Charlie
I have no idea how I should feel right now. I want to call Jett. Tell him to meet me so I can vent this all out. Scream and cry and freak out until I felt better. But would it really make me feel better? Or would I feel worse the moment I saw his face?
I mean, yesterday, the moment I saw Jett in that elevator, I thought a huge fight was about to break out, but luckily I hid before he could catch up to me. I need him to tell me everything. I’m sick of the lies. I don’t want any more secrets. I just want the truth so I can move on. I need to get him out of the mess he doesn’t even know he’s in and I need to do it as soon as possible. I’ve already wasted so much time and doing what? Nothing. Just hoping they’ll accept that I don’t have their money and spending all my free time thinking of Jett.
Not anymore. Sam’s life depends on me. From this moment on, I’m not letting anything get by without knowing the whole story, and in order to do that, I need to talk to Jett.
“Good morning,” Whit says, stepping inside my apartment with Max. “Thanks again for taking Max to school. Some days this work from home job has its downfalls. You know, when I actually have to leave the house.”
I give her a half smile and a laugh I know she knows is fake.
“It’s not a problem. What are neighbors for?”
“A lot, actually. We are pretty good at talking, too.”
I nod and head for the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.
“Okay, well, I’m off then. I’ll see you after school when I pick the boys up?” she asks.
Again, I nod. I’m glad she doesn’t pry, but it makes me wonder why she wouldn’t. She usually would want to know everything.
“Did you know?” I ask when Whit gets to the doorway.
She stops but doesn’t turn to look at me. When her head drops forward a bit, I know the answer.
“Not the whole time. Just for maybe a week and a half,” she answers.
“Oh.”
“I’ve known since the same day Jett figured it out. When you didn’t let him in … he came right over and told me as much as he could. It tore him up.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I just keep staring at her. I’m not mad at her or even slightly upset. It wasn’t her lie to tell. That, and I as her friend and he as her brother put her in a hard place.
“I should have listened to you that day,” I say, sipping my coffee.
She steps back inside and leans on the counter, waiting for me to go on.
“I should have taken it slow or just … not done anything.”
“Oh, Charlie.” She moves to hug me but I step out of her way and wipe away the tears that snuck lose.
“I’m fine. It’s fine.”
“But it’s not fine, you’re crying.”
“I always cry,” I say, because, yes, I’m hurt over Jett, but how did I let my life get this way?
“I can totally skip out of work today if you want to talk about it,” she offers.
I shake my head, grab my purse, and holler down the hall, “Boys, it’s time to go,” and I look at her. “I need to keep busy today. Otherwise, I will dwell on a whole lot of what I thought was true but isn’t and then I really won’t be okay.”
Or my focus will be on things it can’t afford to be on.
Whit presses her lips together. I know she wants to say more, but I’m glad she doesn’t. She just nods and leaves.
I spin around and take in the apartment, the life Sam and I have built. It’s time to take control back.
Jett
Waiting by the phone for Charlie to call and knowing she might never makes my stomach uneasy. There has to be something I can do. Anything. I have to find a way for her to listen to me. I’m not the guy she thinks I am even if I was a coward and didn’t tell her right away. But shit, there wasn’t a right choice to make.
My fingers itch to dial her number or send her a text. Something to get her to talk to me. Even if it’s about seeing her at the station yesterday. I can’t even be mad at her. After the secrets I’ve kept, I’m surprised she didn’t follow me sooner.
“What’s your deal today?” Clint asks.
Oh, aside from the fact he and his scumbag partner want to kill my girlfriend and I can’t do anything about it because she won’t talk to me, that not a single fucking person knows where the money is that I’m jeopardizing my personal life and career for, and now I’m stuck sitting here inside Clint’s shithole apartment, again, with his idiot ass … nothing.
It takes a whole lot for me to just shrug, like it’s no big deal. It’s a huge fucking deal.
“Just the regular ’ole bullshit,” I say.
“It’s the lady, isn’t it?” he asks. “Her routine is that fucking boring huh?”
I don’t move. No nod. No shake of the head, no nothing.
“They are always messing things up for us.”
I side eye him and shake my head.
“Let’s talk about something else,” I say. The last thing I need to be doing is talking about Charlie to Clint, of all people. I shouldn’t even be thinking about her while I’m on the job. Especially now that she’s a part of the job. Everything is already a mess; I can’t be drawing attention and making it worse.
“I got a man who wants to make a deal,” I say. It’s time to get this ball rolling.
“What kind of deal?”
“Six figures.”
“Hmmm. What does he want?”
“Seventy-two pounds.”
“Jesus.”
“He’s very eager. He had a deal fall through and needs it ASAP. Price gets higher the sooner we can get it to him.”
Clint hmmms again.
“How is it so easy for you to make deals like this?” he asks.
“If I told you how I worked, it wouldn’t be easy,” I answer, turning to him with a fake smile.
“I don’t know. I still think we should go through one of my guys on this next deal. With a payment that size, I need to know it’s with someone I can trust.”
“Anything you want,” I say. “But an opportunity like this … it’s crazy to pass it up.”
“I said I didn’t like it,” he reminds me. “Besides, Jimmy doesn’t want to make any transactions that size right now.”
“Just think about it. Jimmy won’t be here forever. He’ll be off spending his cash and you’ll be here, wishing you had the money to disappear yourself.”
“Fucking shit,” Jimmy says, strutting inside, the door slamming behind him.
“What?” Clint jumps to his feet and pulls a gun from between the couch cushions.
Glad to know they have shit hidden everywhere in this place.
“You should be with that bitch and not here,” he snaps and points at me.
I shake my head. “She’s at work. What do you want me to do? Hang around the bank like a fucking creep?”
His eyes narrow. “I told you to stay with her at all times. I don’t give a fuck where she is.”
His stare becomes intense. He’s no longer determined to get the money—he’s desperate.
I roll my eyes. “Her routine is the same thing day in, day out. Figured my job was done at that point,” I lie.
He takes a moment to answer and then smirks. “Yeah, well, it’s not. Until that fucking money is in my hands, you will do as I goddamn say!”
“All right.” I look back at the TV.
“So, get the fuck out there and find her! That money has to be in her apartment. Keep looking.”
“I …”
“Just go do your job.” He pulls a gun from the back of his jeans. Better than a couch cushion. “Or I’ll find someone who can.”
My hands ball into fists as I stand. I’d give anything to deck him in the face if I didn’t know I would be outnumbered in the aftermath.
“Call me in a couple hours with an update,” he says. “I’m sick of waiting.”
His beady eyes watch my every move, but I still don’t say anything as I leave. He can threaten me all he wants, but this shit with Charlie has got to end. I’ll check on her all right, and by tomorrow night, as far as Jimmy and Clint will know, her place will be empty. Like she just disappeared. Vanished. And his plan to get the money will be over. But first, I have to get her to talk to me.