Chapter 1 #2
Ricky had gotten excited when he’d explained about that part and he’d looked to Jed for reassurance, which had me guessing this whole thing was likely Jed’s doing. Which made sense as we drove past one huge house after another. No way Ricky would have known anyone in this kind of neighborhood.
Hell, Ricky and I weren’t even good enough to mow these peoples’ lawns or wash their fancy cars.
I didn’t have time to dwell on how I’d gotten into this mess because the car suddenly slowed and I watched Jed flick off the headlights as he pulled over to the curb. Houses surrounded us on both sides so I had no idea which one was our target.
“Here,” Ricky snapped as he thrust something over the seat at me. I swallowed hard as I realized what it was.
A gun.
“No, Ricky,” I said and automatically covered my head when he lunged at me.
“Take the fucking gun, Levi.”
I knew that voice. It was his ‘I’m done fucking around’ voice.
I tried to stifle the whimper that crawled out of my throat as I took the revolver from him.
A shiver ran up my spine as the brief image of me turning the gun on him flitted through my mind.
But even if I’d had the balls to do it, my ridiculous hope was dashed when I heard Ricky tell Jed the gun wasn’t loaded when Jed asked if it was a good idea to be giving me the weapon.
“Mask, gloves,” Ricky ordered a moment later.
I watched in mute horror as both men pulled their ski masks on and worked gloves over their hands.
I needed to run. I couldn’t do this. I didn’t care if we were just taking money from a guy who had plenty of it to go around.
But even as I reached for the handle of the door with one shaky hand, my gaze fell to Ricky’s and I saw him watching me. The little bit of light streaming in from a nearby street lamp reflected off the knife in his hand and I knew what it meant. I understood his silent message loud and clear.
Didn’t matter that I was his brother, his blood…he’d kill me just the same.
Even knowing the gun wasn’t loaded, I carefully put it in my lap before putting on the gloves and then working the mask over my head. It felt itchy and hot against my chilled skin.
The car began moving again, but it only went a few dozen feet before turning into the driveway of one of the slightly smaller houses on the block.
Jed had left the headlights off, but I could still make out the house’s white siding and dark shutters.
It was the kind of house I’d dreamed of living in when I was a kid.
That was back before I’d realized dreams really didn’t come true, despite all the shit grown-ups told you.
My stomach crawled as I got out of the car. Ricky had already warned me not to close the door the whole way since it would make too much noise, so I only pushed it against the door frame enough so it would stay closed. I scanned the area around us, expecting the cops to jump out at any second.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted them to or not.
But when Ricky grabbed me as soon as I walked around to the other side of the car and wrapped his fingers around my throat, I knew I did want that.
I would have welcomed anyone stepping in at that moment…
even if it meant spending the rest of my life behind bars.
At least then I’d finally know what it was like to have a moment’s peace.
Ricky didn’t say anything as he held me like that. He didn’t have to. I heard him just fine through the painful pinch of his fingers and the stiffness of his frame as he loomed over me.
By the time he released me, I just wanted to get the whole thing over with so I could go home and crawl into my bed and find escape in the only place Ricky couldn’t reach me.
Of course, after tonight, I had no doubt that if I did manage to sleep, the events that were about to happen would plague my dreams, and Ricky would have a starring role.
Ricky released me with a hard shove that nearly had me falling to the ground.
I managed to catch myself against the car and then I docilely followed him and Jed around the side of the house.
The gun felt like it weighed a ton as I watched Jed pick the lock on the three-car garage’s side door.
Once we got inside, I took note of the three cars parked there, but it wasn’t until I heard Jed and Ricky’s muffled voices that I realized something was wrong and I forced myself to focus.
Horror dawned when I realized the topic of their conversation.
They too had noticed the cars and were talking about the likelihood that more than just the man was home and something about that not being part of the plan.
They argued furiously for several long seconds and then Jed was moving forward to shove open the door leading from the garage into the house.
“Ricky!” I began in a panic as I realized things had just gone from bad to worse .
Much, much worse.
“Shut the fuck up!” Ricky snarled before hitting the side of my head hard enough to have me seeing stars.
I was barely aware of anything as Ricky’s fingers closed around my arm and I was dragged into the house into what appeared to be a laundry room.
The only light came from a small flashlight Jed was carrying so I focused on it to try to get my bearings.
It wasn’t until we began climbing a set of stairs that my head cleared.
I followed Ricky’s silent order to go with Jed.
After that, chaos ensued as Jed went into a big bedroom and turned on the light.
The man in the bed startled awake, but Jed was on him before he could do anything more than sit up.
Jed hit him hard, then pointed his gun at the woman who was slowly waking up.
I was quaking - literally quaking - as I watched Jed force the crying couple out of bed.
“Please, don’t hurt my wife!” the man cried out as he tried to go around the bed to get to the woman.
“Shut the fuck up!” Jed snarled and then he hit the man in the head with the butt of the gun. The woman cried out and for the briefest of moments, her eyes connected with mine. I nearly threw up at the sight of her unspoken plea.
But I did nothing.
Not a fucking thing.
The woman rushed around to the other side of the bed and fell to her knees next to her husband. Blood was trickling down the side of his face.
“Please,” the woman sobbed as she cradled the man’s head against her body. “Tell us what you want!”
“I want you to shut the fuck up,” Jed bit out, his voice emotionless as he put his gun against the woman’s head.
She fell silent, her body wracked with sobs as her husband struggled to sit up. He seemed dazed, but he jerked upright suddenly and yelled, “Seth!”
I followed his gaze to just behind me and barely managed to stifle a hoarse shout at the sight of my brother dragging a teenage boy into the room, his gloved hand biting into the kid’s arm. The kid was sobbing as he called out to his parents.
“Shut up,” Ricky ordered as he put a gun to the kid’s head. The room instantly went eerily silent as everyone froze. Then Jed was moving. He dragged the father to his feet and the mother quickly followed. He shoved them forward.
“Downstairs!” was all he said and then Ricky was pulling the crying boy from the room. The parents stumbled past me as they hurried to keep their eyes on their son.
“Levi!” Jed yelled as he followed the parents from the room.
But I couldn’t move, couldn’t think as I just stood there.
I heard Jed call out to me again and I dimly wondered why he was using my name in the middle of a burglary.
And then it hit me.
Hard.
Because he wasn’t planning on leaving any witnesses behind who could repeat my name to the cops.
That was when I leaned over and threw up.
“Levi.”
Jed’s voice sounded wrong. Lighter. Gentler.
“Levi.”
I flinched when he started shaking me. I needed to get it together or Ricky would kill me for sure.
“Levi!”
I suddenly jerked awake and nearly fell off the bench. Reality quickly returned as Carl’s worried face came into focus. I scanned the bus and saw the few other passengers staring at me in confusion.
“Sorry, Carl,” I said as I straightened.
“It’s your stop, buddy,” Carl said softly as he motioned out the window. I nodded and repeated the apology as I stumbled to my feet.
“You okay?” Carl asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” I responded. “Thanks,” I added as I pushed past him. Not once in the year I’d been riding the bus had I ever actually fallen asleep, despite the near constant state of exhaustion I lived in. “I’ll see you later,” I murmured as I hurried off the bus, not sparing Carl another glance.
I was still too rattled by the fact that I’d had my regular nightmare in the daytime .
Of course, I supposed it didn’t count as a nightmare since every bit of the events of that night were true.
I felt cold all over as the rain pelted my body.
It was only another two-block walk to St. Anthony’s, but it felt like a mile.
Unlike my walk from the apartment to the bus stop, I wasn’t paying the least bit attention to my surroundings as I ducked down the alley that led to the back of the church and the entrance to the kitchen.
So, I didn’t see him until I was practically on top of him.
“Hello, Princess. Miss me?”