AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shit, did I kill him?
I grab a meaty arm, feeling for his pulse.
It hammers against my fingers, almost as fast as mine. He’s alive, even if he’ll walk away with one hell of a splitting headache.
Fine.
I don’t care, just as long as he never sees the outside of a cell again.
I drag myself over to the sofa, fishing for my phone.
“Archer,” I say roughly as soon as he picks up. “I’m alive, don’t worry.”
“Thanks,” he says dryly. “How’d it go?”
“Haute’s down. Call the cops—and an ambulance.”
“Ambulance? What happened?”
“You heard me. Ask for Detective Batista and tell her it’s about Haute, then get your asses over here.”
Archer relays the message to Patton, who’s presumably calling 9-1-1, before he comes back on the line.
“How bad, Dex?” he asks.
“Made a real mess of the place. He cut me. Missed killing me, but I guess I’ll need some stitches.” Not my first time, but fucking inconvenient just the same. “Otherwise, I’m fine. He sang like a bird. Just get over here, Arch, before anyone else does.”
“On our way. Don’t die on us now.”
I hang up and make my way awkwardly to the intercom, one hand pressed against the gash on my arm. The receptionist doesn’t seem to recognize the difference between my voice and Haute’s lazy drawl, making me wonder how often he visits his own properties.
Not that it matters now.
As I head back to the sofa, I glance at the broken pig jar. It’s cracked, but the words I didn’t notice before are still readable on one side.
Life is short. Love sugar.
For fuck’s sake.
It’s ironic, I suppose, that I knocked Haute out with a fancy sugar bowl.
A fucking sugar bowlafter everything that’s happened.
Another reminder of what’s at stake and what I’m afraid I’ve already lost, even if Haute and his friends are neutralized.
Junie.
I’m almost certain she’s gone now.
After I’m patched up and done wasting a few hours in the ER, I’ll go home to an empty house.
It’ll be just like before I met her—only then I didn’t mind the hollowness at home.
I thought it was normal.
Bleeding a few pints out sure puts things in perspective.
I don’t want her to leave.
