Chapter Forty-Four - Lincoln
“Fuck that, Thomas. This plan is over. Atticus fucked it all up and now Molly knows that Blue Boar asshole is her real father.”
“Who cares?” Brooks actually looks bewildered. “She has nothing to do with any of this. She’s a happy accident, Lincoln.”
“Wow,” I say. “I’m not sure if I’m surprised. You never did give a fuck about her.”
“She’s still alive, isn’t she?” Thomas snarls at me. “Obviously I cared enough.”
I feel the rage. The heat pours through my hands as I take in the full meaning of that comment. I picture pushing Molly out of that window and telling her to run away all by herself. The fear in her eyes. That flimsy fucking nightgown because I was so sure Thomas would come upstairs and find us, there was no time to let her change. “I said I’m out,” I snarl back at him.
“You’re not in charge here, Lincoln. You do as you’re told.”
“OK, you guys,” Case says. “We need to calm down. Lincoln, Molly doesn’t have anything to do with this job. It sucks that she’s involved, but—”
“You,” I say to Case, “you of all people are gonna stand here and talk sense after what he did that night? Are you fucking kidding me, Case? He took everything with him when he left. Or has that little detail slipped your mind?”
It was the right button to push for Case. We’re not talking about the same night. That night when I pushed Molly out the window, that was the night of fucking over Lincoln. But the night Thomas stole that girl from Case was the same shit, different date.
Case is silent, staring me in the eyes. I know how his mind works and I can see it spinning. “He doesn’t care, Case. He just can’t have his little news conference if we leave.”
“Fuck you, Lincoln,” Thomas says.
I drag my eyes back to Thomas. “It’s true. You’re a freak, Thomas. You’ve never attached to anyone. Not even us, though you try to talk the talk. Loyalty, brotherhood, revenge. All these words are just triggers for Case and me. To keep us in line. But they don’t have any meaning to you, do they?”
“I’m doing this for all of us.”
“You’re doing this for you. You don’t give one fuck about me, or Case, or hell, even Molly. If you had your way, she’d be dead. I bet your girl is dead, Case. Did he ever tell you where he sent them?”
Case looks at Thomas like he’d kill him right now, no questions asked, if only he was able. I feel a little bad about the last remark. We all know the girl isn’t dead, because we all know Thomas doesn’t do his own dirty work. That’s why he needs me. But who’s to say he doesn’t have another me stashed away somewhere?
Case takes the bait. “Fuck that,” he says. “I’m out too. All this is for you, Thomas.”
“How the fuck do you figure?” Thomas asks, realizing he’s losing. “Have you forgotten who was there that night?”
“You left,” I say. “You left and made your fortune off us.”
“I funded you two assholes,” Thomas says. “You have your toy company, Case. And you have your”—Thomas stops to consider me—“whatever the fuck it is you do down there in that cave.”
“Whatever the fuck I do?” I ask. “Are you kidding me?”
“Well, you’re the one backing out, Lincoln. I figure you’re realizing you’re not quite ready for prime time and it’s got you running scared.”
“Huh.” I grunt out a laugh. “I’m ready, motherfucker. I could take this whole town down with the shit I have down there.”
“So do it,” Thomas challenges. “What was the point of all that killing if you’re not going to finish the job?”
“That’s the only thing you care about,” Case says. “It’s always been about taking him down. Nothing else has ever mattered to you, has it, Thomas? Not me, not Lincoln.”
“Not Molly,” I add. “Or that girl of yours, Case. He didn’t threaten her father to keep her safe.”
“The hell I didn’t!” Thomas yells. I look over at Mac and he’s already ducking into the back room. An angry Thomas is terrifying if you’re not under the protection of the inhibitor. “You were gonna get that girl killed, Case. The Blue fucking Boar had his claws in her father good and tight. He was just about to bring him in, and then what do you think would’ve happened to her? All you gotta do is look at Molly for that answer.”
“Don’t bring Molly into this,” I say.
“She’s my fucking sister, Lincoln. I’ll bring her—”
“Lincoln,” Sheila says, through my phone. “An unauthorized text has been sent to Molly from your number.”
“What?” All three of us go silent.
“She was told to head to Thomas’ cathedral maze. She left on her bike and I’ve been trying to contact her, but the phone powered down just seconds after the message was sent.”
I look at Thomas and growl, “You better not walk away from her this time, you cold piece of shit. You better not walk away. If this is him, I’ll take him out. But you had better be invested, asshole. Or I will hunt you for the rest of your life. I will sit down in my little cave and create a drug that will undo this protection you have. And then I will torture you in ways you can’t even imagine.” I look over at Case and say, “Coming or not?”
He nods. “You know I’m there.”
“I’m taking the bike.” I look back at Thomas, who is still silently glaring at me. “And you better have my back.”
I know better than to wait for an acknowledgement from Thomas.
But I also know he’ll be there.
We are, after all, in this together. You don’t kill all those people for a guy like Thomas and not get what’s due. He might not be completely loyal, he might be selfish, and pretentious, and evil as fuck. But he pays his debts.
“We’ll do it just like we planned.”
I catch his words just before the door slams closed behind me and I’m already on the bike, racing towards the cathedral, when I ask myself if I ever really knew the plan.