Page 119 of Roses Are Dead
Another nod, this time accompanied by a tight frown.
He stared at the knife he’d finally put back into the scabbard. Turned it twice. Then handed it back to her. “Keep this on you at all times. I want you at Fin’s at least once a month for lessons on how to use it, how to kill a man with it, and most importantly, how to make sure this never leaves your hand. Got it?”
Rose swallowed and nodded. Her mouth opened but after shooting me a look, it closed.
“You got something to say?” I asked.
“I do.”
She kept her eyes on me, rather than asking permission from Jackson. I’d drilled the rules into her head, and my smart little witch remembered them well. “Remember, respect first,” I warned.
Rose nodded.
Her back straightened and her chin lifted straight forward. No digging in, no lies. “I arrived at the school just before the bell. As I pulled in, I saw the tow truck, Zoe’s car, and I know that man. He’s one of Carl’s…minions for lack of a better word. He stole my car a month ago when I had a problem with vandalism. I haven’t gotten it back because he claims there’s been other problems with it.” Her face showed her disgust and anger during that pause. But she continued.
“I confronted him. Not only about Zoe’s car, but mine.”
This time her head tilted a little and her eyes drifted from Jackson’s. Then she dug in. I bit my lip to not give her away.
“We were still talking when the students started leaving. Zoe came up and was obviously angry. I tried to get her to ride with me in the SUV, but she didn’t want to leave her car.”
“My gun was in it.” Zoe interrupted. Then tacked on, “Duh.”
“We’ll talk about that later,” her father warned.
“Then he grabbed Rose, and I kicked his knee.” Zoe obviously wasn’t afraid of her father at all.
“And I pulled the knife to force him to drive the car here.”
Zoe talked over Rose. “He wanted five hundred dollars to unhook it. That’s robbery.”
“I rode with him, and Zoe drove Bear’s SUV.”
“No dents,” Zoe fired at me with a glance at my curled fists.
That wasn’t what I was angry about. To Rose I muttered, “You got in the cab with him?”
She stared at me with intense focus. “Would you rather it was Zoe?”
Fuck no. But that wasn’t the point. “You should have let him take the fucking car.” My teeth wouldn’t unclench.
“Like hell. Then Dad would’ve killed him.”
Whether Zoe was right or not, it didn’t excuse the danger Rose had been in. Knife at his throat or not. She was damn lucky the driver was a fucking idiot who didn’t know how to handle danger.
Which reminded me keenly how Rose handled danger. She’d lived with Carl and survived. Whatever haunted her past hadn’t killed her. She faced down a man twice, maybe even three times her size and didn’t even think about backing down. “You and I need to talk.”
My phone buzzed at my hip, giving her a reprieve. I answered it with a gruff, “It’s your fucking quarter, talk.”
Skinner’s voice was loud and clear. “Just heard from KC’s lawyer. The charges aren’t going to stick. And… you really need to know who they thought he killed.”
His voice was a little too gleeful for my patience.
“I ain’t got time for games, asshole.”
Skinner laughed. “I suppose you don’t, but you might wanna let Jackson know KC’s going to be released. Ain’t no way he killed Fish.”
Like a record scratch, my mind went blank. “Fish? He’s dead?” Jackson caught the name. I reiterated the word “dead” on my lips so he wouldn’t have to wait.
