The Exception(52)

“Whoa. Wait. What?” I sat back down in my chair, confident that I misheard him. “What did you just say?”

“Yeah. Jada just got home and she was nervous as hell. Kari grabbed her arm and she pulled it back. Her arm has a bunch of bruises, Alexander.”

“From what?” I asked, praying that she didn’t do something really fucking stupid. But I had a bad feeling.

“I’d say in my infinite wisdom that they are fingerprints. They look like someone grabbed her.”

Adrenaline began to flow through my body and I stood back up, my heart now pounding uncontrollably. “Who did it?” I looked around the room for my shoes, my mind three steps ahead of my body.

“Powers.”

I stopped dead in my tracks and tried to wrap my brain around what Max just said.

“How in the fuck did that happen?” I roared, snapping back to life. “Max! How in the fuck did that happen?”

“I’m just guessing that your little stunt last night at the bar probably made her forget anything you said. Hell, that probably made her do it. Just a thought.”

“Now’s not the time for a fucking lecture, Max!” I bellowed. “Where the fuck were you? How did you not know she was meeting him?” I grabbed my shoes from the doorway and put them on.

“I don’t live there, asshole,” Max said. “But I think the real question is, where the fuck were you? Why didn’t you call her today?”

If he wasn’t my friend, I would have made sure he met his maker right after Simon. “I did. She didn’t answer.”

“You do realize how bad this could have been, right? Was getting a strange piece of ass worth this?”

“Fuck you, Max.”

“I’m coming up your street now. Be ready.”

“I’m walking out the door.”





CANE

The only sound was the crunching of gravel beneath the tires of Max’s Ford truck. The only light came from the headlights as we turned onto the road that led to Simon’s house.

Simon lived in the West Valley, on the farthest reaches of the city. There were few houses on this road, just a lot of agricultural land that had not been chewed up by the construction industry.

“This is Bumfuck Egypt if I’ve ever seen it,” Max said as he flipped his lights on to the bright setting.

Rage was consuming me, eating me alive. I shifted in my seat, my pulse racing.

That motherfucker is going to die!

“Easy, Alexander.” Max shot me a look out of the corner of his eye. “There it is.” He pointed to a small stucco house that sat back off the road.

At first glance, it seemed nice enough. But upon closer inspection, it was a mess. The landscaping was unkempt and the back gate had been left unlatched and was halfway open. The gutter on the front porch had come undone and was leaned against the ground.

The parallels between Simon’s home and the man himself were uncanny.

Max slowed the truck as we crept past, trying to see if there were any signs of life.

The entire area seemed to be dead. There were no moving parts: no cars, dogs, or lights in the neighboring houses. It was a fitting way to live for a piece of shit like Powers.

“Yeah, but the Avalanche isn’t in the driveway. So I’m guessing he isn’t home.”

“Well, what do you want to do?” Max asked, pulling away.

“We wait.” I looked around for a spot that allowed us to still see his house, but not look obvious. “Over there—pull in behind that barn.”

Max drove ahead a few feet and then cut it in behind an old barn. Pulling around it and shutting off the lights, we had a clear view of the road.

“Well,” Max said, looking around, “at least we are at the back of this dead end. Something’s going our way tonight.”

“Whatever. I’d beat him in the middle of fucking Phoenix if I knew where he was. I’m going to tear him apart, Max.”

“I know, man. Just don’t waste your energy bouncing around this damn truck. You know how this shit works.”

Max was right. As fucking usual. It wasn’t going to do me any good to get worked up until game time. I needed to breathe and focus.

“I’m going to kill him, Max. If you know anything I don’t, now’s the time to tell me.” The fury built again as I imagined her scared and at his mercy. My jaw clenched, my teeth grinding together.

“Just that he had sent her a text that said he owes her one or something like that. That was how I know for sure it was him.”

“Really,” I said, stretching my neck side to side. “Well, we will see who pays who when he gets home.”

“We could sit here all night, you know.”