“You maybe wanna tell me your name?”
“So you know the name of your victim?”
“Victim?”
Jesus, Harlyn. Let’s try not to piss off the serial killer. Not that he seemed pissed, but you have to think he wouldn’t appreciate me knowing his plan. “Err, I mean, I’m Harlyn.”
“I’d shake your hand, Harlyn, but I don’t think I can fit my hand through the tiny crack.”
I cleared my throat, tried not to get mesmerized by his green eyes, and not to think about the size of his hands. “I can call for help. I have my phone. It’s in my hand” I was like the rain man sputtering out whatever, although the rain man was much more eloquent than I was.
“I’m sure you can, but Frank and I can get you fixed up.”
“Frank?” Obviously my second murderer didn’t have a hot guy name.
“Yeah. I think your battery is going. Frank is testing it to see if we’ll be able to get you running again.”
“We should be able to jump her.”
My eyes opened wide, and my jaw dropped. That did not sound like the voice of any Frank I had ever met before. I plastered my face to the window and tried to get a glimpse of the very feminine voice coming from the front of my car.
“You know if you rolled down the window or even got out of the car, you could see her.”
Remy’s face was about six inches away from mine, and I was face-to-face with his handsome smile. “You promise not to kill me?” My face was still smushed to the glass, and I’m sure I sounded and looked like a nut-job.
“No plans of killing you.” He stepped back and held up his hands. “Scout’s honor.”
I leaned back and rubbed my nose with the back of my hand. “You damn sure don’t look like a boy scout,” I mumbled.
“What was that?” he called.
I shook my head and unhooked my seat belt. It was time to go meet my death.
*
Remy
This night had taken a turn for the odd.
After having Jay kick my ass in four games of pool, then watching him down a shit-ton of rum, Frankie and I had struggled to get him into the car. He passed out in the backseat before I even pulled out of the parking lot of The Waterhole.
“I’ll pull your car around to give her a jump.” Frankie strutted back to the Challenger while I hung back to watch the odd and mysterious Harlyn step out of her car.
I got a good view of what she looked like while sitting in the car, but the full version of her standing in front of me was damn fine—gorgeous face, long brown hair that fell to her waist, and a body all of my wet dreams were made of. She had a tiny waist and full hips that begged to be held onto while I thrust into her from behind.
“So, what’s the verdict?” She rested her hands on her hips and looked up at me.
I shook my head, trying to get rid of the vision of her bent over in front of me, and heard the Challenger fire up. “Frank is going to pull my car around, and we’re gonna give your battery a jump. Where are you headed?” We were going to be able to get her going, but I didn’t know how long her battery would last before it died again.
“Leeds Square.”
“Visiting?” I had never seen her around before. I had just moved there three months ago, but since Leeds Square was fucking tiny, I knew basically everyone.
“Moving there.”
Hmm. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” She hitched her thumb to the front of the car. “Don’t you think you should be helping your girlfriend?”
“Frank?” I chuckled.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I’m not talking about me.”
I leaned close. “Frank isn’t my girlfriend, babe.” I leaned back. “Not like you’d have me anyway, right, Frank?”
Frankie stepped out of the Challenger and slammed the door shut. “In your dreams, Remington.”
I fucking hated when she called me that. Even my mom didn’t call me that unless I was in trouble. “You grab the jumper cables out of the back.”
“Last I checked, I was the damn car chief,” she mumbled as she turned around.
“So she’s your sister?” Harlyn asked.
“Nah, we just work together.”
She nodded and bit her bottom lip.
“Hang tight here, babe, and we’ll have you running in no time.”
I jogged over to the Challenger, popped the hood, and grabbed the cables from Frankie. We hooked them up, I motioned to Harlyn to try starting it, and the car came to life.
“That should get you down the road a good bit.” Frankie unhooked the cables, and I slammed the hood shut on Harlyn’s car.
“Um, thank you,” Harlyn called to Frankie’s retreating back.
Frankie raised her arm in the air. “No problem. Cars are kind of our thing.”
I slammed the hood shut on the Challenger and leaned against the car.
“I think I have some money in my—”
“No.” I cut her off before she could get another word out. “I won’t take your money, but I will take your number.”
“Real smooth, Remington,” Frankie called. She opened the passenger door and slipped into the car. I was going to have a talk with her to lay off the Remington thing.
“She’s kind of terrifying,” Harlyn whispered.
“That’s just Frankie.”
She shuffled her feet and edged back toward her car. “I should probably get going before the car dies again.”
“I’ll follow you into town in case she stops running.”
She nodded.
“Am I gonna get that number, Harlyn?” I didn’t care how desperate I sounded. After only spending ten minutes with her, I wanted to get to know her a little better.
She held out her hand. “Give me your phone.”
I pulled it out of my pocket and laid it in her outstretched hand. She quickly entered her number and handed it back to me. My finger swiped the send button, and I heard her phone ringing in her car.
“Did you think I gave you a bogus number?”
I shrugged and put the phone back in my pocket. “Just wanted you to have mine.”
She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. “All right. Well, I think I better get going before I fall asleep standing up.”
I nodded at her car. “I’ll follow you until you get to where you’re going.”
She turned, walked to her car, and looked back toward me. “Thank you again for helping me.”
“Just did what anyone else would have done.”
She nodded and ducked into her car.
I moved around the hood of the car to the driver’s side and slipped inside.
“About damn time. While you were trying to get her number, I was listening to Jay saw logs,” Frankie complained.
Harlyn took off in the direction of Leeds Square, and I did a quick three-point turn to catch up to her. “Chill, Frank. We’ll be home in ten minutes.”
She scoffed. “You don’t even know where we are following this chick to.”
“She said she was moving here, so it can’t be too far.”
Frankie laid her head back on the headrest. “Just wake me when we get home.”