rolled off and rested there. Then he flipped her over onto her back and kissed her, their tongues invading each other’s mouths as he wrapped his fingers into her curly hair.
“Thanks for the fuck!” he said and smirked as he let her go.
Ella swung over and poked him in the side. “Don’t be vulgar.”
“You said it was just fucking. I’m being polite by saying thank you!” Pipe took the condom off and laid it on the floor.
“Whatever! What’s your name?” She looked back at him as she reached for her dress.
“Pipe.”
“Don’t be an ass. Your real name, what is it?”
“I’ll tell you if we fuck again sometime,” Pipe laughed.
“Come on, I’m serious. What is it? Tell me so I won’t feel like such a whore.”
Pipe stood up. “It’s Patrick Delaney.”
Ella moved her head back in shock. “That’s a nice name, rugged and sexy. Why on earth would you call yourself Pipe?”
“You liked the pipe or else you wouldn’t have asked my name,” he said and cracked a smile.
She let out a long breath of air. “Whatever. Is my car ready, you think?” She stood up and slipped her dress back on.
“Yeah, it’s ready now.”
Chapter Seven
In the air tonight
The first time Nuke was arrested, he was eleven years old. The police entered their house with his mother’s and stepfather’s permission. His family was afraid of him even back then. The police went up the stairs to his room, dragged him out of bed and threw him on the floor. They cuffed him and took him down to the police car. He remembered staring out of the window as they drove to the station. It was storming, raining so hard that it reminded him of something he’d heard once. When it storms, it means that God is pissing down on all of us because we’re ignorant fools.
A week and a half after Holden showed up, Nuke cleaned up as well as a tattooed, convicted felon and member of an outlaw motorcycle club member could. He didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself than needed. He drove the two and a half hours to Indianapolis in his truck. He then drove to the mall where Nick Kordell owned a kiosk. Then his plan was to drive later on in the day to the car lot Kordell also owned.
Everything about Holden and his story felt wrong; still, if even a small fraction of what Holden said had a hint of the truth to it, Nuke had to be certain that his mother and sister were out of harm’s way. They might not get along, but he’d never let an innocent person die.
It took only about fifteen minutes before he realized that he still hated the mall and apparently he had overestimated what he needed to wear. He took a seat in the food court near the restrooms, which gave him a clear view of the kiosk. The mini store was called Indigo and sold jewelry and purses, just like Tech had said.
He watched the kiosk as a group of teenage girls, who were obviously skipping school, watched him. The group consisted of three white girls and a black girl. All the girls had the bodies of grown women despite their youth. One of the girls, a strawberry blonde, wore jeans so tight they had to be cutting off her circulation. She kept on smiling at him, then she’d look at her friends and they would all giggle. No way in hell if he had a daughter would he let her out of the house dressed like that.
An hour and a half later he decided to change his position. He moved to the second level and sat down at one of the tables that surrounded the upper deck. From there, he got a bird’s-eye view of Indigo. Finally, after Nuke had spent three hours in the mall, Kordell showed up.
He recognized him because Tech had found photos of him and his family advertising his car lot. He was an average-looking man, dressed casually. He looked like a high school English teacher. Seeing him in person, Nuke was even more positive now that Holden was involved in something he shouldn’t be and Nick Kordell was an innocent bystander in the whole thing.
Kordell’s
C. J. Cherryh
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