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“I’m sorry, Vee,” Nickie sobbed. “I didn’t mean for it to turn out like this.”
“I know, Nickie,” I said. “Neither did I.”
“No, I don’t—”
“Enough talking!” said the man holding her, and he lifted his free hand and slapped her in the face.
That was enough for me. I couldn’t wait for X any longer. I reached to the back of my jeans to pull my gun.
The other men saw what I was doing and pulled their own weapons, but before they had the time to shoot, bullets smacked them like punches from behind. The guy holding Nicole released his grip and fell forward, and one of the other men spun in a pirouette before landing, slumped across the hood of the car. Tony the Hound and his remaining sidekick swung around wildly, unsure of what direction the gunshots had come from.
I ran forward, fully intending to grab Nickie, who crouched to try to shelter from the gunfire, but Tony got there before me, the muzzle of his gun pressed against my sister’s temple.
“One more step and I’ll blow a hole in her head.” He stared at me. “Why do you have to make everything so fucking difficult?” he said, as though I was the one who’d started all of this. “I only wanted to make you an offer, but now you’re going to have to suffer the repercussions.”
“No, wait!”
I watched in helpless terror as he shoved her into one of the cars, the other mobster covering them both. X couldn’t take a shot—they were too close together now. Even he couldn’t guarantee his aim to be that good and he wouldn’t hit Nickie instead, especially in the dim light.
They climbed into the car and started it, and I stood helplessly as they drove away. I wanted to shoot at them, but I couldn’t, knowing they still had my sister and anything bad I might do to them would also affect her.
I started forward, willing to chase the car and take whatever was coming to me, but X appeared beside me, his hand around my wrist, and yanked me back. “You can’t help her like this.”
“I should have taken his offer. I should have gone with them, and then Nickie wouldn’t be all alone again.” All I wanted to do was protect her, yet I always seemed to fuck up at every step. “We failed!” I cried. “You promised me it would be all right.”
He shook his head. “We lost this part, but you’re still alive, and so is she. Tony the Hound is starting a war, not just with your father, but with you, too. I have people I can ask for help. We can make a damn good guess at where he’s going, where he’s taking her.”
There was only one place I could think of. Back to New York.
“What’s he going to do to her in the meantime?” I dropped to a crouch and punched the ground, not caring if my hands bled or I broke bones. “Fuck!” I took a breath and then looked back up at him. “If she dies, that’s it for me. If I can’t testify against my father, and I no longer have Nickie to watch over, there’s no point in me even being on this planet. If we don’t get her back, you might as well kill me anyway, because I have nothing to live for. If all I have are my memories of what I did, I won’t be able to live with that.”
“Stop it, stop it.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me back up toward him, holding me tight against his chest.
I trembled, my body rigid with anger and fear. The future—however small amount I might have—suddenly stretched out before me.
I was going back to New York.
The place my father would learn I was still alive.
