“So what’s the plan?” I asked, watching as two guys in their twenties got out of a Tesla and made their way into the restaurant. Fucking Tesla douchebags. “Long-term.”
Rafe was pushing us to take another job. We didn’t need the money, but none of us liked to be still for very long. We needed to stay busy, needed to keep moving to prevent ourselves from thinking about all the shit we’d seen.
All the shit we’d done.
Jude shrugged and sank lower in the driver’s seat of the Jeep. “Keep an eye on her until it’s not practical. It’s a good sign that no one’s come for her yet.”
I didn’t say anything. The fact that Lilah was still safe a week after Vic and his goons had tried to shut her up didn’t make me feel better. If these guys were involved in the disappearances of local girls, they weren’t going to let a witness run around blabbing about it for long.
The door to the restaurant opened and Lilah emerged. Her hair flared gold in the sunlight and my heart caught in my throat as she looked down at her phone. I felt like I was seeing something I wasn’t supposed to see: Lilah vulnerable, minus the armor she wore when she’d been around us, armor that had seemed like a second skin.
She was so fucking beautiful, a combination of strength and softness that caused my chest to constrict in a way that was unfamiliar.
“There she is,” Jude said, and I knew from the way he said it that he felt it too.
We watched her cross the parking lot to her car. She got in and reversed, and we waited until she turned onto the main road to follow.
We were two cars behind her when Jude’s phone rang with a call from Rafe.
“Yeah,” Jude said, taking the call on the Jeep’s Bluetooth.
“Two guys heading into Lilah’s apartment.” I could tell Rafe was on the move from the way he spoke, his words clipped and efficient, the way they were when we were working.
“Fuck,” Jude said. “She’s on her way home. We’re not far behind her.”
“I’m on my way too,” Rafe said. “Don’t let her go in without you.”
The call disconnected and Jude hit the gas, then blew through a red light in a cacophony of honking horns and skidded tires.
17
LILAH
I wastired by the time I pulled into the lot in front of my apartment building, but it was a different kind of tired. I was only working one job now instead of three, the stress of juggling multiple jobs replaced by financial stress.
I had two weeks until next month’s rent was due. I wasn’t going to make it — not without pulling from my hard-earned savings — unless I replaced the income I’d lost at the Dive and the motel. I needed to pound the pavement, look for another job or three, but I couldn’t seem to muster the motivation to do anything but drag my ass to Burger Haven and home again.
I knew I was sinking, sinking into the depressive state that had landed me in Oak Hill. It was insidious because it felt a lot like being tired. Like, as tired as I’d ever been in my life. I could convince myself that if I just slept enough, I’d feel better. I’d be able to tackle the job hunt — my finances, my life — tomorrow.
But that wasn’t how it worked. The hole just got deeper and darker.
I knew that firsthand.
The therapy I’d gotten at Oak Hill had helped, but I didn’t have health insurance now and I couldn’t afford to pay for it outof pocket, so I was on my own, feeling like I was walking through waist-deep sludge as I got out of my car.
I’d made it all of two steps when squealing tires sounded behind me.
I turned around in time to see a black Jeep careen into the lot. I stared as it aimed right for me, then jumped back when it stopped on a dime a few feet in front of me.
I just about fell over from shock when Jude and Nolan stepped onto the cracked pavement.
A second later a familiar black Rover pulled into the lot like it was being chased by the devil himself. A second later it squealed to a stop next to the Jeep and Rafe stepped out of the driver’s side.
I’d always thought it was silly when I’d read in a book that someone’s mouth hung open in shock, but I was pretty sure that was what happened to me as I stared at them. “What the…”
“They’re gone,” Rafe said, not to me but to Nolan and Jude.
Jude’s big shoulders sagged with something like relief.