Page 6 of Light Me Up

Ted breaks me from my thoughts by opening the top drawer of his desk, pulling out a small black phone. He hands it to me with a stern glare. “Don’t break it this time.”

I nod and stuff the crappy burner into my pocket, my healing scabs rubbing against the black jeans.

“What’s her friend’s name?” Ted asks Santi.

Santi’s jaw clenches. “Char, presumably Charlotte. We didn’t get her last name.”

Ted tsks. “You two have gotten sloppy. We’ve made a lot of progress, and I’d hate for it to go to waste.”

Santi and I exchange a look before nodding and slowly rising out of our seats in front of Ted’s desk. He returns his focus to his computer, quietly dismissing us.

Once we’re outside of the office building, we do a quick sweep of the lot before getting into the car, removing our jackets and tossing them into the backseat.

“He’s got a point, man,” Santi says, staring out the window as I pull onto the road. “And Jesus Christ, would you slow the fuck down?”

“Not you, too,” I tell him, pulling a smoke from the pack.

“Zo, we have a major problem here, no matter what Ted fucking says! We’re in the clear for now, but we’ve got another vulnerability on us. Reckless driving’s what got us into this goddamn position!”

“Us?” I scoff, taking a drag from my cigarette.

“Don’t,” Santi says venomously. My eyes freeze over as I clench the steering wheel, letting off the gas. “And since when do you smoke in the car?”

“Since I stopped giving a fuck about it,” I reply, flicking the ash out of the half-cracked window. Lou owns a body shop and was able to repair the front bumper, making it as though nothing ever happened. As though the veryrealpain of this past Saturday was merely a figment of my imagination.

“You’re sure she wasn’t at work?” Santi asks as he rolls his own window down.

“Positive.” I can always feel when she's around; a low thrum in my blood. Still, I walked past her desk every day. She wasn’t in the break room, either. It’s not like I can ask Rowan or Marco; that would bring too much attention to her. Us.

There is no us.

I was on the brink of sending Lari back to her apartment when I decided that we should talk to Ted. Maybe he’d know what to do, and we had to pick up my phone, anyway.

Useless prick.

“Maybe Ted was right," Santi repeats, toying with his steel lip ring. “Maybe… she won’t say anything.Theywon’t say anything.”

“Let’s fucking hope,” I grit out. The part that Santi is failing to understand is that this isn’t just about our safety. This is about the fact that I have to lose her. That there are bigger things to worry about.

“If what you say is true… if there really was more to it…”

My cheeks flare with heat. “You callin’ me a liar?”

“‘Course not. You feeling that strongly towards her means she probably felt the same way. And that… might be the only thing that saves our sorry asses.”

Chapter Four

March 23rd - Kate

“Kate.Kate!”Char’surgentvoice jolts me awake. My body is scorching, sticking to the sheets like I’m some sort of glue stick. She stops shaking me when my eyes fly open.

“What happened?” I mumble groggily.

“You were screaming and thrashing,” she says hesitantly. As I sit up, she takes a step back from the bed while studying me closely.

The memory of the nightmare washes over me: Lorenzo snorting a line of cocaine while Santi laughed at Brad’s body lying in a heap in the black sedan that was crumpled against a tree.

“Nightmare,” I whisper. She nods in understanding, her forehead creased with concern.

---