Down Fall (Fallen Duet 2)

“Do I look like a fuckin' dumbass?” Hut sneered, stepping closer to me.

I raised a brow, wishing I could fling my fist at his temple and knock him the hell out. I had to keep my cool, though, so I shook my head and said, “Do you know where she went?”

“If I knew where she went, then I wouldn’t be standing here sayin' she’s missing, would I?”

I didn’t reply, not having the energy to talk to him. I knew what he was going to say next. He’d want us to find her, and I’d be able to do it without a doubt. All I’d need to do was make a phone call to Jord and he’d do his magic, producing her address. Failing that, I’d place bets that Sal knew where she was.

“Spread out. We need to find her.”

“Why?” Ford asked, and right then, I couldn’t help but be grateful for his question.

“Because”—Hut stepped toward Ford—“apart from the fact that she’s my sister, she knows way too fuckin' much about what I do. She’s a danger to my business.”

“Wait.” Quinn held his hand up, a frown on his face as he stood to his full height. “Are you saying you want us to find her and make sure she’s safe? Or find her and bring her back by any means necessary?”

Hut’s nostrils flared. “Any means fuckin' necessary. If she fights, knock her the hell out. God knows she could use a lesson or two on how not to betray me.”

My hands clenched at my sides, my breaths becoming more rapid the longer he talked. He didn’t want us to find her and make sure she was okay. He wanted us to get rid of her before she could talk. There was a line that I understood had to be crossed sometimes, but this was not one of those times. He didn’t need to do what he was telling us. He wanted to do it.

“Maybe—” Ford cut himself off and shook his head. His eyes darkened, his body so taut I thought he’d snap any moment. He didn’t like this one bit, and he wasn’t the only one.

I couldn’t get a read on Quinn, but he was eyeing Hut warily like he was a bomb about to explode any minute.

“Maybe what?” Hut spat.

“Nothing.” Ford stepped forward. “We’ll go and look for her.” He tilted his head at me, and then Quinn. “Let’s get started.”

Lola was better off away from Hut, as far away as she could get, and they both knew that. I opened my mouth to refuse, but Ford’s subtle shake of his head had me closing my mouth and staying silent.

“I’ll be here in case she comes back,” Hut said and barged past Quinn, heading into the kitchen. I couldn’t stop looking at him as he snorted a line of cocaine off the kitchen table, not caring that there was an open block right there for the taking. He wasn’t aware of anything else going on around him, and this would have been the perfect opportunity to raid the house, but one block wouldn’t serve as well as a whole load of them.

“Come on,” Ford said, and I followed after him outside.

He halted on the sidewalk, Quinn next to him, and I planted my hands on my hips, making up the circle. “We should leave her,” Quinn said first, a frown on his face. “She’s better off without him.”

My head reeled back at his words. I knew it was how I felt, but to have one of the other crew members say it too? I didn’t know what to think.

“Agreed.” Ford nodded. “We leave her wherever she is, let her be, and say we looked for her. God knows what he’d do if he actually found her.”

“So what’s the plan?” I asked, already knowing I’d do anything to keep Lola safe, even if it was from myself.

“We pretend to look for the next”—he looked down at his cell—“four hours, come back and say we found nothing.” Ford glanced up at me. “You down for that?”

“Yeah, I’m down.” I didn’t say another word as I walked over to my car, begging my legs not to sprint in the way they wanted to. They may not want to find her, but I did. I had to.

Chapter Six

LOLA

Pregnant.

I was pregnant.

I’d heard of people losing blocks of time where they went into their heads to process things, but I’d never quite believed them until now.

Nothing was sinking in. Nothing but that. The white stick haunted me every time I walked into the bathroom. It called to me every time I felt like I was going to throw up. But I denied it, even to myself. If I pretended like I hadn’t taken the test yesterday, then it hadn’t really happened. I was living in a fantasy world, but it was the only way I could survive right now.

“Lola?” a deep voice shouted through my apartment door, followed by four knocks in quick succession.