Page 54 of Wrath

Rooster and I were in the workroom with Stitch and Bones, going over the previous night’s security feed from the Demarco warehouse, when Stitch’s burner started to ring. He grabbed it from his pocket, and my attention peaked when I heard him say, “Yeah, what’s going on?”

There was a long pause, then his eyes cut over to me and Bones as he asked, “What the hell are you talking about?”

Something was wrong—bad wrong. I could hear it in his voice. See it in his eyes. But I had no idea what had him so riled until my cell started to ring. I grabbed it from my pocket and quickly glanced down at the screen. When I didn’t recognize the number, I stepped over to the corner of the room, distancing myself from the others as I answered, “You’ve got Wrath.”

“Hello, this is Officer Buchanan. I’m looking for a Mr. Charles Turner.”

“Yeah, you got him. What’s going on?”

“We were called about a disturbance at your residence.” Before I could ask what the hell he was talking about, he continued, “There was an altercation between a young lady by the name of Mia and your neighbor Rosa.”

“Ah, damn.”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, then said, “I think it would be best if you came here and helped us sort this thing out.”

“I’m on my way.”

I ended the call, and when I looked up, I found Stitch standing inches from my face. “I just got a call from Mia... She said she’s out at your place and that the cops are there.”

“Yeah, I just heard.”

“I figured as much.” He studied me for a moment, then said, “Well, we best be getting out there. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, we definitely should.”

“Whoa... hold up,” Bones shouted, stopping us before we walked out. “What the hell is going on with Mia?”

“No time to explain.”

“Make time.”

Stitch gave his son a stern look. “Mia is fine, but she needs us and she needs us now.”

“Do you need me and Rooster to go with?”

“Absolutely not. You two stay here and finish going over that security feed.” Stitch answered as he charged out the door. “I’ll get with you when we get back.”

Nothing else was said as we made our way out to Stitch’s truck. I felt like a complete dick as I got in his truck. It was a moment I’d been trying to avoid for weeks. I should’ve just been upfront with him. He was my brother. My mentor. I owed him that, but I had no clue what to say to him. I had no idea where this thing between Mia and I was headed.

Things were good at the moment, even better than I would’ve ever expected, but there were no guarantees that it would last. Regardless, I’d fucked up, and my head was spinning as I tried to think of the best way to fix it. I had to say something to him. I just didn’t know what, so I remained silent until Stitch asked, “How long?”

I didn’t play dumb.

I knew exactly what he meant, so I answered, “A couple of weeks.”

“You two serious?”

“To be honest, I don’t know what we are. Hell, I never intended for any of this to happen.”

“Hmph. That’s Mia for ya,” he scoffed.

“I gotta say, you seem to be taking this better than I thought you might.”

“I’ve had time to make peace with it.”

“Come again?”

“I’d seen the way she looked at you, brother. Her mother looked at me the same way.” A faint grin crossed his face as he scoffed, “Figured it was only a matter of time before she got her hooks into you.”

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