Preface
He put his mouth to my ear and his words sent waves of fresh terror through me. “I am going to savor you, little Sara. I had planned to have you now but why rush when we can take all the time we want later.”
“No…”
“But I think a taste first to whet the appetite.” His face lowered as he forced my head to one side, baring my throat. His lips touched my skin and his tongue lapped at the spot where my pulse beat. Blackness swam before my eyes.
“What is this?” he murmured and sniffed at as if he was trying a new wine. His tongue touched my skin again. “You taste like –” His head whipped up and his eyes glittered like he had just been served a favorite dessert. “You’re a –”
Chapter 1
“You’re late.”
Malloy huffed as he slid into the booth across from me. “Don’t get your panties in a knot. I got other business to tend to besides yours you know.” I scowled and tapped my watch and he threw up his hands. “I’m sorry, alright? Jesus, you’re an impatient one.”
“You’re not the only one with places to be.”
He made a harrumph sound as if he could not imagine what someone my age had to do that was so important. If he only knew. I schooled my expression to hide the anxiety gnawing at me.
“Alright then, where is it?” he asked.
I patted my chest where the small lump lay inside my coat and lowered my voice so no one outside our booth could hear it above Skynyrd blaring from the jukebox. “Half an ounce, as promised.”
Malloy’s brown eyes widened and he leaned forward to rest his forearms on the table. Shorter than me by a few inches with a small pinched face and dull brown hair, he reminded me of a little brown field mouse. Not that I was fool enough to be taken in by his harmless appearance. You don’t survive in his business by being nice.
“Well, let’s have it then.” His eyes swept the dimly lit bar before settling back on me. I could have told him not to worry; the patrons at Jed’s were good at minding their own business, which is why I suggested the biker bar in the first place. That and the fact that Jed kept a wooden bat and a .44 behind the bar in case of trouble. No one was stupid enough to start something at Jed’s.
I reached inside my coat and pulled out a rolled up paper bag. Malloy grabbed for it but I pulled it out of his reach and put on my business face. “Payment first.”
“Ah yes.” He made a sour face as he put a hand inside his own jacket. His hand stilled. “This wasn’t easy to come by, you know. Maybe –”
“We had a deal, Malloy.” Damn it, I should have known he would try to pull this again and on the one day I didn’t have time for games. My cell phone was lying facedown on the table; I picked it up.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you think?” I did not look at him as I scrolled through my short contact list. “Half an ounce is worth ten of what you’re paying for it and you know it. But if you don’t want to do business I’ll have to go through someone else.” I bit my lip. I really didn’t want to go to elsewhere and I was running out of time. If I had to wait even one more day to get what I came for, it wouldn’t matter anymore. A day? Hell hours was more like it.
“Excuse me. I need to make a call.” I moved toward the edge of my seat, hoping he did not see through my bluff.
“Wait.” He sighed and pulled out a small square package wrapped in dirty grey cloth. Laying the package on the table, he covered it with his hand and slid it toward me. I did the same with the paper bag and we made the exchange at the halfway point. I stifled my sigh of relief when my fingers closed around the package.
I lifted the cloth-wrapped package to my ear and shook it before I sniffed it to confirm its contents. Satisfied, I tucked it into an inside pocket. I picked up my soda and took a long sip to hide my eagerness to get out of there. It was never wise to appear desperate or hurried to people like Malloy; you might as well paint a big red target on your back.
Malloy tipped the paper bag and spill a small glass vial out onto his palm. His eyes glittered as he rolled the vial of yellowish-brown liquid between his fingers.
“Kid, I’d give my left gonad to know how you managed to get your hands on this stuff… and lived to tell about it.”
I let out a short laugh to hide my nervousness. “Who said I’m telling?” I set my glass back on the table and inclined my head toward the vial. “I wouldn’t show that off in public too much.” What I really wanted to say was, ‘Put that goddamn stuff away before you get us both killed’, but I refrained because it would not do to lose my cool.
“You don’t need to tell me how to handle my affairs,” he retorted, but at the same time he made the vial disappear with a sleight of hand that would do a magician proud.
“There is no way anyone can trace that back to me, right?” Malloy had a wide network and a reputation for discretion. But the contents of that vial could bring a lot of unwanted attention.
He sat up straighter. “Like I told you last time; I wouldn’t be in business very long if I gave away my suppliers. And I got to protect my own head too. I move my stuff through some middle men who’d take the names of their business contacts to the grave. Ain’t no profit in talking. And those guys have no idea where I obtain my merchandise. You can be sure I ain’t telling anyone.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” I slid out of the booth. I’d stayed here too long already.
“Wait! I have some other items you might be interested in – if you can get more of this stuff, that is.”
I stood and put my hand over the small bulge inside my coat. “I got what I came for. If I need anything else, I’ll be in touch.”
He shook his head. “You know; you are way too serious for a girl your age. You ought to loosen up, have fun every now and then.”
I turned toward the exit. “Yeah I get that a lot.”
The sun’s glare blinded me after the bar’s gloomy interior and I blinked a few times, sagging against the heavy wooden door. God I hate this. My hands trembled as I pulled up my sleeve to glance at my watch. “Damn it.” I pushed away from the door, cursing Malloy for running late. My business with him would all have been for nothing if I stayed here much longer.
I pulled my short coat together and set out to meet Remy, making it to the bus stop two streets away just in time to catch the next bus. Sinking gratefully in a seat in the back, I leaned against the window and watched the streets and buildings flash by. We passed a football field where a practice game was in progress and I watched a group of cheerleaders waving red and white pompoms. My hand went to the lump in my pocket and the weight of the responsibility I carried made me feel years older than the girls on the field.
The bus line ended near an old brewery that went out of business two years ago and I jumped off in front of the brewery’s padlocked gates. No Trespassing signs hung along the wire fence ad the whole place had a sad, deserted look about it. My nose twitched as it always did at the smell of sour barley that lingered there as I hurried past it.
Behind the brewery was an older subdivision of duplexes and two storey houses, most of them needing a fresh coat of paint. Five years ago this was a thriving neighborhood before the brewery shut down along with the automotive parts plant that had employed half this area. Now the lawns were overgrown and the cars in a lot of the driveway were badly in need of maintenance. A country song blared from someone’s stereo and in another house a young couple argued until a baby started to bawl loudly. I passed a group of younger kids playing road hockey but they largely ignored me. I did stop for a moment to rub the head of a familiar lab-shepherd mix that trotted up to greet me, but when he made to follow me I shooed him back. He stared after me forlornly but I was too busy to play today.