Page 57 of Sweet Dreams
“Same thing, dickhole.”
Leroy drives a good distance from the Mercedes in a part of Holden that I’ve never been to. Now, I’m curious where we’re going. What can possibly be out in the industrial part of this town? Is Mr. Montgomery in some shady business that no one knows about? He rolls into a parking lot with one big cinder block building. It's got four massive garage doors stretching across its length.
He pulls up to the third one, and the door opens. A guy wearing a utility vest walks out and greets him. I lean forward, trying to get a better look at the dude. But he doesn’t look familiar.
“This seems like a drug deal,” Buck states the obvious.
“What should we do?” Weldon enquires.
“I say we go in there and shoot it up.” Griff taps his gun on the window.
Leroy quickly turns in his seat. “Yeah, and then what? Risk the cops showing up, and then this is all for naught. Start thinking with your brain and not with your trigger finger, for fuck’s sake. We wait until they both go in, then move in—two in the back and three in the front. Weldon and Silas go in the rear; you have two minutes to gain entry. Buck, Griff and I will take the front. You two head out now.” He points to Wel and me.
I exit the car and enter the chilly night, watching the wind play with trash in the parking lot. Wel comes up behind me, patting my back.
“We’ve got this, I’m hoping there are answers in there, and we didn’t just fuck this all up.”
“That’s what I hope. Going in blind, not a fan.”
We quickly make our way around the building, stopping at the shop door. Weldon looks at me, and I dig into my bag for the lock-picking kit. With a quick twist, I get the door unlocked.
“Time?”
“We have less thana minute.”
As Weldon stands ready by the door, I grasp the doorknob tightly in anticipation. After one last glance at the time, he gives a confident nod, and I boldly swing the dooropen.
In all honesty, I should’ve seen this coming.
Never underestimate your enemy, and that’s precisely what I did. I didn’t think this would happen. When I got home from Silas’ place, Blaine was waiting for me. The worst part was that he was on my doorstep and wouldn’t leave until I would talk to him. And stupid me invited him in. A part of me was thinking it would be a good idea, perhaps a little peace offering so his mother would get off my back, and the other was hoping he would tell me who was all involved.
None of that happened. What occurred was worse.
“Blaine, I don’t have time for this. You can’t be here.”
“Oh, don’t be like that. I only came for a small chat. Invite me in.” He gives me that disgusting grin.
“Fine, but I want something from you in return.” This is stupid of me; I know better. Blaine can’t be trusted.
I unlock my door and enter before him; when I hear the door close, the lock engages my heart races. I swing around to take Blaine in. He leans against the door and crosses his arms, never taking his eyes off me.
“Do you know why our families hate each other?” He asks.
I back away until I hit the wall. “No, it’s been a mystery.”
“It all started when your father and my mother went to school together. Such a long time to hold a grudge, don’t you think?” He glances at the ceiling.
I nod silently.
“If your father only stayed out of my mother’s business, this would’ve been easier for you. She was never meant to work at a desk writing permits for this shitty town. She was meant to run it. But Caleb ruined it.”
“How?” A shiver ran down my spine when Blaine snapped his head toward me.
“He stumbled upon her father’s drug business and went to the cops, tarnished her name in this town until she met my father. You don’t get where you are in thistown without status, and thanks to your father, he took that from her.”
“How is that my fault? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
He shrugs. “If Mother didn’t get her life, why should the daughter of the one that took it from her have one.”