After that, I had things to do, plans to make and shit to buy.
Lulu and I had lost more than enough time.
Tonight was the start of our lives together.
Lulu
I stared across the room at Hunter, phone to his ear. "Where?" he growled down the line. "He has to be there somewhere." He was silent a moment. "Right." Then he disconnected.
The happy bubble I'd been in burst and my fingers curled into tight fists. "Someone's seen him, haven't they?"
Hunter dipped his chin. He was hiding something, trying to protect me. I didn't want to be kept in the dark. As much as I wanted to close my mind to it, I couldn't, I refused to, not this, not anymore.
"What aren't you telling me?" I persisted.
Hunter shoved his fingers through his hair, searching my face, no doubt wondering if I could handle the latest addition to this nightmare.
I stood and crossed the room to him. "I can take it, whatever you don't want to tell me. I'm strong, you said it yourself. I'm done sitting in this apartment, letting things just . . . happen to me . . ." My anger rose. I wasn't angry at Hunter; I was angry-furious-with Pierce. I was also done being his goddamn victim. "Tell me, Hunter. I won't fall to pieces. I deserve to know."
A spark of something warm ignited behind his eyes, something beautiful. It took the breath right from me.
"There she is," he muttered.
"What?"
"My Lulu." He slid his hands in my hair and leaned in, kissing me softly. "Is she back for good, or just a visit?"
My heart squeezed, but I refused to let him distract me. So I ignored how sweet and sexy he was being, along with his question. I wasn't the old Lulu, not anymore, and I wasn't the girl who'd been on the run for the last three years, either. I was some new mash-up of the two, trying to work out where I fit in, who I was. "I'm not going to back down." I said.
"I know," he said back, and there was pride shining down at me from his beautiful blue eyes.
I moved closer and cupped his jaw, his scruff teasing my palm. "Tell me."
His fingers curled around the side of my neck, his thumb gliding across my cheek, offering comfort, trying to soften the blow he was about to deliver. "Pierce made an appearance at your mom's funeral."
I jerked in his arms, but he wouldn't let go. "How dare he." My anger shot higher, my fingers digging into Hunter's biceps. "He didn't deserve to breathe the same air as her." I felt my eyes prickle, not from sadness-from rage.
His thumb did another sweep across my cheek. "He was there for you, babe," he said, laying it out.
Of course. The self-centred, sick asshole probably hadn't even given my mom a second thought. Hate wasn't a strong enough word for what I felt for Pierce.
"What happened?" I forced out.
"He got away, then last night we got a tip, but again he managed to vanish into goddamn thin air. Don't know how he's doing it, where the fuck he's going, but he keeps giving us the slip. I want that fucker caught."
"God, I just want this to end." I rested my forehead against his chest, then looked back up at him. "The tip you got, where was he last seen?"
"Hunts Point."
An ugly feeling, a memory, one I'd been supressing for a long time, slammed through me. My head spun, nausea curling in my gut. Oh God, I knew where he was. I dragged in a breath through my nose, my nails digging deeper into Hunter's arms.
"What is it, Lulu? Talk to me."
My eyes snapped up to his, "I know where he is," I rasped. "I know exactly where he is. There's an apartment building."
"Do you know the street?"
I shook my head.
I stepped back and he let me, wrapping my arms around myself. "Pierce liked to gamble. An associate of his owned a run-down, shitty apartment building. A lot of the girls that worked for him, prostitutes, lived there. Pierce used to take me to the games."
Hunter's eyes got dark.
"There was always drinking and drugs, women, at the games . . ." I swallowed thickly. "I've worked so hard to push that place out of my head, I didn't think of it. How could I have not thought of it?" I was babbling, but I knew, didn't I? The reason I purposely hadn't suggested going there, the reason I'd shoved it from my mind like it never existed.
Hunter closed the gap between us again. "What happened there, baby?"
As usual he could see right through me. Saw everything I tried to hide.
"The first time he . . . that's where it happened. He took me there a lot after that."
Hunters fingers flexed, a low angry sound vibrating through him.
I looked up at him. "I'll take you," I said, cutting him off before he spoke. I didn't want to hear sympathetic words. I wanted to keep this anger inside me; I wanted the courage it gave me to go back to that place.
"You sure you want to do that?"
"Yes." I held his penetrating stare, letting him know how sure I was. "Besides, I can't give you directions. We used to go at night. I only knew we were in Hunts Point because I heard him direct the driver. I'll need to see it. If you take me to the last place he was seen, I'm sure we can work it out from there."
He tugged me closer and kissed the top of my head. "Shit, woman. So fucking strong."
Thirty minutes later we were parked on the side of the road, a short distance from where Pierce had last been spotted. We'd dropped Josh at Ruby's apartment, with Zeke there as well to watch over both of them.
Hunter twisted in his seat. "Any of this look familiar?"
I shook my head.
Frustration gnawed at me as I stared out into the dark street. Neco was in the back seat, Van and Jude in a car behind us. As much as I'd dreaded coming here, I wanted to do this. I wanted to help.
"Can we try down there?" I pointed through the window. "That feels right." Or more: really, really wrong. A definite indication that's where we should head next. Some of the street signs were missing. Not that I'd really paid much attention to them when I'd come here with Pierce. I'd been a scared fifteen-year-old kid. Afraid of what I'd seen, afraid my stepfather would kill me like he'd killed our maid if I talked.
Hunter turned onto the street, and the uneasy feeling got stronger. "It's down here. I'm sure of it." I turned in my seat. "There. There it is."
The old apartment building was completely dark. There was tape across the door and a "Condemned" sign out front. This did not surprise me. The place had already been a dump all those years ago.
Hunter parked outside and looked over at me. "I want you to stay in the car, okay?"
I nodded.
He handed me a gun. I'd handled one before. "You see anything, you hit the horn."
"I can do that." I was okay with staying right here. The idea of walking around an abandoned apartment building and accidently running into Pierce in the dark sent dread spiralling through me.
The guys all climbed out of the cars and I locked the doors. Hunter and Neco went through the front, Jude and Van going around the back. As soon as they were out of sight, the car seemed to be engulfed in silence, the ticking of the engine as it cooled the only sound, along with my rapid breaths. Was Pierce in there now? Would they find him? Would this finally be over?
The longer I sat there not knowing what was going on inside, the more nervous I got. Fifteen minutes ticked by with no sign of any of the guys. I pulled my phone from my pocket to distract myself, typing out a text to Ruby, checking on Josh.
I hit send and lifted my head. . . .
I jerked back in my seat, a scream jamming in my throat.
Pierce stood at the front of the car, staring at me, or at least where he thought I was. Hunter's windows were tinted, but he must have seen the light from my phone. I froze as he rounded the car and came right up to the passenger side, his face coming up close to the glass.
Without realizing what I was doing, I'd grabbed the gun and lifted it, aiming it between his eyes. My breathing got choppy, faster. I wanted to pull the trigger. I wanted to watch the son of a bitch die in front of me.
"I know you're in there," he said.
I stayed silent, unable to look away . . .
Ruby's reply to my text buzzed in my lap, lighting up where I'd dropped my phone. I knew he saw me through the glass then because he smiled.
"You won't shoot me, Lucinda. You know we belong together. Remember this place? I've been reliving some happy memories. We had fun here together, you and I." The smile slipped, his eyes boring into me, like he could see me clear as day. "Tell me where the painting is and we can start over. Just you and me."
I still didn't answer.
His face came closer and I knew he was trying to see me. Then he snarled and reared back, punching the window, his heavy gold ring connecting with the glass so hard I thought it might actually smash.