“Then tell me.” He held his ground, the mist of his breath in the cold rain. The sound of thunder echoed between them.
She held still for a moment as if debating herself. Her eyes focused on him and her chin rose. “I’m not running from an ex-boyfriend. I’m running from the mob.”
He wasn’t expecting that. He blinked twice. “What?” Bonnie visibly sighed. She looked simultaneously like she had already told this story a million times and like she desperately wanted someone to confide in. “Please, at least come inside with me and tell me before you go.”
Her eyes lowered, then turned back toward her car. “You did fix my car. I guess I owe you that much.”
Dylan shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything, but I’d like to think that you can at least trust me enough to hear the real story before you go.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Okay. But it’s kind of a long one, so let’s go inside.”
He smiled, then put his arm around her as they walked inside.
Chapter 19
Bonnie
As soon as they were back inside, she threw her bag by the door and sat on the bed. Bonnie sighed. Better clear up the little white lies I told first, she thought.
“There really was a fire, but it wasn’t started by an ex-boyfriend.”
Dylan nodded at the confession, but didn’t seem fazed by the fact that she had told a little white lie.
“When I got there, I knew it was a message. And the message wasn’t for me, it was for my little brother,” she said.
“Your brother? The security guard?”
Bonnie nodded. “He witnessed a murder. Unfortunately, the murder was a professional hit by a crime family called the Trio. They’re a small organized crime group, but they’re growing. He’s in Witness Protection now.”
Dylan frowned. “So what led you to here?”
Bonnie sighed again, then began to tell the story.
She told Dylan everything that happened in her dream. The fire. The man in the crowd. The gesture he made. The overwhelming feeling of dread that she felt.
She looked around, trying to figure out where the man with the scar could have gone. There was a large crowd of people, but he wasn't with them. She searched the crowd. They were all watching her townhouse burn. No other houses were on fire yet, and she hoped they wouldn't catch. At least her brother wasn't here. He was safe somewhere with the police watching him.
“Are you okay, Bonnie?”
She nearly threw a punch at the person touching her shoulder. Luckily, Detective Patton ducked and pulled away before she had the chance to hit him. She felt bad about nearly clocking her neighbor. He was probably upset that his townhouse was nearly on fire too.
“Sorry, Mike.” She pulled her arm into her chest. “I'm just spooked. Did you see the guy over there?”
Detective Mike Patton followed her gaze to the edge of the parking lot. “Who exactly are you looking for? There's plenty of people over there. I see Mrs. Gonzales, Frank, Joe...”
“No, he has this scar on his cheek.” She drew her finger just along her cheekbone. “I swear I saw him at my house the night Brett reported the murder. He gave me the creeps.”
Patton's face darkened. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “The scar is pretty distinctive.”
“Dark hair? And you said the scar was across his right cheek? Not the left?” Detective Patton asked, putting both his hands on her shoulders. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Do you know who he is?”
Detective Patton swallowed hard. “He's the Trio's hitman. Are you sure you saw a scar?”
The Trio. They were the up-and-coming organized crime syndicate. They were the ones that Brett had witnessed and was going to testify against.