CHAPTER FOURTEEN

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- NOW -

THE FOLLOWING DAY came quickly. Knowing we were headed to a bar, I’d had to get creative with my limited wardrobe.

I didn’t have a skirt, or a dress. But I did have a pair of jeans I’d purchased at the thrift store that I’d thought would fit me fine at the waist, forgetting to look at their length. As it was, they bunched up uncomfortably at the ankle and were too tight to roll up. So I borrowed a pair of scissors from Phoenix and decided to make myself a pair of shorts. I began cutting them at what I thought was a decent length, but failed to taken into account how frayed the ends would become once cut. The shorts ended up being a lot shorter than I’d anticipated.

I paired the shorts with a white halter top and that was pretty much it as far as getting ready went. My face was completely devoid of any makeup as I didn’t have any with me. I longed for some concealer to cover the circles under my eyes, or some gloss to call attention to my lips.

I shook my head. It didn’t matter. Who was I even trying to impress?

When I came downstairs, Kellan’s eyes darkened considerably as they latched onto my outfit. He didn’t comment, but his eyes said it all really.

“Let’s go.” He pushed away from the wall, opening the front door for me.

I followed him out, nervous about the long walk to the main road and the drive to the bar. We’d be alone for a long time.

It wasn’t awkward, surprisingly, but a little quiet. I think we were both lost in our own thoughts.

There was a silent understanding between us not to bring up the kiss. Or maybe it was a battle of wills. The loser being the one to bring it up first. It wouldn’t be me, though I longed to find out why he’d kissed me, to understand what he’d been thinking.

We arrived at the bar about half an hour after Max finished his shift, timing ourselves carefully so that we wouldn’t get to the bar too early and have to hang around waiting for him to arrive. The quicker we got back, the better.

“Show time,” I murmured as Kellan pushed the door to the bar open.

There was the distinct possibility that we were completely wrong about Max, so I was a little nervous about approaching him.

We walked inside, Kellan holding the door open for me. It was a small bar with a handful of tables – four of which were occupied. A pleasant hum of conversation filled the bar. There was a game playing on a TV in one corner, music playing softly from an old jukebox in the opposite corner.

The bar wasn’t crowded, but it also wasn’t so empty that our entrance drew attention. Thank God for small miracles. A couple stood by the jukebox, having a look at the music selection. There were three guys sitting at the bar a few feet away from them. I hoped Max wasn’t among them. It’d be much easier to approach him if he was alone.

Kellan scanned the room. “I see him,” he said, his eyes zeroing in on someone in the crowd. “Come on.”

We came to a stop at a table in the corner. There was one lone occupant seated there, leaning back on the hind legs of his chair as he eyed two girls at another table with avid interest.

He looked older than Kellan, maybe twenty-five. His dark hair was cut close to his head in a buzz cut, the bulges in his arms visible through the tight cotton shirt he wore. His head moved in our direction, his eyes landing on me first and positively lighting up.

“Hey there, beautiful.” His grin was pure mischief. It wasn’t the world’s most perfect smile; one of his incisors was a little crooked and his bottom lip was a lot fuller than his top, but it was genuine and it reached his eyes. I could see how some girls might have been drawn in by that.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem drunk, but I could tell that he’d had a couple of drinks. He had the relaxed, pleasantly buzzed air about him that a few good drinks could bring about.

“Max,” Kellan said curtly.

Max’s gaze swung towards him, his face turning astonished. “Kellan? Fuck, man, you’ve practically got the whole force going crazy looking for you.” He stood up, slapping Kellan on the back. This was good, I thought. There was no weariness or menace in his eyes. No urgency to call for backup. He looked surprised, his curiosity a good sign. Approaching him was looking more and more like a promising idea. Max’s gaze swung back to me. “I assume this is Mario’s daughter?”

“That’s me.” I took a seat at the table and Kellan followed suit. “I’m April.”

“Max. Pleasure to meet you.” He flashed me a grin, sitting down too. His interested gaze moved back to Kellan. “What’s going on? There were reports of a shooting at your apartment. Luke was certain that April here was at the apartment with you. Yet neither of you were anywhere to be found. There was talk that you’d both faced the same fate as Mario.”

He leaned forward eagerly, a keen gossip if there ever was one. The fact that he’d talked about Dad so callously didn’t seem to register with him. I wondered if I’d mistaken how drunk he was, or if he really was just that insensitive.

“Well, we’re both fine as you can see,” Kellan said. “What’s going on with my apartment?”

“After they finished combing the place for evidence, Luke filed a missing persons report – well, two actually – and had new locks installed. I don’t think anyone’s been back there for a few days.”

“What about my place?” I asked Max.

His eyes dipped down my shirt for a second before he met my eyes with an impish grin. “Yeah. Luke had your back windows repaired... well, he got someone to make sure they were fixed, and the whole place has been locked up. He’s been going crazy, utilizing every resource at his disposal to find you guys. As the Chief of Police, that’s a whole lot of resources.”

“Chief of Police?” I echoed, shocked.

“Yeah, he got promoted a few days ago when Old Man Carson finally kicked the bucket,” Max said, swigging his beer. Kellan and I exchanged dismayed glances at this unwelcome piece of news. Chief of Police. We were doomed. Max pulled his phone out of his pocket. “So, where’ve you both been? Chief was sure you were missing. I gotta call him and let him know–“

“No!” Kellan and I said at the same time.

There was a sudden tension in the air.

“Okay...” Max said hesitantly, looking wary for the first time.

“Listen, man, can we talk somewhere else?” Kellan asked urgently, eyeing the people around us.

“Are you in some kind of trouble?” Max looked between the two of us, his face growing cautious. “It can’t be that bad if Luke is treating your Houdini act as a missing person’s case, instead of issuing for your arrests…”

“We haven’t broken any laws, man, but we’re in a.... difficult situation,” Kellan said, his hands splayed on the table in front of him as he stared intently at Max.

“What do you guys need from me?” Max asked, looking guarded.

Kellan hesitated, glancing around the bar again. “It’s a long story, one that I’d rather not go into here.”

Seeing that Max had no intention of going anywhere with us, I spoke up. “No one’s paying us any attention,” I told Kellan, a little exasperated. “Talk. I’ll grab you boys some drinks.” Maybe Max would be more susceptible to hearing us out if he had some more to drink.

Kellan raised an eyebrow at me, but I ignored him. Judging by the way Max’s shoulders dropped slightly, I’d succeeded in putting him more at ease.

I stood up, making my way towards the bar. It was only after I’d placed an order that I remembered that I didn’t have my fake ID with me. I waited with bated breath, hoping that the girl behind the bar wouldn’t card me. She looked tired beneath the heavy makeup she wore, and fortunately went about making my order without a fuss. There was another bartender behind the bar, opening up cardboard boxes and stocking up the beer with his back to me.

“Thank you,” I murmured to the barmaid when she placed the two drinks I’d ordered in front of me.

I picked them up, edging my way around a table filled with a group of guys watching the game. I stilled however when I felt a hand land on my ass and squeeze hard.

I yelped, jumping away from him.

“Hey, baby–“

Not even letting him finish his sentence, I kicked his chair out from under him. He went down with an almighty thump, his glass going down with him and shattering into a million pieces on the floor.

Kellan was suddenly at my side as the guy jumped furiously to his feet. Red-faced and enraged, he was as tall and as big as Kellan. His friends, who’d all been sitting at the table beside him, got up when they saw Kellan.

Shit. I hadn’t intended to start a fight.

Things escalated quickly.

One of the guy’s at the table took a swing at Kellan, but he’d had a lot to drink and his movements were stiff and clumsy. Kellan side-stepped him easily, and the guy stumbled, pitching forward into another table. A girl had been sitting there, and he ended up tipping her chair over. The blonde guy who’d been sat at that table, presumably the girl’s boyfriend, jumped up as she landed on the floor, looking extremely pissed off.

I backed away as the bartender hurried out from behind the bar and tried to calm the situation. Nobody paid him any attention. I peeked around the bartender, seeing the drunk guy – now standing – throw a punch at the girl’s boyfriend.

Meanwhile, the guy who’d grabbed my ass was up and looking furious. He put his hands underneath the table he’d been sitting at and pitched the whole thing over, advancing on Kellan.

There was some confusion. A man was shoved into a table as another tried to step away. More glasses littered the floor. A girl screamed. The couple who’d been by the jukebox watched wide-eyed, while others hurriedly left the bar.

Kellan quickly disappeared into the fray just as the boyfriend decked the drunk guy.

Max hurried forward, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. He grabbed the boyfriend in a headlock, pulling him away from the drunk guy who was back on the floor. The drunk guy took the opportunity to get up and sucker punch the blonde guy. This didn’t go over well with the girlfriend. For whatever reason, she went for Phoenix and not the drunk, long artificial nails drawn.

There were so many people in my way, I couldn’t see Kellan at all, and my eyes searched for him desperately. Max, crazily enough, was looking like he was enjoying himself as he ducked a punch, looking invigorated by the fight. He shot me a grin when he caught me looking, but the distraction cost him a nasty punch in the jaw and he staggered back a little.

With my hands still clutching the drinks I’d ordered, I let one fly into the face of his opponent. The drunk guy spluttered and Max seized the distraction, taking him down onto the ground.

The couple scarpered, heading for the exit, and I put the glasses in my hands down.

We had to get out of here before the cops arrived. I was sure someone would have called them by now.

There were people in my way, jostling me as they headed towards the exit. I pushed through them, Kellan suddenly appearing right in front of me. The guy who’d grabbed my ass was staggering, clutching his face and squinting like he’d gotten decked in the face.

Kellan did a quick scan of me as though making sure I was okay before his hand clamped down firmly on my elbow. “Come on.” He began to propel me towards the exit

Most of the bar had cleared out and there were only a few people still brawling. A man I hadn’t seen before yelled from behind the bar. “The cops have been called. If ya’ll know what’s good for you, you’ll scarper while you still can!”

Kellan swore under his breath and propelled me faster. Max was still on the floor. Kellan let go of me for a split second to yank him up. “Let’s go!”

Max said something that sounded suspiciously like, “Spoilt sport.” But he followed us out the door.

We exited the bar quickly, and I blinked in surprise at the setting sun outside. It had been so smoky and dim inside, I’d forgotten it was still light out.

Max followed us down the street and towards the small alleyway where we’d parked the car.

“Get in!” Kellan barked, and I slipped quickly into the passenger seat of the car as Max got into the back.

“Man, that was insane,” Max said, breathing heavily from exertion but still in high spirits.

Kellan, on the other hand, looked positively livid. He could fight with the best of them, but he didn’t seem to get any sense of enjoyment from it – unlike the eager maniac in the back who was still vibrating from the fight.

Kellan shoved the key into the ignition, the engine purring to life, and pulled out of the parking lot so fast, I almost fell into passenger door. I hurried to put on my seatbelt.

Looking up after I fastened myself in, I caught sight of Kellan’s right hand clenched tightly around the steering wheel. His knuckles, which were white from his grip on the wheel, were split open and bloody.

“Your hand,” I gasped, reaching for it. He shot me a glare so ferocious that I pulled my hand back, stung.

“We need to get as far from here as we can before the cops arrive.” Kellan pressed down harder on the accelerator. He glanced up at the interior mirror, looking at Max. “Your car–“

“It’s at home. I got a cab,” he said, leaning forward so that his head appeared right between the front seats.

“Do you think they have security cameras at the bar?” I asked, shifting away from him, his face suddenly way too close to my own.

The last thing we needed was our faces being shown to cops who might recognize us.

At least they wouldn’t be able to trace us back to Phoenix, as we hadn’t parked his car in the bar’s parking lot. Kellan had debated over having the car nearby in case we needed to make a quick getaway or protecting our safe place by not risking getting the car on camera. Thankfully, he’d made the right call. Though neither of us had imagined an outcome quite like this.

“Of course they have security cameras,” Kellan said each word precisely, his face forbidding as he stared out of the windshield.

I cowered a little in my seat, but then sat straighter, glaring back at him. “This isn’t my fault,” I said, trying to sound calm, but I was pissed, and it was clear in my voice.

Kellan’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I know it isn’t,” he said between clenched teeth.

“Could’ve fooled me,” I retorted, crossing my arms.

“I know the owner of the bar,” Max interjected, his head still between our headrests as he looked between the two of us. “He owes me a favor. He’ll say the security cameras don’t work if I ask him to.”

“He’d do that for you?” Kellan asked with a raised eyebrow. It did seem like a lot. I wondered what Max could have possibly done for him to warrant such a favor.

“Yeah. It’s not like it’ll cost him anything. The insurance company will pay for the damages, and he doesn’t usually press charges anyway. He’d spend half his time in court if he did.”

Kellan mulled over Max’s words before nodding. “Thanks, man.”

“No problem. Besides, it doesn’t exactly look good for me either, you know? Getting involved in a bar fight.” Leaning back, Max pulled his cell phone out of the front pocket of his pants. “I’ll give him a call.” He brought the phone to his ear. There was a pause before he started speaking. “Jack? Hey, it’s Max…”

Kellan glanced at me. “I’m just glad that you didn’t get involved back there,” Kellan said quietly as Max spoke into the phone.

“I’m not that stupid,” I scoffed, and then shot him a warning look when he teasingly raised his eyebrow. “I wouldn’t get involved in a bar fight – not with grown men that are twice the size of me.”

“If I remember correctly, you did once get involved in a fight with guys twice the size of you. Dressed in a pink tutu, now that I come to think of it,” he said, a small smile on his face.

“God, I can’t believe you remember that.” I groaned.

“Kind of hard to forget that moment, ballerina,” he said wryly.

“Well, my Karate days are long over. I’m not sure I could even perform half the moves... at least, not without pulling a muscle,” I told him, feeling a flutter in my stomach that he’d remembered that day.

“You know, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to brush up on some self-defense. It could come in use.”

“You really think I attract trouble, don’t you?”

“Well, if the shoe fits–“ His eyes moved back to the interior mirror to look at Max as he wrapped up his conversation in the back.

“Thanks, man. Yeah, of course… Alright. I’ll catch you later.” He ended the call. “It’s sorted.”

“You sure?” Kellan asked.

Max nodded. “Yeah. He’ll file a report with the police for insurance purposes but tell them that the security cameras were down.” His face turned serious. “Now, what’s going on? What did you want to tell me about Cosa Nostra?”

It seemed Kellan hadn’t gotten round to saying much while I’d gotten the drinks.

Kellan pulled the car over onto the side of the road and turned around with a leveled a look at Max. “I’m not going to beat around the bush, man. Have you heard anything about crooked cops on the force?”

I blinked at how quickly he’d come out with it. I’d always thought of Kellan as tactful... intelligent, and competent, in the way he handled matters. I was beginning to reconsider that now.

Max’s face stilled, his mouth opening and then closing silently. “I wasn’t expecting that.” Max rubbed the back of his shaved head. “Please tell me that those rumors have no credibility behind them.”

It was good that there was already a seed of doubt there. Maybe Max would be more receptive to what we had to say.

“So you’ve heard something, then?” Kellan pushed, eyeing a car that drove past us.

“Yeah, I’ve heard something, but there’s always talk like that floating around. Doesn’t mean it’s true,” Max said, his brows furrowed in concern. “What have you heard?”

“It’s not what we’ve heard, but what we know,” I said, shifting in my seat so I could look at him properly. It made sense that there were rumors floating around. An operation of such magnitude couldn’t have gone unnoticed for long. Speculation and suspicion were bound to rise.

“And what do you know?” Max asked.

“Not here,” Kellan said firmly as another car drove by. “We’ll go back to Phoenix’s place. You met him once, remember?”

“Yeah.” Max nodded. “Funny guy. Bit strange.”

“That’s him,” I said with a small smile hovering on my lips at the accurate description.

“I’d rather we headed to my place,” Max said, meeting Kellan’s eyes.

He was wary and unsure about whether we could be trusted... that was clear in his gaze. It was reassuring. Immediate apprehension, or trust, would have been a cause for concern.

Kellan frowned, his eyes landing on me for a small second. He nodded once. “Fine.”

“This might just be the biggest, most stupid mistake of my life,” Max muttered, leaning back in his seat.

I felt a flash of sympathy go through me. His world was about to be tipped upside down.