Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
So I won’t be going on any list for ‘world’s best gangster’ or anything. I brought Princess to the let’s-jump-this-freak meeting.
Okay, I’m a lot scared.
I’m just gonna get Logan to help me with Arthur.
How? I’m not exactly sure. I can’t intervene in a way Arthur would know it’s me or do anything that could fall back on Maddox.
Of course, I could just off Arthur. I thought about it.
But I have this awful feeling that Maddox would get mad like Tyler did, but even worse.
And maybe he wouldn’t talk to me again. And I can’t risk that.
But I have to do something. And I’m sure Logan has ideas. Right?
My skin gets hot with a mixture of excitement and fear.
What am I doing? Questioning every decision is what I’m doing.
Sometimes I wish that self-aware part of me would zip it because it really wars with the healthy dose of stupid I also have.
But if I can bring a little bit of justice where it should have been in the first place…
I’m gonna do it with a smile on my face, because duh I’m happy to do it and smiles make everything better.
I’m not sure if that makes me a good person or the villain.
I don’t really care.
So, I tuck Princess up under my arm as emotional support and head into the shop.
Logan is sitting back in one of the seats, arm thrown over his eyes.
Dakota is standing behind him, arms crossed, and Ronan is pacing when I walk in, the little bell tinkling as fast as my heart is racing. I think I might puke.
All three of them fix me with a look when I walk in. Dakota is serious, Logan is annoyed, and Ronan…has a dark kind of excitement. Then his gaze flits to Princess in my arms.
”Fuck yeah, he brought the skunk!”
Logan groans.
I clutch Princess closer to my chest, but he’s having none of it. He scrambles to get free.
“Do safety regulations mean nothing to you?” Logan is staring at Princess, who is doing his best to beat the world record of fastest upward and downward dogs.
“Can I hold him?” Ronan walks up to me, making puppy eyes at Princess.
No. No? I came here to ask them to help me fuck someone up, and they expect me to trust them with my best friend?
Princess nails me in the gut with his well-endowed nails and wiggles just right, exploding out of my arms. He leaps to the ground, escaping my retrieval attempt, blue tail fluffed in the air.
”Princess,” I hiss, but to no avail. Princess is now cosplaying the world’s most infuriating adventurer and is scrabbling all around the office, evading Ronan.
Pressing my lips together, I turn to Logan. He just raises an eyebrow.
“He’s my emotional support animal. He can be here.”
Dakota rubs the back of his neck.
Logan sighs. “Why are we here, Micah?”
I straighten, trying to find that angry confidence I felt earlier. As soon as I think of Maddox’s face when he thought I’d trapped him, it comes flooding back.
“Someone hurt my…” I pause. What is Maddox to me? I know what I want him to be. There’s an awkward silence, then I say, “Friend. And got away with it.”
Logan just raises an unimpressed eyebrow.
“Arthur Jeffries. He was charged with domestic violence, and the case was dropped.” As soon as the words are out, a rush of vulnerable anger fills me. This feels so intimate in a weird kind of way, like a secret that wasn’t meant to be spoken.
Logan just stares at me. Dakota pulls out his phone and starts texting, and for a second, I stare at him. Then my anger flares. Is Maddox’s story not enough to keep him entertained, even for a little while?
“And what do you want?”
“To hurt him back.” I don’t even have to think about the words; they just come out. Arthur is living a life free of consequence, and that’s not fair.
“Who do you think we are, exactly?” Logan’s gaze goes up and down my body.
“I…” I stare at him. Murderers? Is that what I really think of them? I have no proof. Maybe Logan is just…angry. Even if I did, am I just gonna come out and say it to their faces?
Holy fudge, this is all going wrong.
“Wait, can he eat that?” Ronan’s voice comes from across the store. I turn to see that Princess is chewing on the power cord to the front register.
Adrenaline floods my system. “Princess!” He doesn’t even flinch at my tone, just starts chewing faster. Before I can get there, Ronan swoops down and scoops Princess up. “Power cord chewing gum! I never thought of that before; you might be onto something.”
I move to rescue Princess from Ronan’s clutches, but Princess just makes a snort of protest and then lies there, letting Ronan carry him.
Ronan takes him to a chair and cuddles him like he’s holding a baby.
“Who’s the cutest little stinky in the world?
” Princess–the traitor that he is–soaks it up, reaching for Ronan’s hoodie string to chew.
I stare at them. Ronan glances up at me, winks, then goes back to Princess.
Princess is a good judge of character. Slowly, I swallow my fear that Ronan will do something to him, then turn back to Logan.
“Dakota’s a cop.” Logan has crossed his arms now. “We only do above-the-board things. I’m not sure why you’re coming to us for these issues.”
I stare at Logan, mouth wanting to drop open. Did he forget beating a guy to a pulp right here in this very room?
He watches me with dead eyes that say he does, in fact, remember; he’s just testing if I remember. And then I realize that I’m not supposed to remember. I’ve failed the test.
Now I’m a liability.
My chest tightens, and I take a step back, Logan tracking me with his gaze. Dakota continues to text, but tension fills the room.
“Sorry, I uh…” I glance at Princess, who is now attempting a hand-over-hand method to extract Ronan’s hoodie string. “I’ll just go.”
For a beat, everyone is silent. Then, Dakota turns his phone screen to the room. “Found him. Arthur Jeffries-s-s-s. Cop forgot to read him his Miranda rights.”
Logan’s face changes incrementally.
“Attempted strangulation. Victim Maddox McAllister.” He scrolls. “A history of calls to their address for disturbances.”
Strangulation? My stomach drops into my toes, and my entire body goes cold. He tried to kill Maddox? Quiet, kind Maddox? That can’t be true. Why would anyone try to hurt him? For a second, I’m not sure what to feel. I feel nothing except a turning in my stomach.
Then Logan’s voice drops an octave. “Apex?”
Dakota scrolls. “Uh, prosecutor is Dave Telly.” He’s quiet for a minute. “Yeah.”
Ronan’s goochie-gooing Princess and sing-songs, “Oh, it’s time to come out of retirement. Isn’t that right, handsome boy? Isn’t that right?”
I glance between all of them, too much information going on at once. Apex? What’s Apex?
Ronan gently grabs Princess’ front paws, chanting, “We’re gonna kill some bitches.” He waves them back and forth like Princess is getting down to the chanting. “We’re gonna kill some bitches.”
“Kill is a joke,” Dakota drones. “He’s joking.”
Righteous vindication falls over me. Arthur deserves to die. He tried to kill Maddox; why should he live? For a second, I sit in the glorious high of the feeling. Justice. It’s what Maddox deserves.
But is it what he wants?
I shove the feeling in the back of my mind. What will it hurt? Maddox isn’t around Arthur anymore, like Tyler was with her dad. If anything, it’s removing a skid mark from the earth.
My stomach cramps.
Yeah. Justice.