Bitter Black Kiss (18 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Crusty, dried blood made his skin itch. Each time he moved, the new wounds screamed in pain.

Molly had yet to speak. They sat in traffic now, her fingers tapped a rhythm against the steering wheel. The question she asked was unexpected. “What does the F stand for?”

He raised a brow.

“Your name.”

“Franklin.”

Her nose wrinkled. “No wonder you prefer your middle name.”

"That and the asshole I was named after wasn't really my father."

They sat in silence again. He usually sought the comfort of quiet, however, this time it was intolerable.

“What was I supposed to do?” He didn’t quite meet her gaze. Everything he had done was wrong. He realized that now.

“You should have told her the truth from the start.”

“No, I don’t think so. She more or less runs the outfit while he’s gone. I had to assume she knew more than she does. I just didn’t think I’d fall for her.”

“Nicky isn’t the type of person who could do what you’re insinuating.” She gripped the steering wheel. “I know she takes wolfsbane, but that isn’t a bad drug. She helped you, even after you lied and hurt her. What does that say about her?”

He gripped the folder in his lap and sighed. “I don’t know. I didn’t think she gave a damn about me anymore.”

Molly sniffed with displeasure. “Don’t you dare make this about you.”

He suspected he was about to get chewed out.

“Maybe you should decide whether you want her to be a case or a love interest. You can’t have both,” she said in a matter of fact tone. “You shouldn’t assume she’s sleeping with the enemy either.”

He blinked once, twice. “What?”

“She's shot down Sean’s advances for weeks, but he just keeps firing away. Now that you've blown your chances to hell, I'm scared she'll allow him to fill that gap."

Brody’s stomach turned somersaults. Molly was exaggerating. She had to be. “Please tell me you’re not serious.”

She stared ahead at the traffic. After a few moments, she shook her head and groaned. “The two of you must be the dumbest people I know.”

He frowned. “I think I got lost somewhere in this conversation.”

“She's afraid of how she feels about you, you idiot. Ever since she met you, you're all she thinks about.”

“She’s all I can think about too.”

She shot daggers at him with her eyes. “Cut the crap. You just wanted to get into her pants. Just bitten? That’s such bullshit. Couldn’t you have tried something like: I’m a guy, you’re a girl?”

His plan of action had made sense at first, in its own twisted way. Trust wasn’t an emotion he was willing to expend on people. He’d been proven wrong far too many times and now the moment was lost.

“I did, at first, but she never took notice. I had to do something drastic just to get her to talk to me.”

Molly rolled her eyes. “Way to go.”

He ran his finger across the dog-eared edge of the folder. “This gives a skewed view of things. It doesn’t show who I really am.”

“Yeah well, neither did the lies.” Her voice was neutral. “You had a chance, but you blew it.”

Brody knew she was right. “I care about her, Molly. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“She’s in love with you, jackass.” She pulled the car into the beach lot where his car was parked. “But now it’s complicated. She’s going through things that scare her and she doesn’t know where to turn. She’s vulnerable right now.”

“Sean is dangerous.” Contempt darkened his features. "I can't go back to the club. I don't know how I can protect her from him."

Molly parked a few cars down from his. “I don’t either. Nicky keeps turning him down, but he acts like they’re dating. I’m worried about her. His infatuation scares me."

It did more than scare Brody. It made him ill to think Stone dreamed of touching her. He might actually get the chance to fulfill those fantasies now that Brody had blown his chances to hell.

Since Nicole wouldn’t listen to him, he did the next best thing. He told Molly everything. This time, there were no half-truths and he didn’t sugar coat anything.

Molly looked a bit pale when he finished.

“I may have fucked up my chance at being with the girl I love, but I’ll be damned if I let Sean hurt her. I’ll kill the bastard.” He meant every word.

“I’m positive Sean was on the beach last night,” Molly said.

Tanned girls in bikinis lay on the sand and soaked up the sun. Further down, a dog ran to the water’s edge, snapped at each crest with exhilaration. Brody watched the mutt’s progress across the sand. “That’s what worries me.”

“Aaron was there too. He’s the guy who…”

“I know who he is.”

Molly stared at the palm trees at the other end of the lot. “Sean just looked on, like he’d ordered them to come after us.”

“Maybe he did.”

Molly mulled this over for a moment. “But why?”

Brody shrugged. “I broke into Stone’s house a few nights ago. I found files on you and Nicole.” He didn’t meet her eyes, fearful she’d see the knowledge of her past in his eyes. “He’s using her and I can’t figure out why.”

His companion was at a loss for words. He knew it was a risk. He was sticking his neck out, but he said what was on his mind anyway. “Nicole may know more about what’s going on than she’s told you. If that’s the case, she could be in major trouble. Sean likes to play with his quarry.”

She picked at a loose thread on the seat. Her eyes were downcast and cloudy. “We’ve got to help her, Brody.”

Brody shook his head, but said nothing. He wasn’t stupid enough to believe he could just turn his back on Nicole. There was a connection there. He’d known from the moment he’d first met her that she was the one for him. If he could just make her see the obvious. That was going to prove difficult seeing how she had shut him out.

“Here, I took this from her room.” Molly withdrew a white pill from her pocket then held it out to him. “She said Sean gave them to her."

“Wolfsbane?”

Molly looked like she might cry. “I don’t think so. She’s been more out of control than ever.”

Brody’s fist closed around the pill. He said nothing more about the drug, but hope arose in him. He still knew a few people in forensics. Perhaps he’d provide them with a sample to test. Maybe if he had solid proof, Vasquez, and the department would believe him. More importantly, it might help rebuild Nicole’s trust in him.

He opened the car door and swung his legs out. The situation would have to be mulled over. He’d have to proceed with caution or risk pushing Nicole even further away. A twist of guilt played hell on his emotions. He should have been truthful with Nicole from the very start.

“That’s it?” Molly peered up at him, her face twisted in disbelief. “What are you going to do about it? You can’t just give up.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Molly.” He closed the door with a thump then walked toward his own car.

Molly had stared at him for a few stunned moments before she pulled away from the curb. He slipped inside his car and found the keys in their usual hiding spot. Dispirited and exhausted, he arrived home without taking notice of what route he’d taken to get there. He let himself inside and flopped onto the couch.

He awoke some time later to a grumbling stomach. It was dark and the house was silent. He padded across the living room toward the kitchen.

Standing over the sink, he devoured a turkey sandwich and an overripe banana. He brushed crumbs from the cabinet then fished the pill out of his pocket. He turned it over in his hand searching for any clues that would link it to Pharm-lab. Finding none, he dropped it into a zippered baggie and tucked it into a nearby drawer. The message light on the phone caught his eye. Had he slept through its ring? Molly had probably called to remind him of what a dumbass he’d been.

Instead of checking it, he padded into the bathroom and stripped the jeans off his legs. He kicked them out of the way and twisted the shower knob all the way to the left. He stepped into the blistering stream and water seared each and every wound. He doubted very much he’d be able to soap away the shame and betrayal that was now a permanent part of him.

Once his skin was clean, scalded an angry pink, he toweled off and made his way toward the living room once again. He spied the folder on the floor where he’d dropped it. Something would have to be done about that, but what? How could he reverse the damage that had already been done. There was no way to erase the doubt that had been planted.

He crossed to the phone and pressed the necessary numbers to retrieve the message stored within.

Jimbo’s voice vibrated the tiny speaker. His tone sounded pinched, maybe fearful or nervous. “Brody? Come by the shop, I uh, there’s something here you might find interesting.” There was a lot of shuffling on the line. Someone in the background spoke low and menacing. It might be a customer, but he didn’t think it was that simple.

He dropped the phone onto the couch and sprinted into the bedroom. He swiped a clean shirt from the pile on top of his dresser.

Twenty minutes later, he rolled to a stop in front of the pawn shop. The closed sign was turned, the shades were drawn, but the lights were on. He hurried to the door and banged an open palm against it. “Jimbo, its Brody.”

There was no answer from within. He glanced at the other shops on the street. All were dark and silent at this late hour. He stepped back and surveyed the door. The roll-up door had not been pulled down and locked. Jimbo must still be inside.

A shadow blotted the window. The crash and clang of items hitting the floor all at once disturbed the eerie silence.

He ducked between the pawn shop and the building closest to it.

The back door stood ajar. Mottled yellow light bled into the murky shadows that surrounded the building. His shoes crunched against broken glass. The security bulb above the door had been disabled.

Brody pressed himself against the wall to the left of the doorway. He listened for movement within. Whoever waited inside had taken a break from destroying the place and he imagined they were waiting to ambush him.

The faint hum of the oscillating fan Jimbo kept behind the counter was the only noise. He lifted his head and took a breath of the air. The fan turned in his direction and carried the odor of fresh blood. Just under that, the scent of leather and cheap cologne tickled his nostrils.

Caution guided him into the building. He moved past the fallen shelves and broken items that littered the floor. From behind one of the few upright shelves, Brody surveyed the front of the shop. One of Jimbo’s scuffed, brown loafers rested in a puddle of blood at the end of the counter.

Something wet squished beneath his right sneaker. A detached finger lay just beneath the toe of his shoe. He backed away and bumped into a very solid body. Brody turned and automatically assumed a defensive stance.

Jimbo’s sweaty, blood-spattered face was pale. His hands gripped the front of Brody’s shirt. Blood smeared the fabric and it was easy to see where the finger had come from. In fact, two others were gone. All but one was taken off at the lowest knuckle. A crimson stream flowed from the nubs, down his arm and to the floor between them. “You gotta help me.”

Aaron swung the office door open and stepped out. The gun in his hand was held at chest level. In one swift move, he took a step forward and pulled the trigger.

Brody whirled away, shoving Jimbo at the same time. The pawn shop owner stumbled backward and fell against a shelf. It toppled and he went with it. The bullet missed the fat man and struck the wall instead.

Brody scuttled around the shelf. There wasn’t much he could do for Jimbo at the moment. Self-preservation ranked higher on his list anyway.

Aaron stood over Jimbo. The fat man clawed at the leg hovering over him, leaving red smears all over the denim. Aaron brought his boot down on the pawn owner's head. He did it again and again until the man stopped bleating. Blood and brains leaked from Jimbo’s crushed skull.

Brody launched himself at Aaron. The weapon flew from his hand and skittered across the floor. Aaron jabbed him with an elbow.

Greasy black hair hid most of Aaron’s face, but Brody could see the crusty dried blood on his chin. He grinned to show off crimson stained teeth. “We’ve got some unfinished business to take care of.”