“You must be Angel.”
Chapter 21
Lucky
I’ve got her.
I could have kissed Jack. Instead I kissed my phone.
I’d been out scouring the area surrounding the Garage for almost an hour. The body was already being prepped to be disposed of. Paulie had told me to let him take care of that, saying he had methods.
I wanted to make sure it was gone before I left. But my Angel was still out there, probably scared out of her wits. Before I did anything else I had to find my woman.
Where are you?
Close. I’ll bring her.
No! Take her home. Tell her she needs to pack for her and the kid quickly.
I couldn’t say it over the phone, but I didn’t want her to see the body. I turned back towards the Garage as the weight lifted off my chest. Things could still go very, very wrong. But with my brothers behind me, I thought we had a good chance to get through it.
Dev was parked outside, waiting when I got there. I wouldn’t let him or any of the others go in. Their presence was enough to keep Paulie in line.
I clasped hands with him.
“Jack has her.”
“I heard.”
“You guys should head home.”
He shook his head.
“Not until this is finished.”
I nodded, not surprised.
“Let me go see where things are at.” I looked back at him. “Can you tell someone at the clubhouse to pack my shit? I won’t be back for a while.”
He nodded, a sad look in his eyes.
“You got it, Lucky.”
I took the metal stairs to the loading bay quickly, trying not to make any noise.
“Paulie?”
“In the back.”
I followed the sound of his voice. No one else was here. He’d done as I asked and sent everyone home. Everyone except Sal. I wondered what he was doing back there and prepared myself to see a hacked up body.
I smelled it before I saw it.
I opened the door to see a ‘wet room.’ The tile floor had a large drain in the center of it, and plenty of pipes with a few faucets at regular intervals. This place was industrial at one point and this was a left over.
Thank God the pipes still worked.
It might have been a bathroom for workers at one point, judging from the white tiles and the drain in the floor. It still had running water, I thought as I looked at the large industrial feed tub in the middle of the room.
Then I cringed.
That wasn’t water.
That was Sal.
“Stay back, this stuff is nasty.”
“Acid?”
Paulie nodded.
“It’s the best way to get rid of evidence.”
“It’s all gone? No traces?”
I wanted to make sure my Angel was safe.
“What the hell are they gonna test?” He gestured to the slop. “In another hour I’ll pull the drain and Sal will join the septic system.”
I nodded. It was nothing more than he deserved.
“I could get in trouble for this.”
“I know. I appreciate it.”
“Tell the kid…” He looked at me. “Tell her I wanted to break down the door.”
I stared at him. I knew what he was saying. He hadn’t wanted her to get hurt. But he also hadn’t done anything to stop it. It would have meant his life. Part of me hated him for not stopping Sal, even if it was suicide to go against his boss.
But it was over and Paulie was helping us. My Angel had been through enough. I didn’t need to kill Paulie. It was over.
I knew that my Angel was going to be traumatized. It was up to me to find a way to help her heal.
“I will.”
“Take off.” He took a pull of his cigar. “I got it from here.”
“Okay. Thank you. From both of us.”
“Take good care of her.” He gave me one last look. “Just do it far away from here.”
I drove right to her place. I did a couple of crisscrosses, and looped back a few times, though I was sure I wasn’t being followed. I had a good instinct for that sort of thing. I’d learned to think like a cat.
You had to when you were in combat.
I parked behind Angel’s apartment building, by the ally. Jack’s ride was parked there too. I nodded when I saw it. Good man.
Fuck, Jack was pretty much the best man I knew.
The back entrance was locked so I hurried to the front and buzzed Angel’s apartment. The front door wasn’t usually locked. I was glad as fuck that it was this time.
“Yeah.”
Jack’s voice rumbled out, making me smile. He buzzed me in and I ran up the stairs. He opened the door for me and gave me a nod in greeting.
“She okay?”
“She’s packing. No tears.”
I took that in. We both knew it didn’t mean anything.
“Think Donnie will loan me one of his cars?”
“Already taken care of. They’ll be here in five.”
“Thank fuck.”
“Shhh…” he admonished me. “Her kid is awake and pretty freaked out.”