Someone with a stack of money in their right hand, slowly tucking it into the front pouch of a black bag.
“Mac?” I ask.
Someone jumps up and pulls out a gun and points it at me.
“Jolie?”
Ado lowers the gun and his eyes are wide with surprise.
“Jolie… what the hell are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
Ado looks at the bag.
He moves fast.
He drops to one knee again and hurries to shut the safe. He tosses his gun into the bag and zips it all up and stands up.
“Just dropping stuff off,” he says.
But you took money…
“I thought you were kidnapped,” he says. “Am I see things? Did I hit my head?”
“Uh… no… I mean… you didn’t hit your head. I don’t think. I’m just waiting here…”
“How did you get here?” Ado asks. “Who took you? This is crazy?”
Ado moves toward me.
I move back.
“What’s wrong, Jolie?” he asks. “What’s going on here?”
“You… you tell me, Ado,” I say. “Are you supposed to be here?”
“Are you?”
“I’m supposed to be here. Mac brought me here.”
“Mac did?” Ado asks. “Wait a second… was this all…” Ado freezes and laughs. “No fucking way. He did this on purpose?”
I swallow hard.
I don’t know what to do or say.
How do I save this?
My eyes look at the bag over Ado’s shoulder.
I point to the bag. “What’s in the bag?”
“None of your business, Jolie,” Ado says. “I think we both just stumbled across something we shouldn’t have.”
I nod. “Yeah. I think so too.”
“So what do we do here?” Ado asks.
I keep stepping back.
I’m inching my way out of the room and into the open garage area.
In case I have to run.
My hand is locked on my phone though.
I take a deep breath. “You didn’t know about me?”
“No,” Ado says. “Nobody did.”
But I just talked to Taz and Les…
“Where have you been at?” Ado asks.
“I can’t say,” I say.
“Right. Of course.” Ado rubs his forehead. “We have to keep this a secret, Jolie. Okay? For both of our sakes.”
Ado slips past me.
He starts to jog.
I bite my lip.
Then I call out, “You took money out of the safe, Ado.”
He freezes.
“You didn’t put money into the safe.”
Ado slowly turns. “You need money to make money, Jolie.”
“No, you don’t,” I say.
Ado nods. “What would you do? Would you let your mother die in pain? Would you let her die at all?”
“That’s what you’re using it for?” I ask.
“Jolie, I have a gun in my bag,” Ado reminds me. “I put the gun away, remember? I respect Mac and the crew. That means I respect you too. But don’t think for a second…”
My phone vibrates in my hand.
I look down at it.
It’s a text from Mac.
I show Ado the phone. “That was Mac. They’re on their way back here.”
“Fuck,” Ado says.
He makes a run for the door.
I stand there and watch him leave.
Mac then calls me.
I don’t answer.
I don’t know what to say.
13
MAC
When the large garage door opens and I see Jolie standing in the spot where I need to park the truck, I smile at her.
She looks bold and badass.
But she looks pissed too.
Her arms are folded and her eyes are staring daggers and hatred at me.
“This can’t be good,” Les says to me.
I open my door. “You park it, Les. I’ll see what’s up.”
“Maybe she needs a kiss,” Taz says. “I’m willing to take the chance.”
I ignore Taz’s comment and jump down to the ground.
I walk into the open garage and open my arms.
“Miss me, sweetie?” I ask.
Jolie swings her right hand and slaps me across the face.
It kind of catches me off guard.
“Who knows or doesn’t know about me?” Jolie yells.
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“Why did you bring me here if you never told Ado?” Jolie asks. “What about Aric and Raf? Do they know?”
I stare at her. “How do you know about Ado?”
“Answer my question first,” I say.
“This isn’t a fucking joke, sweetie,” I yell.
“I know that!” Jolie yells back. “Ado was here!”
“What? When?”
“Mac…” Jolie’s eyes move to the truck.
I look back and see Taz and Les watching.
“I need to know who knows,” she says.
“Everyone but Ado,” I say. “I didn’t want him involved in this. He’s not focused. I’m keeping him in the crew just to keep him busy at the moment. Okay?”
Jolie looks me in the eyes and shake her head. “No… it’s not okay at all…”
“What does that mean?” I ask. “Why the fuck was Ado here? What happened while I was gone?”
Jolie reaches up and touches my face. “Mac, you have a really big problem here…”
“Are you sure we should have her in here?” Les asks. “No offense, Jolie.”
“I was already in here,” I say. “Because of Ado.”
“Jolie is allowed in here,” I say as I crouch before the safe. “Don’t say another word about it, Les.”
“Don’t be a dick, Les,” Taz says.
“Fuck you, bro,” Les says. “Less is more with this shit.”
“I’m beyond being less at this point,” Jolie says to Les.
Les shakes his head.
I open the safe. “Tell me again what happened, sweetie.”
“I dozed off in the SUV,” Jolie say. “When I woke up I noticed the door was open. I came into the room and saw this room was open too. Ado didn’t see me at first. He was in a hoodie with the hood pulled up. I watched as he grabbed money and stuck into a black bag.”
“Fucking hell,” Taz says. “I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”
“Hold on a second,” Les says. “You saw him take cash, Jolie?”
“Les, if you insult Jolie one more time I’m going to break your jaw,” I say.
“I’m not fucking insulting anyone,” Les says. “I’m asking questions.”
“No more questions,” Taz says. “Let me find him.”
Taz moves and I snap my fingers at Les.
Les grabs Taz to stop him.
When Les touches Taz, Taz gets mad. He turns and pushes Les up against the wall.
Jolie lets out a scream.
I have to jump and get between them before they start throwing punches.