Slow Burn(26)

    If it weren’t for the serum that my father had given to heal me after that car accident, I’d be dead right now. But the serum made me invulnerable. I could be shot in the heart and still live. I’d known this intellectually. Experiencing it was something entirely different.

    But the people in Operation Wraith knew that about me too. Why bother shooting me, when the only way to kill me was to sever my spinal cord and keep it from healing?

    I sat up shakily.

    That was when I saw Griffin and a man in the black suit in the parking lot in front of me.

    They were circling each other, both holding knives.

    I got out of the car. Oh God. Griffin had to fight this guy now, and it was all my fault. If I hadn’t run for cocaine, he wouldn’t be in this situation.

    I bit my lip. I had a problem, didn’t I?

    The man in the suit poked at Griffin with his knife.

    I let out a little cry, worried about him.

    Griffin turned at the noise. He saw me, but it meant that he was distracted long enough for the other guy to stab him in the shoulder.

    Blood poured out.

    “Sorry,” I called. I was really screwing everything up, wasn’t I?

    “Sit tight and let me handle it, doll,” said Griffin.

    The man in the suit smirked. “Doll? You were always too soft when it came to women, Griffin. It’s your biggest weakness.”

    Griffin feinted left. “Your biggest weakness is falling for fake-outs, Matt.”     Matt blocked Griffin’s feint.

    Leaving him wide open on the other side. Griffin stuck him in the neck with his knife. It was a quick motion, in and then out. Blood flowed out of Matt onto Griffin’s hand.

    Matt stumbled, moving away. He put a hand to his neck, wincing. “You had everything, bro. You had the chance to do whatever you wanted, with no consequences, and you threw it all away.”

    “The chance to be a killer?” asked Griffin. “No thank you.” He advanced on Matt.

    Matt recovered, bringing up his knife. “How is Beth, anyway?”

    Beth? Who was Beth?

    Griffin charged Matt. “Leave her out of this.”

    Matt sidestepped. “You’re a killer, anyway, you know. We saw what you did to James in Cumberland.”

    Griffin caught Matt’s wrist and twisted, forcing Matt to drop his knife.

    Matt swore.

    Griffin tugged Matt’s body against his. He brought up his knife and slashed the back of Matt’s neck.

    Then Griffin let go. Matt’s body fell to the ground, lifeless.

    Griffin nudged Matt’s head with his foot, pushing it so that it bent forward, touching his chest.

    I turned away. “What are you doing?”

    He didn’t look at me. “I have to separate the wound or it will heal.”

    I didn’t understand. “What?”

    His shoulders rose and fell. He was breathing heavily. “If I cut off your finger, and I put it right back where it belonged afterward, it would heal. But if I didn’t, if I kept the flesh separate, you’d lose a finger.”

    I thought I got it now. He was making sure that Matt was actually dead.

    He turned to me. “Your car okay?”

    I nodded. He’d saved my life. He’d killed a man, someone he knew by first name, and he didn’t seem the slightest bit upset about it. He frightened me. But I was also really grateful. If it wasn’t for him...

    “We’ll take that, then,” he said. “I’ll put the body in the car I stole and hide it somewhere.”

    He was all business. Two minutes ago, the broken, bloody thing on the pavement had been Matt. Now, it was “the body.” Of course, Matt had been trying to kill me. I guessed Griffin hadn’t had much choice.

    “Get back in your car and lock it,” he said. “And this time stay there.”

    “What does it matter if it’s locked?” I said. “That’s not going to stop a bullet.”

    “No,” he said. “But if there’s someone else out here and he shoots you, it will make it harder for him to get at your body and cut your neck.”