“Typical.”
Gabriel leaned forward, those headlights catching his eyes and making them gleam. “I shouldn’t have been the one taking him out anyway. Maybe if you gave a shit—”
“Maybe if I gave a shit?” Michael grabbed his arm. “Look, you little—”
Then Gabriel took a swing at him, and the car swerved.
“Hey!” Chris grabbed the handle over the door. They were grappling in the front seat, all barely contained rage.
He unclicked his seat belt and grabbed Gabriel’s arm while Michael grasped the steering wheel again. Chris got an arm around Gabriel’s neck and pinned him to the headrest.
o;Nah.” His brother seemed to reconsider. “Okay, once, but we ran.”
“Where do you do it?”
“Down the beach by Fort Armistead Park.”
Chris wondered if Michael had any idea. He couldn’t possibly.
Gabriel reached out and grabbed his arm, hard. “You’ll keep your mouth shut, right?”
“Yeah.” Chris kept his voice even, like it was no big deal. “Whatever.”
Gabriel let him go. “Hey, is that Tyler’s car?”
Ahead, parked on the street, sat a sleek black SUV, almost invisible in the darkness. Set back from the road was Tyler’s house, a wide brick split-level with lazy landscaping.
Chris took a breath. He’d only been here once, but he wouldn’t forget. “Yeah.”
“Make it pour,” said Gabriel. “Think you can do hail?”
Now that they were here, so close to the house, Chris wanted to cling to the truck, as if the cab was his only lifeline to safety. “Are you just going to put the bags in the front yard or something?”
“We, brother. We.” Gabriel clicked his tongue against his teeth. “And I think I have a better idea.”
You want to turn around and go home? Maybe they could go blow the bags up on the beach. No one would get pissed, no one would know.
No one would come out of the house and beat the shit out of them.
God, he was being such a wuss. “Yeah? What?”
“Help me put the bags around his car.”
The rain welcomed him into the night air, soaking his clothes and feeding him strength. It felt better than adrenaline. Chris shook wet hair out of his eyes and grabbed a bag, heaving it onto his shoulder. He moved to throw it up against one of Tyler’s tires, but Gabriel waved to him to stop.
His brother leaned close and spoke over the rain. “He might have an alarm. Don’t touch it.”
“Just how big do these explode?”
Gabriel had already moved away. “What?”
Chris sighed. “Forget it.” He grabbed another bag from the pickup, setting it in front of the SUV.
Gabriel caught his arm. “Do you hear something?”
Chris only heard rain and his pulse. The darkness revealed nothing. He sought answers from the water in the air, but the rain was too focused on vengeance and danger.
“Come on,” said Gabriel. “Hurry.”