Page 26 of Hot Ghoul Summer

“Look, Ryan, I don’t care if the shipment is a little delayed. Delgado knows we’ll get it across the lake eventually. Right now, I need to take care of things for my brother. I’ve got cops prowling all over my house, my business, the boats can’t dock...”

There’s a long pause.

“Well, too bad! Four of my guys are in the hospital or holding cells. You want business to move faster, help me find this Molly chick. She killed Nicky and— What? No, I don’t care if she did or if Garmin did it. He’ll get his, but not until he pays us back, with a lot of interest. The daughter is just the start.”

He passes close to where we stand along the wall, invisible and yet taking up space. I can tell that something repels Theo Cross, who changes his pacing pattern each time he enters our zone, body somehow aware of the unseen obstacle.

“You want me to loan you someone? Carlo is an ex-Marine. Sniper.” I hear the voice on the phone as clearly as if it’s pressed to my ear, not Theo’s.

My knees buckle, and Toby’s arm wraps around my waist to keep me upright.

“Killing her is too easy. She needs to pay, first. She can start by letting me use that pretty face for target practice. Of course, by the time I’m done, she won’t be so pretty anymore.”

“Headshots? You won’t have her for more than a few hours.”

“Hm. you’re right. Well. We’ll start at the other end and work our way up, pausing in the middle.” Theo makes a violent slashing motion across his waist, and my tense muscles clench even further, my stomach curling up like a scared armadillo.

“As long as it’s warm and wet,” the voice laughs.

I think I’m going to be sick. I’m definitely going to be sick. The armadillo-like ball of nerves in my stomach uncurls with explosive force. Strawberries and honey mustard leave sour, sickly traces in the back of my throat as I try not to vomit. They’re talking about me. About torturing me and killing me for something I didn’t even do—something my ex-stepfather says I did.

If I believe what Toby said—and right now it looks like I should—first, I was Gary’s bargaining chip, and now I’m his scapegoat.

Theo leans his elbow on the wall and pours something out of a heavy decanter. “That’s why Nicky and I made this business a success, Ryan. You’re thinking too small. This isn’t about getting a piece of tail. It’s about sending a message. Sometimes people think we’ll go soft on women. We’ll make sure no one ever makes that mistake again. No one crosses a Cross.”

“When you find her, let me know if you want some extra DNA to throw those detectives off the boys in your organization...”

“I appreciate that, Ryan. But I don’t plan on letting the police find her. Well, not more than a little piece here and there. What I could actually use is some more eyes around the beaches. That address Garmin gave us was no good, but the girl was still in the area.”

“I thought you didn’t get her?”

“We didn’t! But she was there, and someone tipped her off that we were coming. She ran right to my boys like she needed a getaway car, screaming for help.”

“Doesn’t make sense. Something is fishy somewhere. Garmin didn’t call her?”

“He couldn’t have. I was in the room with him.”

“Did you see his phone? He might have had it on speaker somewhere in the room before you came in.”

“Hm. That might be it. Ooh, that little shit has been a thorn in my side ever since his old lady threw him out.”

“Nicky shoulda finished him.”

Theo agrees heavily. “Shoulda, woulda, coulda, right?”

“My sentiments exactly,” Toby agrees in a low snarl.

My knees begin to shake as Theo and Ryan start talking about how Nicky liked to “play with his food” for too long before finishing his meal.

The euphemisms somehow make it worse. All I can picture is being attacked by a pack of ravenous, snarling wolves, all ripping and biting at me.

Theo suddenly groans, loud enough to break the cycle of panic in my head. “She could be on a plane by now—but I’m not sure if all the cops that came to the scene of the accident and the ones all over the piers and beaches investigating Nicky’s death would keep her in place, laying low. I’m going to have to send Billy to pay a little visit to Garmin when he stops for the night—have to tell him to bring the bastard back to town. What? No, of course I didn’t just leave him! I’ve had a tail on him for hours. He probably knows where the girl is, if she’s running or hiding. Might send someone to watch his ex-wife’s place. Find the girl’s apartment. Her college roommate. Whatever it takes.”

“Don’t be stupid, Theo. At some point, you’re going to attract too much attention,” the voice on the phone is loud and heavy with caution as Theo returns to the island of expensive liquor bottles and decanters beside our hiding spot.

“Ryan—Nicky raised me after our father died. Taught me the business. And he’s gone too soon... There is nothing in this world that can stop me from hunting down whoever did this and making them pay. As long as I’m alive—that girl will have a target on her back.”

Shaky knees have turned to whole body tremors. Toby swaddles me in his cloak, pressing me against him, turning me from the scene of Theo Cross draining another shot of whiskey. “We’ve seen enough.”

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