Adrian rubbed his palm over the top of his buzzed head before gripping the back of his neck. “I don’t understand.” He shook his head, big brown eyes trying to read me. “What about you? What about Ghost?”
“It’ll be all right,” I reassured him. “I’m trusting you’ll do this for me then?”
“Yeah, of course.”
For the following five minutes, we got to work loading his car, and after finishing, I cut our goodbye short and slid into the station wagon with a few minutes left to spare. Adrian drove past me, and I shoved another cigarette in my mouth and opened the glove box to swipe Mia’s gift. My fingers shook as they creased the lines of the tattered paper, making it perfect.
Instead of pulling up to the front of the storehouse, I drove around the back. Though this was a business deal, men such as Ghost wouldn’t let anyone pass through the front doors without being patted and checked for weapons or wires. I had to find a way to get my gun inside unnoticed, and most of the exits wouldn’t open from the outside.
A harsh wind stung my eyes as I tried the last door without any luck. Only a single street lamp buzzed about a quarter of a mile away, giving me little to no light. I took a step back and glanced down the side of the building. Three doors aligned, and I could only leave my weapon out in front of one of them. If I chose wrong, this entire plan would burn.
I laid the gun flat against the brick wall at door number three, left the car behind the building, and walked back toward the front with my hands shoved deep into my pockets and anxiety at an all-time high. Earlier, I’d given Dex my own instructions on how this was going to go without Leigh. Ghost was under the impression he’d pay half now before we’d meet once more to deliver a locked-up virgin. Ghost was under the impression this was just another business deal.
But it wasn’t.
We were both dying tonight.
A few men greeted me at the entrance, and one patted me down and checked under my hoodie for wires. “I’m clean, mate,” I reassured, scanning the inside of the storehouse. Numerous storage units with bright blue doors lined the halls of the compound, a few opened, but couldn’t see what was hidden inside at this angle.
“You’re late,” he growled. “Where’s your mot?”
The beefy man’s neck was thick, blue veins popping beneath his flesh—fifty pounds of face, and probably a heavier liver. If one couldn’t tell by the blondish-red hair or icy blue eyes, the accent would’ve given him away, an Irish fellow who was a long way from home.
“You don’t bring the present to the party unless you want someone to open it,” I said with a grin. The chap narrowed his eyes, and I shook my head. “The exchange isn’t happening until I get my first payment, let’s not pretend we don’t know how this works.”
The Irish man looked over at another bloke. “The boyo’s a real chancer, ya? Let’s get on with it.” He nudged his head, and I followed him down the line of storage units to the back, his mate close behind me.
My eyes flicked into storage rooms as we passed, stacks of containers in some while men lifted, carried, and organized whatever was inside. In other units, women young and old shuffled through clothes hanging from free standing closets, wearing an emptiness in their eyes, and skimpy outfits.
And my feet kept moving until we reached the end of the line, where the hallway broke off into two opposite directions. Three offices laid out before me, and to my horror, Irish man made a left when I’d been counting on him to make a right. Rooted in place, he turned back to face me. “Something the matter?”
I forced a step forward. “No, all good.”
We stopped in front of the door, and the Irish man was quick to open and usher me inside with a gesture of his hand. “It’ll be a while. In the meantime, sit, and enjoy the entertainment on Ghost,” he emphasized with humor in his tone.
I took a step inside the room, the door shut behind me, and I halted in place when a familiar face stared back at me from against the desk. Utter chaos swam inside her dark brazen eyes. “Mum?” my voice hiked.
“Oliver,” she rushed out, yanking me away from the door and in front of her. My eyes darted around the bare room for answers as she gripped my hand, “We don’t have time. You have to listen to me—”
“What the fuck is going on?” Words left me, but I couldn’t hear them, and I jerked my arm away and took a step back as her expression softened. My heart hammered inside my ears, and I clenched my jaw as I tried to make sense of it all. “Did Dex fucking send you? Of all people, he sent my mum to make sure I killed him? Or did you want to see me die? Has the last twenty fucking years of torture not pleased you enough?” I shouted through a whisper and turned and pushed my nervous hand through my hair before grasping it. “No, you have to fucking go.” My hand hit the doorknob.
“Oliver, stop!” her stringy blonde hair smacked her cheek as she jumped out in front of me. Her hand squeezed my bicep, and I flinched.
I looked down at her hand and back into the terror in her eyes. “Don’t fucking touch me,” I seethed, walking her backward into the wall and dug my finger into my chest. “You don’t have the right to touch me, to talk to me, to fucking watch me die. You lost your bloody rights.”
“I know, Oliver,” she cried. “I was a terrible mum. The truth is, I never deserved you.”
“I don’t have time for this,” I shook my head, then looked around the room for something to keep the door open to retrieve the gun lying on the opposite side of the building. Ghost would walk through that door any second.
“No, listen to me,” she cried, following my erratic pacing. “I got clean, baby. And once I got clean, I could finally think clearly! You can’t do this, Oliver! If by some miracle, you made it out of here alive, it’s not over. He planned to kill you all along,” she frantically rambled.
I whipped around. Time was ticking, the rage was building, and my hand shook as I vigorously tapped the side of my head. “You don’t think I fucking know that?”
“No, you don’t know everything!” she cried out.
“I have two seconds before they get here, and you had twenty fucking years to make it up to me!” I whisper-shouted inches from her face, my teeth clenching.
Mum’s shoulders sank, and she wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “Let me do this for you. After everything I’ve put you through, let me be a mum for once. Let me do this.”
“No,” I shook my head, vision blurring as I took off my boot to wedge in the backdoor. “they’ll kill you. I’ve already accepted my fate.” I whipped around and reached for the back door.
“It was Dex who ordered Leigh to kill Mia to make sure you’d go through with this.”
I paused and turned around.
That couldn’t be right. I’d known girls like Leigh before. “No, Leigh was jealous of Mia.”
“No, Oliver. Leigh would’ve done anything for Dex. She would’ve done anything to feel a part of something, to feel a part of a family. Who knows if Dex would ever leave Mia alone. And you can’t do this, Oliver. Mia needs you. The baby will need you.”
I froze.