I squint at her in the low light. “Say what?”
“He’s nearby, saw him talking to a man in that small park a block from here. Thing is, I saw that same guy earlier talking to Simon’s goons in an alley nearby. Looked like they’re waiting to jump him.”
“What?”
This makes no sense. What the fuck is Raine doing, walking at night time alone in Simon’s fucking turf?
And what the hell do I care?
But I’m already rushing in the direction of the park and gaining speed, loping across the parking lot, Josie by my side. “Show me where he is, Jos.”
“What are you gonna do?”
I don’t reply as we exit onto the street and jog up. I haven’t thought beyond reaching Raine, and that right there tells you in just how much trouble I’m in.
“You stay away, you hear me, Jos?” There’s a stitch in my side, and the cold wind feels good on my hot face as we race toward the park. “Show me the alley and scram.”
Because even if I’m fucked up in a thousand different ways, at least I’ll keep her safe tonight.
Somewhere in my mind, I guess I thought Josie was wrong. That she’s mistaken someone else for Raine, that she’d mistaken some guys for Simon’s thugs, and assumed things had gone wrong. Truth is, I’d kinda expected to find Raine strolling around the park, talking on his phone, maybe in the company of his brother or one of his friends.
Or not to find him at all, if he’d only been passing through.
But the sounds of a fight reach my ears as we run full out along the park and up a big street.
“There!” Josie stops and points at the dark mouth of an alley beside a shuttered pharmacy. “Jason—”
I slow down just enough to grab her arm and drag her to a stop. “Go. I’ll be fine.”
“But Jason—”
“Now, Jos.”
She shakes her head but stays put as I break again into a run. I know because I glance over my shoulder, and there she is, a small form, one side gilded by a street light, the other lost in darkness.
Like all of us.
A shout splits the air, and I stumble, recognizing Raine’s voice. Fuck, fuck! I still hadn’t expected to find him here. This is insane.
I careen into a dumpster as I take the corner into the alley, my heart banging about in my chest, and the crash doesn’t help.
But it does seem to put a halt to whatever is happening in the dimness.
I barely make out four or five guys, big and square like goddamn fridges, and the gleam of a knife catches my eye.
One of them has an arm over Raine’s throat, and pressing the blade against his side.
Motherfucking hell. Cold sweat breaks over my skin, and my breath stutters.
“Hi, guys.” I have to clear my voice, and inject it with false cheer. All those years of faking it are paying off. “The boss was wondering where you’d gone to. May I join the party?”
Raine struggles against the man’s hold, and fear turns my throat bone dry. A muffled yell reaches me and fuck, I hope the guy didn’t stab him.
Under their suspicious looks, I lift my hands. “You know me. I’m Jason Vega, I stay over at the Club sometimes.”
“Yeah, I know you.” A guy built like a shit brickhouse steps toward me, and it’s all I can do not to turn tail and run. “You’re the whore Simon likes to toy with.”
The guy also toyed with me a few times, and wasn’t it so much fucking fun, but I swallow down the words. “Right. Look, why don’t you let that guy go and we head back to the Club?”