“Fuck! What the hell am I supposed to do now? If I go in for questioning, I may spend the rest of my life locked up,” I mutter.
“That’s why you’re not going to do anything just yet,” Malcolm says. “If you go in today and they arrest you, you’re done, locked up until the trial; and Jay won’t be able to tell us what they have or sit down and figure out a defense with us as a group. He wants you to try to lay low and stay out of sight until he knows more details, rather than have you sit in an interrogation room for days without knowing their hand.”
“How the hell is he supposed to do that?” Wirth asks. “The sheriff’s department will be watching his place, all of ours, the pool hall, and every other joint in town!”
“That’s why Nash needs to get the fuck out of town for a few days,” Malcolm says. “Jay said that if you do decide to leave, don’t go out of the country or the police could think you’re trying to bolt. He said to stay just a few towns away, but you can’t take any vehicles registered in your name or one of ours. That’s too easy to track, and other law enforcement agencies may be looking for them. You also can’t use any public transportation, credit cards or bank cards. And you need to throw your phone in the ocean right fucking now.”
“That doesn’t leave me with a whole hell of a lot of options!” I exclaim. “Where am I supposed to go without a ride, money, or any of my shit?”
“It’s just for a few days, at least until Monday to give Jay time to wrap his head around everything. And you’re not wanted. Not yet at least,” Malcolm grumbles.
“I would tell you to take Jetta’s car, but they may already be watching my place and tail her if she leaves,” Dev offers.
“No, I don’t want to drag Jetta’s name into this any more than necessary after what she’s been through,” I say as I try and think fast. “Oh fuck! Lucy’s leaving today, going down to Charleston for a wedding this weekend. Maybe I could ask her to come by here and pick me up on the way.”
“You really think dragging Lucy into this is a good idea but not Jetta?” Malcolm asks, acting all protective of her yet again, for some unknown reason.
“Lucy won’t have to know anything. I would keep her in the dark, and the police would have no reason to go after her, unlike Jetta, who could be badgered into talking. Her cousin’s wedding would make it easy to hide and not spend money.”
“Why would you want to go to this fucking wedding of all places this weekend?” Malcolm grunts.
“What other choice do I have? Any of you got a better idea?” I seethe. “I bet none of us have enough cash on us to get me to the South Carolina border.”
“I’m still trying to figure out what kind of bug can track people. That’s super sick, bro!” Fiasco says, never any help when we need him.
“The Lucy girl may be your best bet, man,” Silas agrees. “You can hitch a ride with her, stay out of the public eye, and then come back to town next week once the attorney knows what’s going on.”
“I bet it was that goddamn bodyguard!” Dev grumbles. “We should’ve killed him.”
“I agree,” Malcolm grits out. “It’s not too late to correct that error in judgement. I’ll see if my PI can track that motherfucker down. But, Nash, you need to get the fuck out of here now,” he says, pointing his finger at me.
“Yeah,” I agree. “Let me borrow your phone so I can call Lucy. Hopefully she hasn’t left yet,” I say as I pull out my phone and memorize her number before launching the device into the waves below us.
“You may regret this more than prison,” it sounds like Malcolm mutters as he hands over the phone.
“What?” I ask him after punching in the numbers and putting the phone to my ear.
“Nothing,” he says before he looks out into the ocean and pops a stick of gum into his mouth.
I take a few steps away from the guys, who are still talking among themselves, just as Lucy answers.
“Malcolm! I’m about to walk out the door. Can I call you when I’m on the road?”
Jesus, she has his contact info in her phone? What the fuck is up with that? I know it’s nothing sexual, because Malcolm would never stray from Naomi, so it must mean they’ve been talking to each other frequently – about me. I’ll worry about that later.
“Lucy, it’s Nash,” I tell her, and there’s silence on the other end of the line for so long that I have to look at the screen to see if we got disconnected. “You there?”
“Yeah, sorry. What’s up?” she asks, her voice sounding off. Maybe it’s because of how we left shit, me shoving my tongue down her throat, ready to rip our clothes off. It could’ve been too much too soon even though I made it clear I wanted her. We can hash that shit out later, though.
“Well, this is going to sound sort of crazy, but do you think I could crash your cousin’s wedding?”
“Huh?” Lucy asks.
“Have you left for Charleston yet?”
“No.”
“Good, because I want to come with you,” I explain.
“Why?” she asks, which catches me off-guard. I thought she would jump at the idea of having someone go with her to the shitshow where she has to see her ex-boyfriend marry her own damn cousin, all while pretending she’s over him. And I could possibly distract her by picking up where things left off in my apartment.
“Moral support?” I offer. Again, nothing but silence as I check the time counter on the screen as it ticks on and on. “Lucy?”
“I…I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, Nash.”
“Why not?”
“I just don’t!”
“Come on, Lucy! You’ve been dreading this wedding for weeks. If you want, you can tell everyone I’m your date, rub it in that asshole’s face to show him you’re over him, even if you’re not…”
“Fucking hell,” Malcolm grumbles from behind me, obviously eavesdropping.
“I don’t know…” she says, still not sold on the idea.
“Please, Lucy. I really, really need to get out of town this weekend.”
“And why is that?” she asks.
“Take me with you, and maybe I’ll tell you,” I reply even though there’s no way in hell I’m going to tell this sweet girl about the possible murder charges coming at me.
Her sigh is so heavy I can hear it over the wind and waves crashing along the pier.
“I’m getting ready to leave and you’re not home. When are you coming back?”
“Ah, well, I’m sort of tied up at the moment,” I lie. “Do you think you could go up to my apartment and just throw whatever you think I’ll need in a bag for me, then swing by and pick me up?”
“Yeah, I, um, I guess so. Pick you up where?”
Fuck, that’s a good question. No place like the present. “Do you know where the pier is on Canal Drive?”
“What are you doing at the pier?”
“Ah, you know, just doing a little fishing with the guys.”
“Fishing? Malcolm called and you had to leave in a hurry to go fishing with him?” Lucy throws back at me with heavy skepticism in her voice. The girl is smart, and I hate feeding her bullshit, but what choice do I have? If I tell her what happened, what I did and could be going to jail for soon, she would never speak to me again, much less let me tag along with her this weekend. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to being away from her for an entire weekend when I’ve gotten used to seeing her several times a day lately.