Chapter 13 #2
“As for next season, you guys will find out in due time.” I wave and keep walking. Their attention shifts to Hen and Greene leaving, and I use the reprieve to exit the arena and walk to my car.
I’m pleasantly surprised when Wraith is already there waiting for me.
“Good game, D-Man.”
“Thanks.”
“How’s your lip?”
“Just fine.”
“Good.” He grips my chin, and I think he’s going to pull me in for a kiss, but he doesn’t. “You’re so fucking sexy on the ice.”
“You’re fucking sexy all the time.”
A gorgeous smile tugs at his lips as his eyes heat. “Want to go fuck?”
“Hell yeah. I haven’t thought of anything else since you texted me earlier.”
“Same. I’ll ride with you.”
Nodding, I press the key fob to unlock the door. It’s a little milder tonight than it has been, the promise of spring on the horizon, but I’m still shivering, and I’m pretty sure it’s not because of the temperature.
Wraith joins me in the car, and as I pull out of the parking lot, I glance over at him.
“You’re an interesting man.”
He chuckles. “I am?”
“Kind of mysterious, but somehow you still seem like an open book. Which is it?”
“You’d have to tell me. I’m not keeping secrets.”
Hmm. I guess that could be true. Sure feels like he is though. Like he has some kind of secret life I’m not privy to, but then why would I be? This is a hookup situation and nothing more.
“Can’t wait to take you apart,” he purrs, his voice deep and raspy.
I clear my throat as my cock stiffens. “Would you let me fuck you?”
“Yep.” He pops the P, smirking at me. “You want my ass, Bouche?”
“I want both. All of it. Everything.”
“I can work with that.”
My phone rings through the Bluetooth speaker and my heart races when I see Boone’s name on the display. Wraith looks too, and as uneasy as it makes me, there’s no way anyone can connect Boone to me.
I hit the answer button. “Boone. What’s up?”
“Where are you? At Chirps?”
“Nah. On my way home. Is something wrong?”
“Um, no, I don’t think… no.”
My body stiffens. “Tell me the truth. Are you in trouble?”
He’s silent for a minute. “No.”
I don’t believe him for a second. When I glance at Wraith, he seems like he’s looking out the window in an attempt to give me at least a bit of privacy.
“Boone, come on. If you need help, you need to tell me.”
“Someone’s following me, Pax.”
Adrenaline spreads through me, chilling my blood to the bone. “What do you mean?”
“I kind of did something, but it’s not bad. Well, it’s bad but it was for a good reason.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. Hold on. Let me pull over.”
I maneuver across two lanes and pull into the parking lot of a shopping center. Once we’re stopped, Wraith pats my thigh.
“I can get out for a minute,” he offers softly.
I shake my head. “It’s okay.” Wraith won’t get any details out of this, and even if he did, I don’t think he’d do anything with it. What’s he gonna do? Go to the media about my family problems? No. He wouldn’t do that. I don’t know how I know, but I just do.
“You’re with someone,” Boone says. “Shit, Pax. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Okay, so remember the job I got when I first came back to Mistone?”
“Yeah, the construction job.”
“Right. So, um, the owner is into some pretty bad shit. He tried to pull me into it, and when I said no…” Boone stops speaking for a moment and I hear him release a shaky breath.
“Boone?”
“He, um, he had some guys beat me up. That’s why I didn’t see you for a couple of weeks.”
“Fuck. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“’Cause you can’t do anything about it. It’s my problem.”
“Is he still after you?”
“I quit the job, right, but he wasn’t gonna let me just walk away knowing what I knew. I had to go back and pretend everything was good.”
My stomach churns with stress until Wraith reaches out and squeezes my shoulder.
“Go on.”
“I did it, Pax. I proved to him that I was loyal and I collected so much information. He’s trafficking people. Drugs too. He works with this Irish dude and they ship people off to Miami. After that, they go all over the world.”
“Fuck.”
“I knew I’d be dead if I went to the cops, but I had to get away from him, so I… Fuck. I messed up.”
“What did you do?”
“I took off and I tried to get money from him so I could disappear. I thought it was gonna work, but the last few weeks, there’s been two different guys following me.
One of them found my apartment but the other one doesn’t seem to know where I live.
I saw him around the arena. Maybe he knows I’m your brother. ”
“No one knows that. He was at the rink?”
“I’m pretty sure. I didn’t want to cause you any trouble. That’s why I haven’t been back to a game.”
I rub my forehead. I don’t even know what to do.
“Where are you now?”
“At a hotel out of town. I wanted you to know that I’m okay but I gotta hide out.”
“And then what? Do you think they’ll just go away?”
“I don’t fucking know, Pax, but I can’t be at home right now.”
“Okay, let me send you some money, at least.”
“I don’t need any right now.”
“But you will. Hotels add up. Let me fucking help you, Boone.”
He’s silent for a few seconds, and then I hear his quiet sobs.
“Fuck, man. I really tried to clean up my life, you know? I’m still sober.
Not even a drink. Nothing. I thought this was gonna be a good job for me, and then…
I couldn’t just ignore it, you know? I saw the fear in their eyes.
Th-the victims. One of them begged me to help.
How could I not try? It’s so fucked up, because I can’t help them and now I’m in trouble too. ”
Pressing my forehead to my steering wheel, I consider what to say next, but I don’t have a clue. Then Wraith moves, rubbing my thigh, and I’m reminded of his presence. He’s heard all of this.
“Do they have your phone number?” Wraith asks Boone, the calm determination in his voice surprising me.
“Who are you?” Boone asks.
“Your brother’s friend. Do they know it?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you need to stop using it. They could be tracking it.”
“Uh, o-okay.”
“Can you go somewhere and get a burner phone so you can stay in contact with Pax?”
“I can do that, yeah.”
“Do that as soon as possible. Don’t tell anyone, not even Pax, where you’re at until you get the new phone. Just in case they’re listening.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t stay in one place for too long. Especially where you are now. Again, in case they’ve been tracking you.”
“Do I know you? You sound familiar.”
Watching Wraith’s face, I notice the slight scrunch of his brow, but it’s gone quickly.
“I don’t think we know each other.”
“Right. Probably not. There’s a drugstore not far from here. I can probably get a phone there.”
“What are you driving?” I ask.
“A rental.”
“Good,” Wraith says. “No way you’re being tailed then.”
I study his face, wondering exactly how he knows what to do in this unusual situation. He’s as calm as if he were talking about laundry.
“Did they agree to anything or try to get you to meet them somewhere?” Wraith asks.
“Not yet. The boss was being nice, so I thought he might just pay me off and let me go, but then I noticed this dude following me. He’s kind of short but he’s super muscular and he has jet-black hair that’s shaved like if he was in the military. I saw him three times.”
“You said you thought there was more than one guy?” I ask.
“Yeah, a few weeks ago this other guy started popping up in places. Well, actually just at Magnets games.”
“Fuck.”
“That’s why I think someone knows I’m related to you. Either that or they know I come to home games.”
Wraith’s jaw twitches in a way that catches my attention, and I’d swear he looks a little pale. A few weeks? That’s about the time I met Wraith at Chirps.
There’s no way though, right? No fucking way that Wraith is stalking my brother.
“You’ve been on the phone too long,” Wraith says suddenly. “If someone is tracking you, you’re making it easier.”
“Okay. I’ll go get the phone and call you back. Uh, thanks for your help.”
Wraith nods at me, averting his eyes, and a sick feeling settles in my stomach.
“Call back as soon as you can, Boone. I’m here for you.”
“I know. Thanks.”
The call ends and I sit back in my seat, my mind spinning from everything I just heard, but the bigger issue is the mysterious man sitting next to me.
“How did you know that stuff? The advice you gave Boone. How did you know?”
He blows out a breath, still avoiding my gaze. “Part of my job.”
I was afraid that was the answer. “Are you… Fuck, Wraith. Are you following my brother?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t looking for a guy named Boone.”
“But you were looking for a guy? Fuck.”
He nods, his jaw clenching. “Patrick Gemelli.”
My heart feels like it’s going to explode. “Patrick Gemelli.” I nod as this information settles over me. “You work with sex traffickers?”
“No.” Wraith’s tone is clear and firm. “Fuck no. I don’t even know who the client is. I only know who the target is.”
“The target? Patrick Gemelli is the target?”
“Yes. Bouche, I didn’t know. I didn’t know until right this minute.”
“Fuck you.” I turn to him. “Just fuck you. You think I believe that you just happened to hook up with me when you’re out to get my brother? What were you gonna do when you found him?”
Wraith’s expression in response to that question makes me feel even sicker.
“What are you?” I demand.
He shrugs. “I’m a hit man, Bouche.”
“A hit man. As in you fucking kill people?”
He nods, having the decency to look a little sheepish.
I’m sitting next to a killer. A man who wants to murder my brother.
“Get the fuck out of my car.”
“Bouche, wait—”
“Get out.”
“Would you let me explain something?”
“Explain? Dude. The fuck out of here with that. I should call the cops.”
“You don’t want to do that.”
The way his voice drops sends a foreboding shiver down my spine. “Why? Are you gonna kill me now?”
He flinches and has the nerve to look wounded. “No, of course not. I don’t walk around randomly taking people out. It’s a job.”
“A job,” I scoff. I grab his collar, wrapping my fist around the material of his coat. “Get the fuck away from me.”
“No.” Wraith holds my gaze, his dark eyes seeing right through the deepest part of me.
I could punch his face in, beat the fuck out of him, but I can’t seem to get myself to make the move.
“I’ll go when you listen to me. If, after you hear what I have to say, you don’t want to see me again, I can make that happen.”
“I can already tell you there’s nothing you can say that will make me want to see you again.”
“You sure about that?” He flicks his tongue out, dragging it over my lips. The move makes my cock jerk but my anger rise even more.
“Stop that.”
“You know I wouldn’t hurt you. You know, Bouche.”
“I don’t know shit, apparently, except that you targeted me to get to my brother.”
“I fucking didn’t.” He raises his voice, gripping my wrist. “I had no clue you were connected to him.” Wraith leans in so close it’s hard to maintain eye contact. “Drive.”
“Where?”
“Your place. We’ll talk.”
“I’m not comfortable with that.”
“Dude, I already know where you live.”
Fuck, he’s right. Am I really gonna drive him back to my place and listen to whatever bullshit he plans to feed me? Do I actually have a choice?
“Bouche, listen to your instincts. You can believe me.”
I put the car in drive and pull forward. I need to know what he knows about my brother and the only way I’m going to figure that out is by talking to him.
Wraith puts his hand on my thigh, but I shove it off. “Don’t touch me.”
He exhales loudly but keeps his hands in his lap while I finish the drive to my place. When we get there, I exit the car filled with foreboding. Wraith could put a bullet in me right now, call my brother back, and find out where he is. It’s too late now though. I’m cornered.
Fuck.