Eye of the Sh*t Storm by Jackson Ford (most romantic novels .txt) 📕

her face. “Well then tell me, Annie. Go on. We go save Reggie, we hand Leo over, then what? You think nothing happens? What are you gonna say to Reggie when Leo…?” He swallows. “When they make him overdrive a power plant? Or put a million volts through the Pacific Ocean?”

I don’t even know if that’s possible. Then again, until today, I didn’t think any of this was possible. I badly want to tell Nic that this isn’t the place for logic, and reason, and cold-minded arguments. Problem is, the alternative isn’t much better.

As if sensing my thoughts, Nic looks over at me – a look I almost flinch away from. “Teags, back me up.”

I shake my head, my mouth open, the words stuck in my throat.

Now Annie is staring at me too. “You cannot seriously be considering this.”

“I—”

Annie grabs me by both shoulders, makes me look her in the eyes.

“It’s Reggie,” she says through gritted teeth. “The woman who’s always had your back. Since China Shop started, she’s been the wall between you and Tanner. And you just wanna, what, throw her to the fucking wolves?”

“No! Annie, I never said that—”

“Then why aren’t you telling your boyfriend –” she jabs a finger at Nic “– to get the hell on?”

“Hey, that’s enough,” Nic says.

Annie ignores him, letting go of my shoulders “I don’t believe you, Teagan. I really don’t. After all this, you just roll over?”

“He’s four years old!” I still don’t have a clue what to do, but I feel like someone should point this out.

“It doesn’t matter.” Annie’s hands are balled in tight, bloodless fists. Abruptly, she jabs a finger at Leo, who flinches. “He’s just like that Matthew kid, the one who killed—” She takes a deep breath, looks away. “I can’t believe you’re protecting him, still, after everything that’s happened.”

“He’s not Matthew,” I shout back. “Jesus, Annie, think for a second. Matthew was a… a… a psychopath. Leo’s just… he’s a normal kid.”

“He’s from the same place.”

“He doesn’t want to hurt anybody!”

“Oh yeah? What about at Dodger Stadium? Nic told me all about that shit.”

Nic gives me a helpless shrug.

Annie isn’t done: “He’s dangerous. I’m done protecting him. Not when Reggie might get hurt.”

I don’t believe this. I thought Annie had finally come around – that she’d stopped hating Leo for what he is. For the past couple of hours, she’d actually been treating him like a real person. Turns out, that was a thin scab over a very deep wound.

“It’s like Nic said. If we hand him over, they’ll make him hurt a lot more people than Reggie.” The words spill out of me, like they were there all along. “Annie, I know what happened with Paul was hard—”

“Don’t you say his name.” Spat through gritted teeth.

“Why not? He was my friend too. I hated what happened to him, but Leo didn’t do it. None of this is his fault, and the way you talk to him, it’s not fair. You can’t hate him like that. He’s not Matthew.”

“Both of you,” Nic steps between us. “Enough. Let’s just talk this out. If—”

“I’ll go,” Leo says.

He has to say it again, louder this time, before we turn to look at him.

“Leo,” I say, disbelieving. “No.”

“It’s OK.” He smiles. The damn kid actually smiles. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“But…” I walk over, crouch down so I’m at his level. “The Zigzag Man wants you to hurt people.”

A hardness comes into his expression then. One I haven’t seen before. His lower lip juts out slightly, defiant.

“I won’t let him,” he says. “Even if he tries to make me. I won’t do it.

“Leo,” Nic says. “Buddy… we can’t ask you to do this. It’s too much.”

“I wanna help,” he says simply.

Annie is nodding to herself, arms crossed tight over her chest. She at least has the good grace to stay silent.

“Are you sure?” Nic says to Leo, crouching down next to me. “Because nobody here is going to make you do it.”

“I’m sure.”

Nic looks like he wants to throw up. “Please,” he says. “Please, Leo. Don’t do this.”

Leo takes a tentative step forward, then another. Then he wraps his arms around Nic’s shoulders.

I look away. Eyes closed. I want to hug Leo, and hit him, and scream at him, and then scream at Annie.

Most of all? Most of all, I want to find the man who took Reggie. That’s the one bright spot here. After all this is done, maybe, just maybe, I’ll get my shot at him. Make him regret the day he fucked with us.

Leo lets go of Nic. “Come on,” he says, a little too brightly, turning and heading back the way we came.

Nic and I exchange a look. Are we really doing this?

Behind him, the LA River stretches away into the darkness. A flat, beaten-up slab of concrete. An easy walk. And no more than a few miles away, less than an hour…

We were so goddamn close.

“Come on,” I say to Nic and Annie, turning to go. Then, quietly, making sure Leo is far enough ahead of us: “Let’s go punch this dude in the dick.”

FORTY-FOURTeagan

This must be what it feels like to almost-but-not-quite reach the summit of Mount Everest. The failing isn’t even the worst part. It’s the descent. Going aaaaaall the way back down, covering the same ground, knowing you didn’t make it.

Back we go, back up the river. Back towards the camp, towards Pop and the Legends, towards Africa, if he’s still out there.

If? Who am I kidding? He’s probably tracking us down right now, and chances are he’ll show up at exactly the worst time.

Every so often, Nic will cast a dark look in Annie’s direction. She ignores him, focusing on the way ahead. Leo is walking with us, on Nic’s left. Our footsteps on the concrete are dull, like they’re coming from inside a soundproofed room.

Eventually, the silence gets to me. “Maybe we could have our cake and eat it,” I say, which