Chapter 10
CASH
EVERYONE seems to have taken the news of losing their jobs fairly well.
Some have asked if they can get hired on full time with the legal side of the company, and I have no problem with that.
If I can keep them happy, then our secret remains safe.
Plus, I already know what kind of workers they will be.
As I listen to everyone chatting amongst themselves, my mind drifts to Hazel and what she is thinking as she sits alone in Dale’s office with only the TV to keep her company.
I didn’t want her involved any more than she is, and I didn’t want her knowing that we are giving up our side quest just yet.
Telling her is one thing, showing her is another.
I want everything to be completely over so I can prove to her that I’m done with this shit.
I don’t want any doubts lingering in her mind.
I would like to say that she’s the only reason I’m doing this.
But, once again, I’m being selfish and doing all this for myself.
Somehow, meeting her made me veer off course.
Had I never met her, I’d still be traveling down the same path, shrouded in greed and instant gratification.
Instead, I was blindsided by her, and I’m tripping all over myself to not let her slip away. What the fuck is happening to me?
Hazel still wants to go home. I don’t want her to go anywhere.
I meant what I said, about wanting her to live and not just survive, but if I could trap her in my house forever and keep her to myself, I would.
I want her to live for me. I want her to breathe for me.
I want her forever. I’m no different than Phil.
We both want to own her; we both want to control her in our own way.
I want her wild; he wants her subdued. I want to hold onto her reigns, knowing she willingly gives me the power to use them; Phil wants to use them against her.
Regardless, we’re both using her for our own selfish desires. We’re equally tainting her.
I run my hand over my face and fight the urge to go check on her.
The meeting will be over soon, and I will have all the time in the world to rectify my mistakes and make her crave me.
Well, I will if she won’t fight me on staying longer.
She’s so fucked up right now that the slightest thing could push her further away and make her hate me.
I wouldn’t hesitate to lock her ass up and show her how much I need her until the Hazel I fell for came back to me.
Hell, I’m not even sure I want that Hazel back now.
If that’s not fucked up, I don’t know what is.
Goddamn, Phil and I are looking more and more like twins every day.
“I’m gonna see what’s taking Joseph so long,” Dale says, breaking me from my thoughts.
He’s ready to get the hell out of here too.
As I watch him exit the room, a feeling of unease settles around me.
I brush it off as wanting to get to Hazel and make sure she didn’t call Cady to tell her what is going on.
I don’t want her friends knowing about us dealing Snap.
It will all be over soon enough, and we can bury the whole mess.
A few minutes later, I hear feet pounding up the hall toward us. Dale flies through the door, and everyone’s conversations come to halt. I push to my feet, immediately wondering what the hell is going on.
“Everyone go home. We will call you when we are ready to do paperwork,” he says out of breath. Everyone just stands there dumbfounded. “Now!” he frantically yells.
The workers quickly stand and begin making their way out the door, glancing at Dale as if he’s lost his mind. I’m starting to wonder if he has.
“Carl and Brad, you two stay,” Dale yells as he walks over to the laptop and turns it on.
The two men join me at the table, seeming just as bewildered as I am.
“What the fuck is going on, Dale?” Trepidation laces my voice and my body.
“Joseph. He’s…I can’t find him.” Dale glances up at me, his expression full of fear. “Hazel’s gone too.”
My heart stops, and all sound is erased with a muffling swoosh in my ears.
Dale’s lips move, but I can’t hear what he’s saying.
He’s pointing at the laptop screen, screaming at me.
Before I know it, I’m ripping the door open to Dale’s office only to discover it empty just like he said.
In the middle of the room is a lab suit discarded on the floor.
I pick it up, and Samuel’s employ number is stitched on the breast pocket.
“That fuckin’ cocksucker!”
As I reach the office door to search the factory, Dale yells at me. “Fucking look!”
He sets the laptop on the desk as Carl and Brad come to a stop next to him. “I don’t want to watch; I want to find them!”
He clicks to one of the outdoor cameras, and we watch as Phil points a gun at Joseph before Hazel hits the ground. I check the time, and it was almost ten minutes ago.
“We have to fucking go! Now,” I shout, getting up in Dale’s face. “I’m going to get my gun. Carl and Brad, get your asses on the road now and find that fucking car! Just follow, I’m taking care of that prick myself.”
They bolt from the office, running faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. I go to my office and find the gun I keep hidden there and grab all the ammo I have. Dale bursts through the door carrying his as well.
“What’s the plan, Cash?” Dale asks as I push past him to get to the parking lot.
“Use your imagination,” I toss over my shoulder.
“Fuck,” he mumbles out of breath, sprinting to keep up with me.
When we get to the parking lot, he runs ahead of me and stands in front of the driver’s side door. “You’re not driving like this, man. You’ll fucking kill us.”
“I’ll fucking kill you if you don’t move.”
The deep rumble that emanates from me is one I’ve never heard. I have never felt so in control in my life. Dale stares at me as if he doesn’t even know me. He lowers his chin in defeat and rounds the car to get in the passenger side.
“No, you go find Samuel and bring him to me. He had one chance, and he fucking blew it.”
Dale nods and walks over to his car. We both leave going in opposite directions.
I hit the interstate, my hands gripping the steering wheel, and instinctively head toward Trinity.
I may not trust my gut like I should, but I’m not stupid.
He came for the formula. What could possibly be better than that?
Someone who makes it. I don’t know how he knew Hazel was here, but I’ll find out soon enough.
Weaving in and out of traffic, I eye every single car that resembles the one on the video. Who knows where the hell they are now. I’ll never forgive myself if Phil does something to either one of them. This shit was supposed to end tonight. How could I let this happen?
My phone rings, and I dig it out of my back pocket.
“What?” I shout into the phone as I focus to keep my attention on the road.
“You alright, man?”
Fuck, it’s Bobby. He’s called several times over the last two days checking up on Hazel.
I had reassured him she was just fine, but he’s asked to talk to her.
He cares about her; I get it. But if Hazel knows that he was in on us taking her, she will be pissed at him too.
Neither one of us needs that shit right now.
We did it to protect her. Look how well that turned out.
“No, not really,” I respond.
“What’s going—”
“Did you ever get in contact with Dustin?”
“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I’m calling,” he says quickly. “Is Hazel okay?”
“What did Dustin say?” I ask, delaying the inevitable confession.
“That Phil will need extra guys and is interested in meeting with me soon.”
I hold back the shout that wants to escape my mouth.
As excited as I am to discover where Phil’s been hiding so I can put a fucking bullet in his head, I’m scared shitless how long that could take to get the information.
If I can’t find Hazel immediately, I will have to rely on Bobby to find out for me and to keep his fucking cool.
I don’t know if he can pull that shit off in front of Phil without him realizing why he’s there.
“Cash, what’s going on? You’re scaring me, man.”
“I’m heading back to Trinity now. Where’s the safest place to meet, so you aren’t seen with me?”
He names some truck stop outside of Swanson, and I agree to meet him there. “You gonna tell me what’s really going on now?”
“Long story short, Phil took Hazel and my best friend. I’ll explain when I get there.”
I pull the phone back as a long line of curses almost burst my eardrum before silence extends down the line.
“You said you would keep her safe,” he mutters.
“I know,” I growl as my hand tightens on the wheel. “I failed.”
I end the call. All that anger bubbling back up again has me slamming my phone down in the cup holder.
I swore to Bobby I’d keep Hazel safe. That was the only way he’d help me get her out of town and make sure she was far from where Phil could find her—and out of that bedroom she had trapped herself in, reliving that shit every day.
Her being there wasn’t healthy, and it wasn’t safe.
I promised her that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her, that I would find him and take care of it.
I failed them both, miserably. Now Hazel and Joseph will suffer by Phil’s hand, and it’s all my fault.
I never should have left town. I should have confronted Hazel when I found the formula and ended that shit then.
Planning in hindsight’s a bitch. Not gonna happen again. This time, when I find him, I’m gonna fucking kill him. Shoot first and fuck the questions, because, quite frankly, I’m fucking tired of them.
HAZEL