grizz was around, no other man would ever have a chance with Kit, let alone a future.

Her first night at the motel was seared in his memory. He’d been leaning back in a lawn chair, staring into the fire. Willow and Chicky were arguing about something. Monster pulled up on his motorcycle. He could tell there was a female on the back.

He’s certain he gasped when he noticed it was her and Monster was walking her towards the pit.
What the fuck?

He half listened as Willow started arguing with Monster about the “thank you gift.” Bullshit. Grunt knew better. Ginny—Kit, she called herself now—was only fifteen and probably scared to death.

But if she was scared, she certainly wasn’t showing it. He watched as she calmly observed the exchange between Willow and Monster. He knew she hadn’t noticed Grizz when he walked up next to her. What would her reaction be? He wondered, watching her as she noticed Grizz for the first time and her eyes slowly moved up his body until they reached his face. She showed no emotion that he could detect. And when Willow lunged at her and Grizz intervened, the girl never even flinched.

He couldn’t believe how brave she was that night. The dying campfire cast an almost angelic glow on her face. The face he had loved for a long time.

And now, she was here.

And she belonged to Grizz.

He’d watched that night as Moe led her to number four. He only half listened as Grizz told the gang they were never to discuss her. They weren’t to look at her, speak to her, or address her presence at the motel. Ever. He then watched Grizz turn around and go inside.

It was only a few minutes before Moe came out. She walked toward the pit, her head down. Grunt jumped up when he saw her, gently took her arm and led her to his unit. He heard some laughter from the pit. Who cares—let them think what they wanted.

“Is she okay?” he asked once they were inside. “Was she crying or anything?”

Moe looked up at him with an odd expression on her face and nodded. Shit. Which question was she answering? He grabbed a piece of notebook paper and a pencil, handing it to Moe.

“Let’s start over. Is she okay?”

Moe nodded yes.

“Please don’t make me ask you, Moe. Just tell me what’s going on inside number four.”

Moe wrote, “Seems okay. Not crying. Not afraid of him.”

He was relieved. “Good. What else?”

Moe retrieved something from her pocket. It was a wallet. She laid it on his bed and wrote something else on the paper. “Have to burn it.”

He looked at her without saying anything for almost a full minute. “Will you keep it? Will you hide it? Will you do that for me, Moe?”

She nodded again.

He took the paper she had been writing on and crumpled it up. He would take it out to the pit and toss it in the fire.

He left Moe standing in his room. He ignored the whistles and lewd catcalls concerning his and Moe’s time together.
Assholes
.

If he’d taken even a moment to stop and look back at Moe before he left the room, he would have seen an expression on her face he’d never seen before. The look of a woman who loved someone that could never be hers. Moe had the look of a woman who had just realized the man she loved was in love with someone else.

It was the look of despair.

Grunt was jolted back to the present by a loud commotion outside. He got up and went to his window. He shook his head as he watched the scene. Typical. Looked like some guys had lured a young couple back to the motel and were tormenting them. Grizz commanded the dogs to be quiet but was ignoring what was going on just a few feet away from him. He was talking to Chico, who was probably setting up some kind of delivery. It didn’t matter. Whatever it was, it was certainly illegal.

Just then, Grunt noticed movement to the left. Kit. She was walking purposefully toward Grizz. She said something to him, which Grunt couldn’t hear. Grizz replied to her, but apparently it didn’t satisfy her because she didn’t go away. He saw Grizz nod to Chico, and Chico said something to one of the other guys.

Grunt saw her flinch when the couple was executed. She turned around and started back toward number four. He could see her face clearly. She was upset, but trying to control it.

Good. This would work out for him. He wouldn’t have to come up with a plan to lure Kit away from Grizz. Grizz’s ruthlessness would push her away. He would wait.

He needed some time, anyway. He would graduate college. He would make something of himself and be able to offer her a life away from this band of criminals. It would just take some time.

He had time. He would let Grizz continue to show her what a bastard he truly was.

Chess was Grunt’s game, and he was the best. This wasn’t chess, but it would be the most serious game he’d ever played in his life. Each move would have to be painstakingly calculated.

He smiled as he watched Grizz striding towards number four. The game was on, and Grunt hadn’t lost one yet.

He remembered how he’d almost messed up last year. It was the night he took Kit to Jan and Blue’s for Thanksgiving. He’d fucked up and told her how he felt about her. There was a pause in their conversation and he quickly reminded himself that he needed to be patient. Having a relationship with her then would’ve been impossible. He had to keep following Sarah Jo’s advice. Jo had told him to wait and that’s what he’d been doing. He didn’t have a plan then, but he really wouldn’t have needed one, anyway. He would just make sure Grizz always looked like a rat bastard in front of Kit. She would see the horrible things that Grizz did, and Grunt would make sure that he was there to comfort her.

He was so lost in thought he hadn’t realized Kit had just walked right past his window. She hadn’t seen him because she was looking straight ahead, as if on a mission.

Grunt watched her walk around the side of the motel. Maybe she was getting ready to jog, maybe blow off some steam. She had her purse with her, though. She wouldn’t need her purse to jog around the motel.

A minute later, he saw her Trans-Am emerge from the right side of the motel and peel out as she gunned it at the entrance to State Road 84. What was she doing? She wasn’t supposed to go anywhere alone.

There was no way Grizz knew about her leaving. He had given her strict driving rules when he’d presented her with a brand new car for her sixteenth birthday. She was without a doubt defying a direct order. Grunt’s brain went into overdrive. Was she going to the police? Was she taking a drive to calm down? Would she seek out Sarah Jo? She had just seen something horrible. What would a girl like her do after seeing two people get murdered? Should he go after her?

No, not yet. He took a calming breath as it dawned on him. He didn’t need to go after her. Yes. He knew exactly where she was going. He wanted to see how Grizz would react when he realized she’d left. He would wait.

**********

For his part, Grizz had left Kit standing in the small living room after she’d confronted him about what Chico’s guy did to the couple that had been lured back to the motel.

“I’m taking a shower,” he called out over his shoulder as he headed for the bathroom.

He stripped off his clothes and climbed in, letting the hot water soak into his shoulders as he closed his eyes and thought about Kit. Thought about what she’d just seen.
Dammit
. Why didn’t he think before nodding at Chico? He didn’t think about it because he didn’t care. Not about that couple, anyway.

Kit was the only thing that mattered, and he didn’t think far enough ahead to predict how Chico would respond to his nod to “take care of this.” He’d never had to worry about it before. Worst of all, he didn’t know how to respond to her when she confronted him. He was a cold, heartless bastard. He wasn’t used to caring what someone thought.

But he cared what Kit thought. He would talk to her. He would be kinder, gentler. Maybe he should get her away from the motel. Set her up somewhere else. He would think about it.

He got out of the shower and dried off. After wrapping the towel around himself, he headed out to the small living room where he’d left her ten minutes earlier.

But she wasn’t there. He peeked out the curtain. She wasn’t in the pit and she wasn’t jogging around the parking lot as was her habit.

She probably went to find Grunt. He would get dressed and go get her.

He left number four and noticed Grunt was in one of the lawn chairs in the pit, his legs stretched out. Maybe he’d left Kit in his room to listen to records or something. Even though she had her own stereo, she might just be angry enough with Grizz to lock herself in Grunt’s room and ignore him. It wouldn’t have been the first time she’d stayed away. He smiled when he remembered how mad she’d been when he gave her a new car for her birthday, how she’d stayed away from him for a few days when he’d refused to let her and Sarah Jo drive around in it together.

He adored her. He didn’t want her to be hurt by the things she saw at the motel, and it dawned on him that he hadn’t really done a good job of shielding her from this lifestyle. What had he told her earlier? If you don’t like what goes on out there, then stay inside.

He was a bastard. She was not a typical “old lady” and never would be. And truthfully, that’s what he liked about her. No. That wasn’t entirely accurate. That’s what he loved about her. He knew he could have avoided having her see the executions earlier that day, but even after a year at the motel, he still wasn’t used to having her around. He wasn’t used to caring so damn much.

He banged on Grunt’s door once before flinging it open. But it was empty. He was surprised that she wasn’t there.

His mouth was still open to say something when another thought occurred to him. It sent a wave of heat up his spine.

No way. She wouldn’t leave. She wouldn’t defy him.

He found himself striding quickly to the office side of the motel. He was getting ready to break into a run when Chicky came out of one of the units. He almost mowed her down. She was talking to him, but he didn’t hear her. He was on the other side of the office now and stopped dead in his tracks.

Kit’s car was gone.

Grunt watched from the pit. He saw Grizz brush past Chicky so quickly it almost knocked her over. He had only seen Grizz lose his cool one time, and that was the night that Guido came to the motel to tell them Johnny Tillman had tried to rape Ginny. Grunt could tell by Grizz’s stride that he was more than a little upset. Maybe even panicked. Grunt knew it would be worse when Grizz discovered that Kit’s car was gone.