AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I popped my head around the corner, X lurking behind me, and called out to Johnny, who was chatting with one of the regulars on the other side of the bar, while he wiped down the surface with a rag.
“Hey, Johnny. Have you got a sec?”
He turned to me and smiled. “Hey, Vee. Your shift doesn’t start for a few hours yet.”
“Yeah, about that … I could really do with borrowing you for a minute.” I lifted my chin, jerking it back toward the kitchen. “Back here.”
“Sure.”
He threw down the rag and lifted a finger to the regular to tell him he’d only be a minute. Then he followed me back out into the kitchen.
“I’m sorry,” I started, “but I’m not going to make it in tonight.”
He frowned. “You want me to see if I can switch you over with Maggie?” he said, naming the other barmaid.
“Nah, sorry, Johnny, but I’m not going to be able to come in for any other shifts either.”
“You in trouble.”
“You could say that.”
His eyes flicked to X behind me, his gaze drifting down to the taped wounds in his arm and leg. “What the hell happened to you?” he asked X.
“Vee happened to me,” he replied.
Johnny gave a laugh. “Yeah, I can believe that.” He turned back to me. “So I’m pretty sure you haven’t just come here to hand in your notice.”
I shook my head. “I’m in trouble. I need your truck.”
“How long for?”
“I’m not sure. Just to get out of town, I hope. I’ll call you as soon as I can and tell you where I’ve left it.”
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his keys and threw them to me. I snagged them from mid-air. “I think you’re a good kid, Vee. I don’t know what kind of trouble you’re in, but try to be careful. You could have a good future ahead of you if you choose it.” He looked to X. “Take care of her, okay?”
X only nodded.
I didn’t know how to tell Johnny that he had me completely wrong, and that the last person who was going to look after me would be X.
“Thanks, Johnny. You’re literally a life saver. I’ll do my best to get the truck back to you in one piece.”
His eyes widened slightly at my comment, but he didn’t ask for the keys yet.
“Vee,” X said from behind me. I knew what the warning tone meant—we needed to get a move on.
I wasn’t the hugging type, or I might have stepped in and given Johnny a hug goodbye. Instead, I gave him a final nod, and turned and left with X. We trotted down the couple of steps together, me clutching the keys tight. We’d passed Johnny’s truck parked out in the lot when we’d driven through, so I led X over.
“I’m driving,” I told him. “Don’t try anything dumb while my attention is diverted.” I reached into the bag and took out one of the handguns. “I’ll have this right beside me.”
“Don’t you think I would have tried something by now if I was going to?”
“I have no idea with you. You might be plotting something.”
“I’m not, I swear.”
This situation I was in was crazy dangerous right now, riding in a car with a man who’d been sent to kill me, with my sister taken by God only knew who, and the police, who I was fairly sure were bent, chasing me.
I wanted to trust him, but I didn’t trust anyone.
Especially not someone who’d been sent out to kill me.
