22. Zira
ZIRA
“Where’s the car?” He’s grabbing my arm and hauling me inside while stepping past me and staring out into the street. “You didn’t bring it?”
The screech of his mask grates on my ears while his fingers dig into the soft flesh of my upper arm, and I wince, rolling my shoulder to try and break free. “Ahh! Peter, let go!”
“Where’s the car?”
“Let go!” Wrenching my arm out of his grip, I stumble back into the dimly lit hallway and quickly massage the ache his grip left behind. “Geez! I got a cab here. I didn’t drive.”
Peter slams the door with a clatter of the door latch and spins to face me. This time, he grabs my wrist and hauls me down the hallway and into an equally dimly lit lounge.
Empty pizza boxes and take-out containers litter the coffee table, spilling out onto the floor, where they meet another pile, half spilling out of a trash bag with a hole in the bottom.
The stink of body odor, stale beer, and something sharp stings at my nose, and dust catches in the back of my throat on my next breath in.
“My God… have you been living like this since that night?”
Peter lets go of me with a shove and crosses both arms over his chest. “If you didn’t bring the car, then what the fuck are you doing here?”
Spinning to face him, my eyes narrow as a clash of emotions collides in my chest. Not the welcome I expected from my brother, and definitely not the one I hoped for. After one last glance around at the room, I stare back up at the expressionless Volto mask.
“Take the damn mask off, Peter.”
“Where is the car?” he demands. “Don’t make me ask again!”
“I—” Hesitation clusters in my chest. “Harris has it.”
Peter straightens up slightly. “And where’s Harris?”
“He’s back at the apartment he dragged us to, obviously,” I reply.
“Look, this is ridiculous. Harris didn’t trust me enough to bring the car but sent me to come and get you and the other guy which, by the way, it’s kind of weird that none of you ever refer to that guy by name.
But seriously…” Masks aside, Bradley bursts into my thoughts and my chest tightens.
“Screw Harris, screw all of this. We’re in some really deep shit here, Peter.
Like… Harris has got us involved in something so much more dangerous than we’ve ever been before! ”
A rumbling, electronic laugh rises up from behind Peter so I peer past him. The second Volto mask stands behind him, leaning against the doorframe with his fingers crossed, lacking shoes. I’m briefly distracted by his big toe protruding from his torn sock, and I grimace.
“Something funny?”
“You’ve no idea,” he replies, and then he’s swallowed from view by Peter moving in front of him.
“You should call Harris,” Peter says. “Let me talk to him.”
My heart begins to pound as if all the trapped emotion in my chest is using each beat to try and break out from my ribs. “I… can’t.”
“Can’t?” Peter tilts his head. “Or won’t?”
“Look, you know Harris. He gave me shit for even coming here, but I told him he wouldn’t understand because we’re siblings and we’ve always looked out for each other.”
“So you’re telling me you trusted Harris with a car full of diamonds?”
“I don’t trust that dick,” I reply immediately. “Not even for a second, but you’re more important to me than diamonds.”
“Then take me to him and the car.”
My lips part but no sound comes out. I thought Peter would be happy to see me, thought he’d be as eager to be free of this mess as I am, but he’s anything but, so the thought of getting in a car with him and telling him the truth makes my stomach twist.
“Forget Harris, okay? Forget Harris and the diamonds. We should take your car, take your share and just split, okay, because you… you don’t understand, Peter.”
“I don’t understand?” he snaps suddenly.
“What I don’t understand is why you’re here and Harris isn’t.
Why have you abandoned a car with more diamonds than we’ll ever see again in this lifetime?
Millions of dollars, Zirconia, are you thick?
Are you so fucking stupid that you think I would care about anything other than the sheer fortune we have? ”
“I’m not stupid, but you fucking are!” I snap back, and my blood warms. “Listen to yourself! You’re talking through a fucking hole in your head, that’s for sure, because you don’t understand! People are hunting us, Peter!”
“Cop’s ain’t shit,” Peter scoffs, earning a bar of approval from the man behind him.
“Not cops!” I prod his chest sharply with one finger.
“The Mafia are hunting us, Peter. The honest-to-God Mafia. Do you have any idea what that means? What those people are capable of? They’re cruel and twisted, and dammit, Peter, they make their entire careers out of being criminals, so two regular people like us?
We’re nothing but a smear to them, but we pissed them off, all because of Harris. They’re hunting us, do you get that?”
“The Mafia?” Mocking disbelief floods Peter’s voice. “Are you listening to yourself right now?”
“This isn’t a joke!” My voice raises and a sudden pulse of anger flashes hot across my chest. Fighting the tension, I pace around the room weaving an awkward path back and forth from the table to the window.
“Peter, this is so fucking serious. These people will kill us, do you get that? They will take us and torture us and cut us into tiny pieces and no one will ever hear from us again, and I get it, the diamonds are alluring and I’m sure Harris has some kind of shit on you, but whatever it is… ”
“Zirconia—”
“No!” I rush at him and grab his hand. “Whatever it is, we’ll work through it, okay?
Just like everything else we’ve had to battle through.
This is just another hurdle and that’s fine.
Whatever you did, whatever he thinks you did?
It’s not worth it compared to what those men will do when they catch us for what we’ve done.
And if you’re determined, then hell, we take a handful of the diamonds and run! ”
It’s the best solution, and I’m preparing all sorts of alluring promises and more just to get him to come with me.
“You’ve no idea, do you?” Peter murmurs. “You’re so fucking clueless.”
“Me?” I snatch my hand away. “Are you insane? Are you actually insane, because this isn’t me trying to scare you.
I’m trying to save you. Trying to save us like I always do because it always comes down on me to fix everything, so for once, Peter, just make it easy for me!
And take off that fucking mask because I am sick of listening to that scratchy voice! ”
Peter starts to laugh, as does the man behind him, and my irritation swells like an overfilled balloon. Unable to stop myself, I shove him away from me with a yell.
“Are you high right now? Or are you drunk, because you’re acting like such a dick, so let me tell you something.
Harris is dead, alright? That’s why I don’t have the car and why I’m here telling you that we need to run!
Dangerous people are after us, Harris is dead, and if we’re not careful, then we’ll be next because the people he stole from will take their revenge, and they won’t care that we got roped into it. ”
Peter’s laughter abruptly cuts off for a moment, then he starts laughing harder.
Tears of frustration spring into my eyes and I surge at him, reaching for that blasted mask, eager to remove it so I can slap some sense into him.
The moment never comes. Peter holds out his arm and blocks my reaching fingers, but his laughter remains as he hooks his other hand under the mask and slowly lifts it.
My palm tingles, poised to slap him stupid for how utterly reckless and ridiculous he’s being, but as the mask lifts, my urge to lash out fades in a single heartbeat.
It’s not the familiar twist of my brother’s lips or his overly large nose or his thin, wiry brows that greet me when the mask falls away, and electronic laughter turns into cold, human mirth.
It’s not Peter at all.
Harris stares back at me, and as shock washes across my expression, Harris cackles harder.
“What… what the fuck?” I gasp painfully.