AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes?” Mateo raises his hand, stopping his friend’s swing in mid-air.
“This is my car now. Eli put it in my name, and if you so much as scratch it, it’s going to be really difficult to hide from my friend. You remember? The cop,” I warn, hoping it’s enough to get them to leave.
“You mean the boyfriend?” Mateo asks, unamused.
“He’s just my friend, but he is a cop.”
Mateo stands there, silently staring at me, and I think I've won. Maybe I’ve convinced him that this isn't worth it. And then he’s yanking his hand from behind his back.
I register the click only a second after I find the barrel of his gun in my face.
My heart stops. My brain stops. I can’t move or breathe or plead for my life. I just stare down the barrel of that gun and know this is it. I’m going to die, and my mother will come home to find my lifeless body on our garage floor, surrounded by a pool of blood, and she will have lost both of her children.
He just stands there, staring me down with those cold, soulless eyes. I don’t know how much time passes before he finally speaks.
“You will pay back every cent your piece of shit brother owes me, or I will come back here and leave him nothing but corpses to return home to. You got that, Mami?” he says, gritting the words between clenched teeth.
All I can do is nod. Tears fall freely from my eyes, and I let them, too afraid to move my hand and swipe them away.
“You get your little cop boyfriend involved, and I’ll string his body out for the town to see. You run your mouth to Madre, and she’ll get it, too,” he says, and I know he means it.
I draw my lower lip between my teeth, biting down as hard as I can to stop them from trembling.
“I’m not in the habit of repeating myself, so don’t make me” He drops the gun, sliding back into the waist of his jeans. My legs want to give out, but I will myself to stay standing, if only until they leave.
“I’ll give you a month, and then I expect a payment from you every week after,” he demands.
“For how long?” I manage to ask past the knot in my throat.
“Until I say otherwise,” he says.
With that, the other two leave and climb back into the SUV they showed up in, leaving me alone with this monster.
“It’s been a real pleasure, Mami. Be a good girl now,” he smiles, and then he’s gone.
I wait until absolutely sure they're gone before collapsing onto the concrete floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
How am I supposed to fix all of this? It was bad enough when I thought I only had our debt to worry about. But now this? I saw no way out of it. At least not one that kept my loved ones off Mateo's radar.
After wiping my tear-stained face, I walk back into the garage to get a broom. I don’t want Ma to see more of this shit than is necessary.
As I take care of everything, sweeping up as much glass as possible, I know that my plan from earlier is the only option. The only way I can make enough money to keep my family safe.
I have a month to learn to race. I don’t know how or when or even where I’m going to do this, but I have to keep Sander out of it.
Sander.
He’s been so helpful to my family during all of this, but I know keeping him at arm’s length is for the best. The less he knows, the better.
I’ll do anything to keep my loved one's safe. Even if that means severing ties in the process.
I won’t drag them into this hell with me.
I can’t.
Chapter 29
Sneaking onto someone’s property shouldn’t be as easy as this, but when your gate code is your last name, you almost deserve it. Almost.
