Heavy breathing and crying cracked through the phone, "I"m so sorry Jonah I just wanted to sit with Alex for awhile but the black car showed up again." Again? "They"re chasing me Jonah."
Oh f.u.c.k.
"Where are you Olivia?"
"I"m on the street behind the cemetery."
I knew this town well I could walk it backwards but now I couldn"t picture a f.u.c.king thing.
"What"s up?" Denny asked pulling me into action. I started jogging to the door knowing they would all follow.
"Olivia"s being chased she"s behind the cemetery."
Seeing that I was losing it Denny took the phone, "Olivia sweetheart it"s Denny. I need you to keep running, follow the road around the block. Do not turn. Yeah. Good. Now put the phone in your pocket but don"t hang up. Do it now we"re on our way." Throwing the phone back Denny barked out orders to the others while I listened to my girl choking on a sob.
"Get in the car Jonah." Mason said opening the car door and getting in the back.
Jumping in the front seat Denny followed and quickly sped out of the parking lot.
"Where are they going?" I asked watching the car with Cole and Ben speeding off the opposite way.
"The road behind the cemetery goes both left and right. They"re going left we"re going right. Got your gun?"
Pulling it from the glove compartment I shoved the gun into the waistband of my slacks.
"Mason?" Denny asked looking at him through the mirror.
"Yeah, I"ve got my gun." Mason said sounding as p.i.s.sed off as I felt.
"Wait no. No guns how the h.e.l.l am I going to explain that to Olivia." Looking at the phone in my hands I realized I might already have too.
Denny looked at me with just barely contained fury, "You"re right Jonah we"ll just keep our guns hidden let the a.s.sholes who are after her have their way with your girl just so she doesn"t know who we really are. And stop looking at the phone like that I put it on hold she cant hear us."
"She can never know Denny, not with her brother dying of an overdose."
"Jesus." Mason hissed.
"You think it"s our fault don"t you?" Denny asked surprised.
Looking away guilty I ran my hands through my hair.
"f.u.c.k me Jonah it is not your fault and it is not mine either I don"t remember standing over the boy making him take whatever the f.u.c.k he took."
"It doesn"t matter we handle the money we make it possible for people to get the drugs." I snapped banging my hand against the dashboard.
"Oh get off it Jonah." Denny said shaking his head.
"How about you both get off it and let"s focus on finding Olivia." Mason offered being the voice of reason.
I should have listened but Denny was just not getting it. "If it doesn"t matter then why did you let Rachel go?"
The fist hit me so fast I never even saw it coming.
"Don"t go there again Jonah." Denny snapped shaking out the fist he"d hit me with. "Now look for your girl we"re on the road she should be on."
Wiping the blood from my lip I looked out the window.
"There!" Mason yelled pointing to a small figure all in back running down the sidewalk.
Not waiting I jumped out of the car as Denny slowed down and ran.
Olivia"s eyes widen in shock looking back and forth she stepped into the road getting ready to run.
"Olivia!" I screamed.
Snapping her head back towards me her face fell and a sob left her throat. Her body started to fall as my arm circled her pulling her into my chest.
Relief hit me hard making me tighten my hold, I had her now she was ok, and we were ok.
"Shh baby, you"re fine." I whispered into her ear.
Cole"s car pulled up as Denny and Mason got out of theirs.
"Anyone?" Denny asked Cole and Ben.
"No one and no black car." Ben answered through the rolled down window.
"Do another search then go home. Both of you call when you"re home, we don"t know who this person is or what they want." Denny said looking up and down the street.
Nodding their heads Cole pulled away.
Picking Olivia up I slid into the backseat cradling her to my chest like a small child, refusing to let her go.
"Where are we going Jonah?" Denny asked getting behind the wheel.
"Our house. I want Olivia behind a security system." And my gun pointing at any f.u.c.ker who unwisely thought to try and take her from me.
I"d always questioned if I would ever be able to pull the trigger, the answer had always been no, but for Olivia it was a different story.
Running my hand down her body to rea.s.sure us both that she was ok my hands touched something wet and sticky on her knee. Looking closer I saw a huge cut across her knee and blood all over her leg.
"Olivia baby what happened to your knee?" I spoke quietly not wanting to frighten her.
"Fell." She said simply as her eyes closed and her breathing slowed.
I was going to kill whoever it was that went after her.
Chapter 11.
Olivia was so tired she didn"t wake up when I carried her to my bed or when I cleaned up the cut on her knee.
Running my hand gently across her cheek that was thankfully warming up now, I made my decision. Now it was time to take another risk. Pulling the blankets tighter around her tiny body I kissed her forehead and left her to sleep.
Denny and Mason were both in the kitchen when I came down the stairs.
"How is she?" Mason asked while Denny turned his back on me obviously still p.i.s.sed.
"Sleeping. Can you sit with her for a while, I need to go out?"
"Sure." Mason said standing up.
Grabbing my keys off the counter Denny stepped in front of me blocking the back door, "Where the h.e.l.l are you going?"
"To see Vinnie."
"You"re so f.u.c.king stupid you"re going to get yourself killed for this girl."
"What would you know about it Denny you chose Vinnie and the business over Rachel."
"You don"t know one f.u.c.king thing that happened between me and Rachel."
"Maybe not, but I know you"re miserable without her, trying to screw your pain away. I won"t end up like that, I"m done." Pushing past Denny I opened the door and stopped. "I should have done this a lot sooner. It"s not worth the risk Denny."
Pacing back and forth in Vinnie"s office I tried to get my anger under control but nothing was working. When Vinnie finally came into his office I almost lost it.
"What can I do for you Jonah?" Vinnie asked like it was normal for me to be in his office at five in the morning.
"Did you have Olivia followed?"
A smile spread across his face as he sank into his chair. "Who"s Olivia, Jonah?"
Shaking my head I laughed without humor, "You know exactly who Olivia is."
"Possibly. Tell me Jonah how much do you really know about her?"
I was done with his games. "Did you have her followed or not?" I shouted leaning into his desk causing guns to be pointed at me from all around the room.
Waving them away Vinnie"s guards stepped back but didn"t put their guns away. "No, I did not have Olivia followed. Now sit down and tell me what happened."
Screw that. "A black car followed Olivia tonight, possibly not for the first time." I said, still leaning over his desk.
"I don"t know anything about that but I can find out."
"Forget it I"ll do it myself."
"If you didn"t want my help why did you come here?"
"I came to tell you I was done. I"m out Vinnie. I can"t be a part of this business anymore." Turning away I walked through the bodyguards still pointing their guns at me.
"A black car sounds like a professional hit." Vinnie said when I was just a step away from the door.
f.u.c.k it I should have walked faster. "Who would order a hit on Olivia?"
"If you were still working for me I could find out. I could even get my boys working on it right away."
Shaking my head I turned back to Vinnie, G.o.d he loved his games. "I"ll find out myself."
"Don"t be silly Jonah, you don"t have the rescores to find out something like that. But a respectable drug lord does."
"I want out Vinnie."
"Stay until we figure out who wants your girl dead then we can talk again."
Like every other time, it was just stay for one more thing. How many times was I going to let Vinnie do this? But this time it wasn"t just about me it was about Olivia too. The truth was I would do anything for Olivia; even stay with Vinnie for just a little longer.
Denny was sitting on the deck steps smoking when I got back from Vinnie"s.
"Thought you quit?" I said nodding to the cigarette.
"I did. Did you?"
Sitting down beside him I let out a long breath, "I tried. Vinnie pulled me back in."
Snorting Denny took a long drag from his cigarette, "Of course he did."
"He thinks the black car could be a professional hit."
"Who would want Olivia dead?"
"I don"t know but my starting point is the dead brother Alex."
"Tread carefully, anyone who runs to a grave in the middle of the night is not dealing well."
Standing up I looked down at Denny"s slumped shoulders and the slight tremble of his fingers, "I"m sorry for bringing up Rachel that was a low blow I shouldn"t have done that."
"It"s not like it wasn"t true."
"Have you seen them lately?"