DORIAN
My clothes were soaking wet and cold. My head buzzed from the shot of alcohol. Anger and confusion and frustration and more emotions I couldn’t figure out swirled inside of my head. I pushed everything aside as I put my foot to the pedal and raced back to Ivory.
Gina was by my side the entire time. The worry on her face hadn’t gone away. There was no point in trying to comfort her. My best friend had come back from the dead and he was hell-bent on paying me back.
It was late into the evening when we arrived back in Ivory. The storm was raging even worse than it was back in the big city. I didn’t know what time it was but I knew the fire station was still open. Some poor bastard was working the graveyard and I was about to find out who it was.
“Open up!”
I banged on the door as hard as I could.
“Open up!”
“Are you sure someone is inside?” Gina said.
“There’s always someone on duty. Even if it’s just one person. Open up!”
I kept banging on the door until someone finally answered.
It was Adams. He was half-asleep and groggy, his hair messy from sleeping. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. I knew he was fully-awake when he glared at me.
“Sullivan? What the fuck are you—”
“Let me in.”
I pushed my way past him into the fire station.
“Hey! What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Shit, you’ve got some nerve!”
“Listen, Adams. There’s no time for your bullshit, okay? The fire station is in trouble.”
“Yeah, no shit. You blew up that fucking warehouse and now you’re here. What are you gonna do? You’re gonna blow this place up to?”
“Not me but someone is.”
I kept ignoring Adams the best I could.
“Who else is here?” I said as I started searching the garage.
“It’s me and George. Sullivan, I’m calling the fucking cops.”
I turned to him just as I opened the fire station garage.
“What?” I said.
“I’m calling the fucking cops. There was an APB out for you. You’re a wanted criminal. Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“You can’t call the cops. There’s no time for that.”
“You came to the fire station. Big mistake, Sullivan. Now I’m gonna beat the shit out of you before the cops arrive to haul your ass to jail.”
Adams started walking toward me but Gina stepped in front of him.
“Did you hear what he said?” Gina told him. “There’s no time for that, okay?”
Adams looked down at her and scoffed.
“Listen, sweetheart. I don’t know what this guy told you. You look like the type of slut that would fall for biker trash like him. But this guy’s a fucking criminal. They all are. I’m just doing you a favor.”
“Would you shut the fuck up already?” I said. “There’s a fucking bomb in here and we have to find out.”
“And how would you know that?” Adams said. “Oh, that’s right. Because you’re the one who fucking planted it! You’re not getting away with this.”
“Adams, we don’t have time—”
Before I could finish, he shoved Gina out of the way and lunged at me.
I couldn’t fucking believe it. I was so distracted that I let him wrap his arms around me and tackle me to the ground.
“I’m gonna enjoy turning your ass in,” he said.
He got on top of me and leveled me with a punch. My head rocked back and sent me in a daze.
“Dorian!”
Gina rushed up and tried to pull Adams off but he pushed her away. It gave me enough time to free myself.
We both scrambled up to our feet as Gina sat off to the side of the room.
“Fine,” I said. “You wanna do this now motherfucker, let’s do it.”
“Let’s go!”
Adams swung at me.
I’d been in more fights than I cared to remember. Firefighters weren’t trained in combat like Marines.
I saw the punch coming from a mile away. I ducked out of the way and decked him across the side of the head. He stumbled down to a knee but got back up to his feet, his face filled with more rage than before.
He swung at me again but I moved out of the way. Another punch sent him back tumbling to the ground.
“We can do this all day,” I said. “But there’s no time—”
He roared at me and tackled me back to the ground. As I struggled to get him off of me.
“Dorian!”
Gina helplessly called out as I wrestled Adams on the ground.
“What the fuck is going on out here?”
I pushed Adams off then got back up to my feet to see George standing near one of the doorways.
“Sullivan?” he said. “What are you doing here?”
The lights suddenly started to flicker. I looked up just as the garage went pitch black.
“Shit,” I muttered.
“What is that?” Gina said. “What’s going on? What happened to the lights?”
“Must have short-circuited from the storm,” Adams said. “Don’t worry. The backup generator should be back up in just a few seconds. And when it does, I’m gonna finish beating the shit out of—”
The lights came back on. My eyes widened as I saw the man suddenly standing right behind Adams.
Logan.
It was him.
For the first time since I left him all those years ago. He looked exactly the same. His face. His physique. But more than anything, his eyes… The way he stared at me. Undeniable anger.
“Look out!”
I shouted out but it was too late. Adams turned around and got pistol-whipped right across the temple by Logan. Adams fell to the ground in a heap. Logan spun around and pointed his gun at George as he dragged Adams across the ground.
“Hey,” George said. “I don’t know what the hell is going on here. But—”
“Shut up,” Logan said. “I’m taking him with me.”
George, Gina and I all had our hands up as we watched Logan drag Adams out of the garage and into the red pickup truck that was parked just outside. He tossed Adams’ unconscious body into the cab, his gun still pointed at me.
“Logan, you don’t have to do this,” I said. “You’re just making everything worse.”
“There’s no such thing as worse,” Logan responded. “I’ve already been to the bottom. I can’t get any deeper.”
“Whatever it is, man. I’m here for you. Let me help.”
Logan shook his head and smirked at me.
“Nah, it’s too late,” he said. “It’s time to settle this. Once and for all. It’s time to see what kind of man you really are.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m gonna end it all. It’s over for me. I’ve already done too much.”
“Logan—”
“And I’m taking this guy with me. You can come try to save him if you want. But if you do, you can’t save your club.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I rigged a piece big enough to blow The Grindhouse sky high. Even the debris will end up in space.”
I didn’t want to believe him but the look in his eyes told me it was true.
“There’s still a chance for you to find it and stop it from going off. But there’s no chance you’ll be able to save him, too.”
He pointed at Adams with his gun.
“Why?” I said, shaking my head. “Why are you doing this?”
He didn’t answer me.
“You know where to find me,” he said. “It’s the only place you and I ever had fun. It was the only time we were ever friends.”
He got into the pickup truck and sped off down the street. I watched him disappear in the distance.
“Dorian.”
Gina rushed up next to me. I put my hands on her arms and looked down at her.
“You have to get to The Grindhouse,” I said. “Tell Garnet there’s a bomb somewhere in the building.”
“But—”
“Gina, there’s no time. You have to do it.”
“I’ll do it. But what about you?”
I turned to George. He was still standing there with his hands in the air, his eyes unblinking.
“George…”
I walked up to him and shook him.
“George!”
He gasped a deep breath and blinked his eyes at me.
“I need a ride,” he said. “You got a ride I can borrow… Please… We’re running out of time. Adams is in trouble.”
He looked at me and nodded.
“Let me get my keys,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared back into the station. I turned around to see Gina standing there, a tear leaking from her eye.
It hurt every part of my being to see how much worry was on her face.
I rushed up to her and put a finger to her cheek to wipe the tear away.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I need you to do this.”
“I know,” she sighed.
“I know it’s dangerous for you—”
“I don’t care about me. You know Logan is capable of anything.”
“I know.”
“Just promise you’ll come back to me. I… I—”
I put my lips to hers to quiet her. Her lips had never tasted as sweet. I wanted our kiss to last forever but I knew it couldn’t. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her as I whispered into her ear.
“I promise.”