Page 157 of Like Grim Death: Part One
“I can’t say anything,” she whispers, glancing at the gun in my hand. “And I need you to leave—”
I grab her arm, feeling the soft flesh, and push her into the door. It thuds against the wall and her eyes cut to the bathroom door, visible now that she’s out of my way. There’s a light on under it, and a shadow too, Finn huddled close to the crack.
Slowly, I turn my gaze back on her and hold the barrel of the gun beneath her chin. Her lips tremble as she tips her head up and I feel her pulse through my grip on her arm. She’s fucking terrified.
I lean in close to her, my mouth inches from her own. “You take him far from here. I’m going to leave money in a black bag outside your door in ten minutes. Do you have a car?”
“Y-yes,” she struggles with the word.
“Take the money, your car, and get the fuck out of this city. Out of North Carolina, then buy a new car. Do you understand?”
“They said I couldn’t leave. They said—”
“I can promise you something, Esther.” I lean in close, my mouth over her ear. “I am so much fucking worse thanthem.”
I pull back and watch as understanding lights her eyes. “So, what are you going to do?” I ask her quietly, wanting to ensure she can follow directions.
“Get the b-bag in ten minutes.” She wets her lips, closing her eyes only a second. “Get out of town. Out of state. Buy a new car.”
I dig my fingertips into her upper arm. “If you don’t, he will die, do you get it?”
Slowly, as I remove the gun from under her chin, she nods. She believes me, that easily, which means she knows the people who have threatened her aren’t to be fucked with.
I back away, risking one more glance to where Finn hides, then I turn my back on her and stroll through the apartment, jerking my chin to Mav and Sevryn, announcing our exit.
“That was stupid,” Mav says. “That wasfuckingstupid.”
I ignore him. “We have to get out of town.” I’ve got the bag of cash dropped off and now I throw the car in drive, speaking around the cigarette in my mouth, unlit. Part of me wanted to take the gas can I always bring to jobs—just in case—and burn that fucking apartment complex down. I don’t want to think about what other shit the 6 use it for.
I peel out of the alleyway, tires skidding on the water as I yank the wheel, blowing through the first stoplight, then the second.
“You needed tofollow fucking orders,Lucifer,” Mav snarls. “You think you can just do whatever thefuckyou want without consequences? You know that’s not how this shit works. I should go back there and kill her my fucking self—”
“Why was Finn there?” Ezra asks from the back, interrupting Mav’s tirade. “Where the fuck is Julie?”
I glance at Mav and see he’s smirking now, his chin in his hand, elbow propped on the door. “We’ll discuss it later,” I say, answering Ez.
Maverick’s grin widens, but I see the maniac in his eyes. “Where exactly do you wanna go, Lucy Boy?” he purrs. “Where do you think you’re untouchable?”
“Liber,” I answer calmly, knowing my guards will travel there easily enough, and the gate around the property is a deterrent in itself for any opposing forces. It’s got enough room for all of us, and a few hidden ones too, not in any blueprints.
“The 6 know exactly where that is. You can’t hide there.”
I smash through a yellow light, my heart jumping into my throat as I think of my wife and son alone, at home, after I just disobeyed a direct order from Mikhail Malikov. “I’m not hiding from the 6.” I think of Elijah. Our secrets in the dark.
“You think Boaz won’t know about that place?”
Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it’ll be more dangerous for them to break in than for us to stay there. They’ll get shot on the spot if they come near our gates. I don’t answer Mav.
“How long, then? How long are you going to hide?”
“We’re not fucking hiding,” I snarl. “I’m not telling him I didn’t do it.” I take a winding back road toward Corpus Avenue, fucking flooring it. “I’m not telling him anything. He expects it’ll be done, when he decides to check in and sees it isn’t, he’ll ask me about it and I'll tell him she wasn’t there.”
Ezra laughs from the backseat. “That sounds like a great plan, Luce,” he says sarcastically.
I ignore him, speeding through the night. “And I won’t be in his immediate path when he loses his temper over it.”
“He doesn’t want to kill you anyway,” Sevryn says quietly in the backseat.
