Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 129881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“We gotta wait,” CJ says.
“How far away are they?”
“I don’t know. It shouldn’t be too long.”
“Look. I know this is some protocol shit and you can’t leave drugs lying around, but I can’t just sit here. Felix could be in trouble, CJ. His dad might’ve hurt him. And your friends could take a while.”
He peers in the rearview mirror. “Or maybe they hauled ass here because I asked them to.”
I turn around and squint out the back window between the streaks of rain.
A cop car pulls directly in front of the house.
“Wait here,” CJ says, climbing out of the truck.
I slam my head back against the seat.
It only takes him a few minutes to relay information and then the door is opening again, and CJ is standing there with Ben and Luke.
“You got any info on his dad?” Ben asks me.
“Like what?”
“His name. Where he could be right now.”
“No. I don’t—fuck.” I grit my teeth. “I don’t even know Felix’s last name. Just get the drugs out of here. They’re not his.”
“You know that for a fact?” Luke looks skeptical.
“He’s been clean for over a year. This was his dad. I know it was.”
“Your friend could’ve slipped up,” Ben adds, and I know he has justification to think that, given the circumstances, but I really don’t need to be reminded of the worry circling inside my head.
“Dude, I know you’re good friends with my brother and everything but shut the fuck up.”
“Jake,” CJ warns.
“This is a waste of time! Jesus Christ! What does it matter anyway? Maybe he did slip up and snort a line or take something else. His dad is the one who scored, okay? I’m not telling you that again. Believe me or don’t. I don’t give a fuck. Just do your job and get the drugs out of here.”
“We’re gonna need to question your friend,” Luke says.
“Yeah? Blow me.”
I am so fucking done with this conversation.
“What.” Luke moves to step closer, but Ben pushes a hand against his chest, holding him back.
It’s a good thing too.
“To clear him, Jake,” my brother snaps. “What the fuck. You’re lucky it’s Ben and Luke and not someone else I’m not close with. They’re doing you a favor. Quit acting like a dick.”
I turn away from all of them and glare out my window.
If I open my mouth again, nobody is going to like what I have to say.
“If anyone shows up while we’re here, we’ll call you,” Ben says.
“Thanks, man. I’ll check in later.” CJ climbs into the truck and shuts the door. “Jake.”
“What.”
“We’ll find him.”
I blink hard when my eyes begin to sting.
My luck fucking sucks.
It doesn’t matter that Ben and Luke got to Felix’s house when they did, because none of the tattoo shops in Ruxton open until noon. And I don’t get that. People don’t wake up wanting to get inked? At least one of these goddamn places should offer morning hours just out of common courtesy, and I tell my brother that. I bitch for an hour while CJ drives us all over Ruxton to kill time. I even start to hate Dean, who could very well be the savior in all of this but that doesn’t matter anymore, because he’s one of the assholes who spends his mornings dicking around instead of contributing to society. And I cannot fucking wait to get to whatever shop he owns and tell him exactly how I feel. I’m so irrationally pissed off about this, I begin to talk shit about anyone who’s ever gotten a tattoo. I hate everything about it.
But then (of course) I think about Felix, and I don’t hate anything about his tattoos or the fact that he’s talented enough to put them on himself, and I go from whining to tearing up, and there’s a chance I might be bipolar.
When it’s finally almost noon, CJ drives us to the closest shop.
There’s no sign of Felix or Dean.
We move on to the next one. Nothing. And the third. Nothing again. No one even knows who Felix and Dean are, which, what kind of community is this? Don’t tattoo artists stick together? They fucking should.
I’m barely speaking now, only responding with a halfhearted okay when CJ tries convincing me that Felix is probably at the last one and says I’m sure he’s fine, Jake. We pull up in front of the fourth and final shop and find it closed still, even though it’s supposed to be open, and I barely keep it together.
But then CJ gets a call from Luke—Felix’s dad showed up at the house while they were there and some other guy is with him (not Felix) and they’re both so fucked up and oh, it gets better—Felix’s car is fucked up now too. His dad wrecked it trying to get away and ran it straight into a tree. The car is totaled.