Chapter 68. Dahlia
DAHLIA
Elmsford, New York Nine Months Earlier
“Teddy, look at all these people waiting in line.”
“He get us VIP passes or something? Not freezing my balls off out here.”
Cody pops out of the front door just as we drive up.
I unlock his door and he pulls it open.
“Got your text, what’s up?”
He slides into the passenger side and fist-bumps Teddy in the back seat. “I’ve just got to do this one thing before the show. It won’t take long.”
I huff. “Good to see you too. I see you’ve missed us.”
“Yeah, when we gonna meet the bitchin’ missus?” Teddy quips.
Cody looks back at the entrance as we pull away.
“Soon, family. Things have been rough with Brynn’s parents, like I told you, but after tonight, all will be good.
I’ll get in with the famous Gallardos and then I’ll be able to help you guys too.
No more working all these extra jobs. Dahl, take the Saw Mill. ”
I side-eye him. “Why do you keep looking at your phone?”
“Watching an app so we time it right. Pull a U-turn at the break in the median.”
“Ahh, I’m pretty sure that’s reserved for cops.” I make no attempt to hide my sarcasm.
“Just do it, Dahl.”
I do, but I don’t like it. “Are you going to tell us what this is about, Code?”
“Hijinks and intrigue. Like old times!” Teddy stretches his arms overhead, pressing himself back into his seat.
“Where did they go?” Cody leans closer to the windshield.
“Who? Teddy, any idea what’s going on?” I glance in my rearview.
“Not the slightest, babe.”
Cody shifts in his seat. “There they are! Speed up. See the car ahead? Come up next to it where the highway straightens . . . get ready to gun it . . . now!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cody pulling up his hoodie and covering his face. Our car edges up beside the other vehicle. Cody reaches over and jerks the steering wheel from my hands. We swerve into their lane.
The two people in the other car jump and turn their heads, mouths splayed open. I can see the whites of the man’s bulging eyes behind the wheel.
I push Cody away and veer back into our lane. “Stop! What are you doing?”
He stares into his side mirror.
I look over my shoulder. “Where did they go?”
A loud wailing noise fills the car.
I flinch.
“Oh . . . holy fucking god . . . No! Fuck, fuck. Their car flipped. Holy shit!”
I grip the steering wheel harder. “What the hell was that? Do you know them?”
He slaps the dashboard. “Exit here, exit here!”
My eyes fill. “Stop yelling at me! I’m freaking out, Cody!”
“Brynn’s parents . . .” His voice lowers. “Loop around. I need to make sure they’re okay.”
“This is how you ‘get in’ with them, by running them off the road? What’s gotten into you?” I glare.
Cody clasps the back of his neck, swearing under his breath.
Teddy gapes, speechless.
A couple minutes later, I pull off to the side in the spot where we last saw their car and cut the lights. Hands trembling, I take my last cigarette out of the pack in the center console and light it.
Cody slams his body against the seat and headrest. He keeps doing it.
“Code, man, stop!” Teddy takes a hold of his shoulders. “Dahl, do something!”
I draw a sharp breath. “Cody, chill. You’re going to hurt yourself . . . Here.” I shove my cigarette in his face.
He stops flailing, grabs the cigarette, and takes a drag. Then another.
I sigh. “So what’s going on?”
He exhales the smoke toward his window. “I’ll tell you, I promise. But first I have to go check on them.” He throws open the car door and jumps out.
“Hey, my cigarette!” I call out. “Great. Teddy, you got any on you?”
“What the hell was that?” He taps his open pack of Marlboros on my shoulder.
I grab a smoke, sink the tip into the blue flame of my lighter, and inhale. Leaning back, I blow a smokestack over my head. “He hasn’t acted like this since he lived with those sadists.”
Teddy hisses through his teeth. He rubs his hands together. “They got food there tonight?”
I check my phone. “I think so. Come on, Code, let’s go already.”
The trunk pops open. I hear Cody mumbling to himself and moving things around. He runs back to their car.
I shake my head.
A loud noise rattles the car.
“Whoa! What the hell was that?”
Teddy jumps. “Their car’s on fire, it’s on fire!”
“Where’s Cody?” I scream. “Do you see him? Where the hell is he?”
“Lemme find him. Wait here and call for help.” He slams the door and I lose sight of him.
I hear him shouting Cody’s name. Call for help?
And tell them what, we just killed two people?
I slip my phone into my pocket and suck down my cigarette.
Seconds tick by. My heart thumps out of my chest. I watch the burning car, mesmerized by the flames shooting into the sky.
I blink a few times, squinting at what I’m seeing.
Are those shadows or real people climbing out of that car? Maybe they did make it.
“Dahlia!”
My body starts working again; I swing open my door.
“I found him! The blast knocked him down. He’s awake. Come help me carry him to the car.”
I fly over to them.
“Ah’rite, buddy, we got ya,” Teddy croons. “The ambulance coming?”
I don’t answer.
We lay him across the back seat under the car’s dome light, his body like a rag doll. The blood vessels in his eyes look ruptured, the skin around them is swelling.
I rub his arms and legs. “Come on, Code!”
He turns his face toward me; his eyes drift somewhere past my shoulder.
I repeat his name.
He searches for me again. His lips move without sound.
I lean in. “I’m here, Code. I’m here.”
He chokes. “Brynn . . . I need to call her.” He drapes a limp hand on the front of his jeans.
I slide it out. My hand shakes as I type in my birthday. The screen unlocks. I find her name in recent calls and steady the phone next to his ear.
“Where the hell are you?” Her voice comes through in a sharp whisper. “Hello? They bumped us to play after the next break. Is everything taken care of? Did your friend do it?”
I drop the phone like I’ve been stung.
Her ranting continues.
Venom pours from my eyes onto Cody’s face. A scream threatens to escape. I bite my knuckles. His backstabbing knife twists some more inside of me.
I reach down and end the call. “Does she mean me?” I burst out crying.
“I would never have asked you . . . I did this for us . . . our family.” His voice drops out. Trails of tears stream down his face.
“She told you to kill her parents?”
He swallows, wincing. “To . . . stop them.”
Teddy reappears with a tire iron in his hand. He throws it in the trunk and slams it shut before climbing into the car. “Hello? Earth to Dahlia. Did you call 911?”
“No, I-I . . .”
“This is not the time to wig out.” He pulls out his phone.
“Wait!”
“Cody needs our help!”
“Did her parents make it?”
He stares at me for a long beat, then shakes his head.
“I was the one driving. People will think I caused the accident.”
“What are you talking about?” he cries, his eyes wild.
“They’ll think I ran their car off the road.”
“Didn’t you?”
“Cody did! He pulled the steering wheel from me. You saw him!”
“I was on my phone. I looked up when the car jerked sideways. You guys were screaming at each other . . . thought he was giving you grief again about your driving.”
“Shit! What am I going to do? I didn’t cause this and now her parents are—oh my god—the cigarette.
I passed Cody my cigarette to calm him down.
He left the car with it hanging out of his mouth.
When he opened the trunk he was talking.
Remember? What if he ditched it near their car and caused the explosion? Her parents died because of me!”
“Shhh . . . breathe, Dahl. We’ll figure something out. Hey buddy, you still with us? Come on, Cody, talk. Say something.”
I pull the front of Teddy’s jacket toward me. “You have blood on you.”
He looks down at his hands then Cody. “The side of his head . . . it was wet.”
I gag, squeezing my lips between my thumb and forefinger. “His b-blood.” Tears cloud my vision. I go for Teddy’s phone again.
He shoves my hand away, wiping underneath his nose. He turns his back and dials. “Silas, it’s me. Hold up, hold up. We got a problem.”