To get her out of the stupor, he barks louder. “Call the cops. Now!”
“Okay.” She grabs her phone from her purse and dials it. “Hey! There are two guys trying to rape a girl.” There’s a pause. “No, they were. They are on the floor now.” A moment passes. “I don’t know!” Then she looks at Justin and at me. “I don’t know who did. They were just on the floor when I came outside to look for my friend. Can you send someone?” She mumbles the address, hangs up, and runs to the girl who’s leaning on the dumpster now.
Only now do I remember there was someone who might be hurt. I go to check on her, but the girl with the phone stops me with her hand. “Go. They’ll be here soon.”
Justin shakes his head. “We’ll stay until the cops arrive.”
“And say what?” she asks. “That you did this?” She points a finger at the two beaten bodies on the ground.
“We can’t leave you here alone with them.” I push one of the bodies on the floor with my foot.
“Fine.” I think she likes the idea, and there is no way in hell we will leave them both here. “But go and wait over there.” She points at the darkness behind the next building. “So no one will see you.”
I nod with gratitude and grab Justin’s forearm while he’s transfixed on the monsters on the floor.
“So many years they’ve been haunting my family. So many years. I hoped to feel something—anything—when I got my hands on him, but I don’t feel anything.” His nostrils flare as if he’s struggling to breathe.
“I know the feeling.” I place my hand on his shoulder and squeeze it. without desire to cause pain for the first time since we’ve known each other.
The sirens blaze through the cold air, and the girl says, “Go. We’ll be fine.”
“We’ll stay,” I answer stubbornly.
“Go!” she yells, and we exchange a look with Justin.
“C’mon.” He nods toward where Kenneth is parked.
“Are you sure you’ll be all right?” I ask once again. She’s a brave woman.
“Yeah, I’m good. Go.” She finishes the conversation by turning toward her friend, who mumbles something with a smile on her face.
I nod and follow Justin. The sirens are closer, and I rush forward. “Let’s go, man.”
We run to the car, where Kenneth’s waiting for us. The engine is on. The sirens are way too close for my comfort, and the driver’s side is closer to us, so Justin rips the door open, and we both jump into the back seat. He takes off before I even have chance to shut the door. When the patrol cars show up ahead, Kenneth pulls over to the curb and waits for them to pass like a law-abiding citizen.
“Do I wanna know?” Kenneth asks when the patrol cars drive away.
“No.”
“Okay.” He nods, squeezing the wheel.
He stops at a bar a few blocks away. “C’mon.”
“Why?” Justin looks at me, like I figured out the enigma of Kenneth Bennet. Newsflash—I haven’t.
“You need an alibi, idiots.”
We exchange looks and walk inside the bar, where I come face-to-face with the dude fromCat and Stallionwho drove me home. He looks happy to see us as he walks toward us, leaving his table of two piss-drunk men. “Well, how long did it take you to take a piss? Did you cross swords too?” he asks way too loudly, and way too clearly, for everyone to hear.
I glance at Kenneth, who has a smile plastered on his face. He goes to Archie and smacks him on the back. “You fucker, never change.”
“I don’t intend to.” Archie winks, smacking his butt.
I don’t know what in the ever-loving hell is happening and look at Justin for clues. But he has the same look of horror and awe. I guess we’re in the same boat for once in our lives.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
ALICIA
