Page 36 of Warped

She grabbed it and jumped for the wall. I gave her a shove from behind, appreciating the firmness of her ass and thighs beneath my hands. I discovered that even when I was in imminent threat of being shot, I was still able to think of her in such a way.

How did she think of me?

Her fine butt and legs had vanished over the top of the wall, so I grabbed onto the rope myself, using the knots tied down its length as handholds, and pulled myself up as well. I traversed the top, swinging my leg over the other side. Vee was standing on the ground on the other side, staring up at me, impatience dancing in her dark eyes.

A sudden memory hit me, the image of her standing in a motel room, spinning toward me as I entered, the look in those dark eyes. Of her shouting at me, asking me where I’d been, of me comforting her when she’d thought I had abandoned her. Vee, I always called her Vee, never Verity. The memory made me catch my breath, and pause, remaining sitting on top of the wall.

“What are you doing?” she hissed up at me.

“I remembered something. I remembered something about you.”

Another gunshot came from behind and hit the wall right below me, brick and concrete pinging out, and I didn’t have time to dwell on it any further. “Shit.” Instead of pulling the rope up, I just jumped down the other side, as Vee must have done. I hit the ground and kept running, catching Vee’s hand again and pulling her with me.

The car was parked a couple of blocks away. I hoped Tony’s men wouldn’t chase us and shoot us in the street, but I wouldn’t put it past them. I also hoped they’d be more worried about the numerous people at the front of the property and would stay to deal with them before chasing after us.

I stopped by the car, bent over, wheezing air into my lungs. My throat felt tight, my chest burning. I hated that I still wasn’t back to my full strength. There was nothing more frustrating than both my mind and body not working right.

“You okay?” Vee asked, a line of worry appearing between her brows.

I nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Using Harvey’s keys, I unlocked the car. She jumped into the passenger side, while I got behind the wheel. I’d take her back to Harvey’s apartment. I couldn’t waste any emotion on feeling bad that we’d be using a dead man’s home, a man who’d only tried to help me. I couldn’t dwell on the fact Harvey would be alive now if he hadn’t helped me get Vee back.

The street was deserted as I pulled the car away from the curb and drove the route back to Harvey’s place. My foot was heavy on the accelerator, wanting to push the car faster, but I knew we couldn’t risk being stopped by the police for speeding. I was driving a dead man’s car, and was armed. Putting the ‘killer for hire’ past I apparently had behind me, that would be enough on its own to get me arrested.

I glanced over at Vee as I drove. She sat with her hand covering her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

“I can’t believe I’ve left Nickie. What have I done? She’s never going to forgive me.”

“I don’t know your sister, but she looked like she had her mind made up. Surely she’ll forgive you for making your own choice as well.”

She removed her hand from her eyes and stared at me, her eyes searching my face. I saw sadness in them. “How much do you remember?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Not much. Though I’ve been getting flashes.”

“I wish you remembered what I’d told you.” She gave a cold laugh. “I’ve never spoken to anyone about the things I’ve done, no one until you, that is. It’s kind of ironic that now you can’t remember anything I said.”

I could tell she was hurt by the fact the one person she’d confided in hadn’t cherished her words enough to protect them. It hadn’t been my fault, yet I still felt responsible.

I pulled over the car outside of Harvey’s apartment block, relieved to find a parking spot nearby, and led Vee through the lobby and up to his place. It was strange he wouldn’t be coming back here again. Had he wondered if he would when he’d left with me that afternoon?

Shutting the door behind us, I went into the kitchen. “You want a drink?” I asked, pulling open the cupboards, figuring Harvey must have kept some booze in here somewhere. After being shot at again, I figured I needed it.

Vee appeared in the open doorway. She leaned against the frame, the side of her head rested against it. “Yeah. I could use something strong.”

I found a bottle of whiskey and a couple of glasses.

Another memory struck me. Vee sitting on a step outside of a building, drinking an amber liquid from a glass while I hid across the alley and watched her. I’d been holding something—a gun. I’d been planning to kill her, I remembered that now. But something had stopped me.

“That night when I was watching you and I was going to kill you, something prevented me. What was it?”

She winced at me saying I was going to kill her. “You remember?”

“Parts of it. Things seem to be coming back to me, but they’re in flashes. It’s like I’m watching a movie in my head, but someone has blacked most of it out.”

She nodded. “Someone interrupted me. He came out of the bar and hassled me. I pulled a knife on him and threatened to gut him.”

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