That’s what I’m afraid of.
“Other drama?”
“Sunday dinner at Adele’s. Long story and not my place to spill the beans, so…”
“So you’re punishing me now for not giving you details you want by withholding details from me?”
“Actually,” she gets louder and defensive, “I’m just respecting other peoples’ privacy, just like I’m doing for you when someone asks me questions.” She accelerates so quickly at the green light that the tires spin.
“Okay, okay. Slow down there, Andretti, you’re gonna get us pulled over. Or killed. How ironic would it be for me to get killed in this car with you instead of being raped and dismembered by the bad guys?”
“That’s a lesson for ya,” she says. “Life is unexpected and you never know what’s around the corner. You could get killed in a car crash, but so could your enemies. You could live to 102 surrounded by great, great grandbabies. Do you really want to live your life on the run? Do you really want to have to run away and start over any time someone gets close to the truth? Wouldn’t it make more sense to at least try to get resolution?”
“The only resolution I can see is if the bad guys get put in jail with no chance of release or… sad to say, but if they get killed.”
“So, let’s get them put in jail. Keep you in a safe house while all that is happening. Haven’t you at least considered the fact that you might have met Jude specifically for this very reason? So he can help you solve this problem? Maybe he’s your salvation and your happily ever after, Ally.”
I sigh. “If only…”
“I think he is. You’re obviously smitten.”
“Yeah, well I wish, but the unthinkable could happen if you’re wrong.”
“Care to make a wager?” she asks.
I give her my best side-eye.
She holds her hand out.
“I’ve already fucked him. Repeatedly.” I fold my arms across my chest.
“This hundred-dollar wager says he’s your happily ever after.”
“He can’t be. I’ve never been that lucky.”
“So, you’re beyond crazy about him?” she asks.
“Don’t make me admit that. I’m in denial.”
“Okay, so that’s a yes. Shake on it. Deal?”
“I would happily pay you that hundred bucks if me and Jude happened and stuck without bloodshed, Car, I’d pay three quarters of a million dollars if it could buy me guarantees, but I’m fucking scared. If you’d heard what Th-… what the one bad guy said to me... he’s a psycho. I can’t take the chance of unleashing that guy on anybody. We’re talking rape and torture before slow dismemberment for anyone who screws his family over.”
“This is the guy you were dating?”
“No. His brother. He made a pass at me when my ex was out of town and I turned him down and he got… like… obsessive about it. He showed up at my job and watched me for a whole shift. Leering at me while making suggestive gestures while he ate. And it’s a good thing, too, because a dirty cop showed up and tried to entice me into informing on… on… I’ll call him J. The guy didn’t present himself like a dirty cop, just a cop, but he shows me this file folder of photos of all these people murdered and some of them chopped up and says J and his brothers are responsible and that they need me to become a confidential informant. He tells me I’m in danger and promises to protect me. I tell him I have no clue what he’s talking about, that he can’t possibly be talking about Jonah, I mean J, and… shit.”
I face-palm, hard enough to hurt. “Shit.”
“It’s okay,” Carly says. “Don’t censor yourself. Keep going.”
“Fuck, Carly, I can’t put you in danger, of all people…”
“You’re just talking to me. Nothing different than talking to me yesterday or last week, Ally. Keep going.”
I take in a big breath. “The cop tells me to think long and hard. He leaves. But then I’m thinking he’s familiar. Really familiar, and I’m wracking my brain about it until it hits me. I remember seeing a picture of him. Jonah had this digital photo frame on the wall in his brownstone and it cycled through pictures. There was this picture of his brother’s wedding a few years before and it came up in the rotation sometimes, and this cop is in one of those pictures. I sat there staring, waiting for it to show up on the screen and there it was - the two of them shaking hands behind a picture of some other wedding guest. And it dawns that Th- the brother has to be behind this. I get ready for work, have to go in early that day to cover for someone on the lunch shift, but on the way, I’m going to swing by the brother’s just to see if anything looks wonky and then come back, park the car, and take an Uber to work. I go there in Jonah’s car and park down the street, trying to see if I can spot anything going on at his brother’s house and catch the cop and the brother having a pow-wow in the cop’s car right outside. This was just hours after that cop had been at Jonah’s apartment, so I decide I’m outta there. But when the brother goes inside, I grind the gears on Jonah’s car and they see me. The cop is following me. I can’t lose him, so I find myself in a mall parking lot. My purse falls over off the thingie between the seats and so I lean into the back and spot this bag behind the driver’s seat and look inside and it’s full of money. Panicking, I decide I need money to get away from these crazies so I make a run for it through the mall to try to lose the cop. I had no idea how much money I had until I got to the airport after losing the cop. But not only was there money in there, but there was also a gun inside a Ziploc bag. And I’m worried that the gun might be connected to a crime. Jonah was supposed to be back late that night and his brother was going to come by and pick up his car and drop it at the airport for him on his way out of town, and I didn’t want to face either of them, so I took off. I guess the bag was either for Jonah to do something with at the airport or the brother was going to take it when he dropped the car.”