When the door opened, a cold gust of air carried across the bakery lobby. Pastry scents drifted all throughout the room of mingling patrons. Casey and Xavier took care of their orders until the sun set beyond the horizon.
With their busiest hours out of the way, it left plenty of time for cleaning up. Casey hadn't forgotten about his encounter with Emmett, but he didn't mention it to his father. They had enough going on without worrying him over the Voiceless Rebels lurking around. Casey would tell him about it if Emmett came around again, but he thought it was pointless to stir up unnecessary drama.
As Casey placed some trays aside, his phone vibrated in his apron pocket. The contact that popped up on the screen made him hesitate on answering the call. Stealing a glance at the back room, he made sure his dad and Xavier paid no attention to him.
"Hey." August's voice flooded his ear. "Are you busy?"
"Kinda. I'm still at work," Casey replied, keeping his voice at a whisper. "Why?"
"I've got new updates on your mom's case. Just wanted to share it with you," August replied. "But not over the phone."
Casey gulped. "Why not?"
"You never know who might be listening in," August said. "When you're done with your shift, just meet me at the Lucky Lady Lounge."
"Huh? You want me to meet you at a nightclub?"
"It's the first place open all night that popped into my mind," August replied. "I'm not some kind of perv, if that's what you're thinking."
"I dunno. This sounds sketchy," Casey admitted, gripping his phone tightly.
August sighed on the other line. "I promise this isn't a trick. You know what Veronica would do to me if I hurt you and left her kid without his father?"
Casey bit the inside of his cheek. "Alright, fine. I'll be there. You just have to wait until I get my son down for bed tonight."
"Okay, I understand. See you then, Casey."
After ending the call, Casey groaned and stuffed his phone back in his pocket. Was he letting August deceive him? No matter how hard he tried to convince himself that he was making the right choice by relying on the gang member, something deep in his gut knew he needed to block him. Casey didn't, but maybe he should have.
🧁
Inside the club, warmth embraced him, but the miasma of body odor, pizza, and buffalo wings was an assault on his poor nose. Pulse-pounding music nailed into his head as he maneuvered through the drunken, carefree patrons. Sometimes they brushed against him, with Casey mumbling an apology as he pushed through them.
Casey stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the club. He tried not to let it bother him when people stared, probably wondering what brought him in. Even Casey wondered that himself.
Up at the bar, Casey spotted August sipping on an alcoholic drink. He quickened his pace, not wanting to be the center of attention for a group of guys smoking cigarettes any longer.
"So, what did you want to tell me?" Casey asked, taking a seat on the barstool beside him.
"Afraid you weren't gonna show," August said. "I wanted to give you a heads up before the cops came, but they're suspecting your dad's involved."
Casey gaped. "What? That's ridiculous. My dad was doing everything he could to save my mom. They know that."
"Well, that's not how they're seeing it." August rested his glass down. "They think your dad pulled this elaborate plan together with some help from one of the gangs. They're not sure who yet. When they had him running little errands, one of them included disposing of the gun used to kill your mom."
"Jesus." Casey shook his head. "But they know how they made him do that. They threatened our family."
"In their mind, they think he should've come forward to the police instead of acting on his own," August explained. "I know it's bullshit, but I wanted to warn you. Before they arrested him."
"I don't understand why you're helping, but thanks. I appreciate the head's up," Casey told him.
"Like I told you, I'm just repaying the favor. This has nothing to do with Veronica either," August replied. "I owed you a favor, and this was it."
Casey nodded. "Since I'm here, I might as well order a drink. I need one after everything that's happened these past few days."
"I'll get it for you," August said, waving a bartender down. "I'm the one who invited you out here, after all."
"Thanks." Casey told him, putting his order in for the bartender.
"So, what do you plan to do now?" August asked.
Casey frowned, taking a sip of his drink. "What do you mean?"
"Are you gonna tell your dad about this tonight or let him get surprised tomorrow when the cops show up?" August questioned.
"How could I tell him without letting on that I've been talking to you and Veronica?" Casey shook his head. "Besides, you might be lying to me or maybe your information isn't good."
"My sources are good," August replied. "I've got a guy on the inside with the cops. They're considering your dad a prime suspect in Detective Lockhart's murder. At first, they considered the killer's the same person who offed Detective Luca Patterson like two years ago. You know who he is, yeah?"
"Uh, yeah. I remember my mom working with him some," Casey replied. "He went undercover with the Voiceless Rebels and they turned on him."
August nodded. "That's the story. Now, they're wondering if his case could be connected to your mom's. Maybe she learned something about those rebels that she shouldn't have. They seem to always be connected to murders around here the most."
"Like what?" Casey asked.
August shrugged. "Could be anything."
"I still can't believe she's gone." Casey quaffed down his beer. "Like, I almost expect to wake up from a surreal nightmare."
"I can't imagine how difficult this must be for you." August reached a hand across the table, brushing the tips of his fingers against Casey's before withdrawing. He cleared his voice. "You don't have to stay here with me. I'm sure you'd rather get back home now. I just wanted to warn you."
Casey spared a glance at his phone, rising to his feet. "Yeah, I better go. I don't want to worry my family."
"Yeah, I better get going too." August got up, leaving half his drink before paying the tab.
A rush of cold air pelted Casey's face as he hurried out the door, avoiding the sets of eyes that fell on him. Why did they keep staring? Not everyone did it, but a certain group kept watching him the whole time. As he passed by them, their voices lowered to a hushed whisper and Casey couldn't help but wonder if they'd been talking about him.
Tugging his drawstrings of his jacket tighter, Casey braced the harsh wind and retrieved his keys, unlocking his truck. Just as he neared it, August came up on his left side, brushing closely against him.
"You're being followed," August whispered.
"Huh? By who?" Casey gazed back, expecting someone to be behind them. Nobody was there.
"Turn forward. Keep walking," August said. "I'll ride with you back to your house to make sure you get there safely."
"I think you're being too paranoid." Casey propped open his door. "There's nobody out here. I can drive home on my own, okay? I don't need a bodyguard. Besides, how would you get back here? You don't want to leave your car, do you?"
"I'll have someone pick me up. Please, Casey. Let me come with you. I swear, I'm not trying to pull any sketchy shit. I just don't want to see you get hurt," August explained.
Casey sighed. "Fine, come on then."
When Casey pulled out of the nightclub's parking lot, he couldn't resist checking his rear-view mirror. Nobody pulled up behind him. Casey glanced over at August, who kept his gaze glued behind them. His body shook, arms across over his chest, and Casey couldn't determine if it was just because of how cold his truck was or if he'd gotten that worked up over someone following him.
Only when they hit a stop sign did someone come up behind them. Casey kept driving, almost reaching his street when August instructed him to turn in the opposite direction.
"Huh? Why?" Casey asked. "My house is just up here."
"You don't want to bring these guys to your house. Especially not with your son there," August told him.
Casey tensed, his knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel. Just as he reached another stop sign, he made a sharp left turn away from his house. Heart pounding in his throat, he strained his neck behind him for a moment, seeing the car pull up behind them. Casey focused his attention back on the road ahead of them, leg trembling as he pressed down on the pedal a little more.
"Casey." August gently touched his shoulder. "Don't freak out on me, okay? If you crash, they'll likely catch us."
"Great advice," Casey muttered.
"We'll lose their tail and then you can get home to your boy," August said. "Until then, just keep your eyes on the road and keep turning off on different roads. Be sure not to take a dead end one, or else, they'll corner us in. It looks like there's only one car following us, so it shouldn't be too hard."
"You act like you've done this before," Casey remarked.
"Well, yeah. I've also shadowed a lot of people. These guys must realize we're onto them since they're staying so close."
"Where should I go?" Casey asked.
"The police station," August replied, pointing ahead. "It's not that far from here, and I doubt those fools would show their faces there."
"Should I call the police and report this now?"
"No. That wouldn't do much, aside from them thinking you're too paranoid. The driver could easily tell them that we happened to be going the same way," August replied. "Unless they try to hit us, there's not much else we can do. Just keep driving, okay?"
Casey nodded. "Okay. I can do that."
"Shit." August cursed. "Speed up. Now."
"What? Why?" Casey gazed back, realizing the car had shifted into the adjoining lane. It wanted to pass them and cut them off.
Without second guessing, Casey floored it as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He wanted to check behind them but he found himself glued to the road ahead of them, clocking sixty.
"Shit. Watch out!" August exclaimed, gripping the dashboard.
Ahead, an abandoned car had been parked in the middle of the road. Casey swerved into the opposite lane, lucky enough that nobody else came driving down it. But as they passed the car, Casey noticed the windows were rolled down.
Before Casey had time to react, August pushed his head down and yanked the steering wheel, causing them to swerve up on the sidewalk. Glass shards scattered across them from the windows as a reign of bullets hit his truck. Casey tried not to hyperventilate as they drove further down the street.
"Holy shit," Casey gasped.
Arms trembling, Casey kept a strong grip on the wheel. Sweat bead down the back of his neck, perspiration clung to the back of his shirt. His heart pounded a mile a minute, as if it would burst free from his chest at any moment.
"At least we're almost at the police station." August leaned back in his seat, brushing pieces of glass off his lap. "Surely they won't be stupid enough to follow us. I think they expected you to stop or that we'd surrender there when they shot at us."
"Y-You think?" Casey stammered.
"You're not injured are you? I don't see any blood and I feel like you would've noticed if a bullet grazed you," August said.
Casey couldn't find a proper response, so he kept driving onwards to the police station. Something deep inside his soul screamed at him to stay away from August, yet he'd trusted him and gotten himself into danger. For fuck's sake, he could've led those murderous guys back to his house, where his son is.
As they reached the police station, August kept talking, trying to pull his thoughts from the dark depths of his mind, but Casey couldn't focus on a word he said. The gunshots still rung in his ears like an annoying bell, reminding him how he almost died back there. A glance at his shattered window made him shiver. Any of those bullets could've punctured his body or even his head.
"Hey, are you good?" August asked. "I know that has to be scary shit for ya, but we're safe. We're still alive."
"We could've died," Casey pointed out. "Who were those guys? Why did they do this? I don't understand."
"Whoever put that hit on your family's pulling through on their end of the deal," August replied. "I'm just relieved that we got away. I hadn't expected that little roadblock they set up for us. Clever. They must've known we'd come to the police station."
Casey propped open his door. "I'm gonna make a report to Detective Bailey about this. They need to know. Maybe they can keep someone posted outside our house to make sure they don't come back tonight."
August shrugged. "Sure, you can do that I guess. But I'd probably catch the bastard before any of those assholes would." August flicked a thumb in the building's direction. "Honestly, what do you expect from them? They'll make the report and that's it. That car we saw didn't have any plates and the other one that followed us, I couldn't see the back of."
"That doesn't matter. Detective Bailey needs to hear about this. Clearly, it's not my dad behind this, so it couldn't be him who killed my mom. Reporting this should erase their suspicions of him," Casey explained.
"If you say so. I'll be waiting here for you until you get back." August reclined back in the passenger seat. "Hey, leave the keys, will you? I wanna listen to music and it's fucking cold in here."
Casey frowned, tucking his keys in his pocket. "I'm not that stupid. You're not taking off with my car. Just wait here and freeze until I get back."
August pouted. "So rude. And here I went through the trouble of saving you."