“Not at all,” I shrugged. “I just don't see the point.”
That, and I cared about Hannah. I put up with her dad's shit for her, and only for her. I could have kicked Roy's ass, or worse, ages ago but she loved her dad – and in his own warped way, I guess that they loved her too. Who was I to break up a happy family?
“Well, if you change your mind...”
Titus passed me a slip of paper. At first, I didn't take it, but he sat there, waiting and watching me. The longer those guys stayed, the more likely there'd be violence. I had a little girl in the back room, and if guns were drawn – well, it wasn't just the bar I had to worry about anymore these days. I took the paper and slipped it into my jean pocket.
As soon as I did, Titus stood up and his guys followed. Claw walked across the bar and stood in their way. Titus stopped, and the two men stared each other down for a long time. Titus was grinning from ear-to-ear.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
“Yeah, like six of em,” Claw said. “Don't much like problems in my bar.”
One of Titus's men stepped up, facing off with the other man. But, Titus reached out with his arm and stopped his man from getting any closer to the enemy.
“We were just leaving,” Titus said. “If you'd get the hell out of the way, that is.”
“You shouldn't have been here in the first place,” Claw said.
Chuck called out, “Claw – Roy wouldn't want you causing a scene in here now, would he?”
The man looked over at Chuck then back to Titus before falling back, letting the Widows pass. Everyone watched as the group left the bar, and as soon as they were gone, conversations picked back up and the air immediately felt lighter. It was like we'd been bracing for a hurricane that had just barely missed us.
“That was close,” I grumbled to Chuck.
“Too close,” he said, eyeing me carefully. He motioned toward my pocket. “What was that about?”
“Hell, if I know,” I said.
I pulled the paper from my pocket and read it. All it said was, If you want to stop the crime in Yora, call me, followed by a phone number.
“Looks like you're being recruited,” Chuck said. “Careful which side you pick, son. Would hate for you to end up like your mama.”
I crumpled the slip of paper and went to throw it away but remembered my mother and the way she'd died – a drug overdose of heroin and other opiates. For years, I'd wondered if it was really an overdose or if there was something more to the story. My mom was no angel toward the end of her life there, but she also didn't shoot up. That much I knew. People told me I had to be wrong, that I couldn't face the truth. Maybe they were right.
Still, the image of her lifeless body, the needle sticking straight out of her arm, stuck with me and I put the crumpled piece of paper back in my pocket. Just in case.
Chapter Six
Hannah
I'd barely set foot into the ER when I heard someone calling my name already. I twirled around to see one of the other RNs on the floor – Sarah – yelling for me from down the hall.
“Code Blue room five,” she called out to me.
My heart stopped. Already? Geez. Way to start the night. I hurried down to meet her and she filled me in on the details as we hurried along the corridor and finally turned the corner.
“Female, mid-twenties. Overdose,” she said.
We entered the room and I felt like I'd been punched in the gut and the air driven from my lungs. I recognized the woman lying on the bed in front of me.
“Jesus,” I whispered to myself.
It was Shawna, and the doctors and nurses had been working on her for some time. Her brown hair looked mousy and thin around her face. Her lips were already blue, and the doctor called out her time of death as Sarah and I entered.
There was nothing anyone could do for her now. Not even me.
“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked me. “Do you know her?”