Ilean against the doorway of the gas station with my cell phone to my ear as I watch Jessie choosing candy from the shelves. Shane answers my call on the third ring.
“Hey, Con. Everything okay?” he says.
“Yeah. And no. I’m going to send you a license plate after I end this call.”
“Okay?”
“These two guys tried to take Jessie.”
“Take her? What do you mean, take her?” he snaps and I can picture him frowning while he sits at his desk.
I peer through the door to make sure she’s still there, and she smiles at me as she holds up a huge bag of candy. I shake my head and she pouts before putting it back on the shelf. “I mean like kidnap and rape her.”
“What?” he shouts. “What the fuck happened? If you’re sending me a plate then I assume they’re still breathing? So why is that?” he snarls.
“They were two assholes from a bar we were in. They are still breathing because she just wanted to get out of there and begged me not to hang around and beat the two cunts to death.”
“Fuck! Is she okay?”
“Yeah. She has a mark on her face, but she’s okay.”
I hear a sharp intake of breath before he answers. “Send me the picture and I’ll make sure they’re dealt with.”
“Thanks.”
“Rape and kidnap her?”
“Yeah,” I swallow as I imagine what might have happened if I hadn’t got to her when I did. “Our girl is a magnet for assholes.”
“Well, I’ll make sure they suffer then.”
“You got any news at all on Alexei yet?” I ask as I keep my eyes on Jessie as she walks to the cash register to pay.
“No. Has Jessie got any idea where he might be?”
“No. We talked about him, and she hasn’t looked for him at all since she left. She’s been completely off grid.”
“I could really use her fucking help finding him, Con.”
“I know. We’ll be passing by a mall later today. We’re going to stop off and get her a laptop. Once she’s all set up, I’m sure she’ll find him in no time.”
“Yeah, well I hope so. Because as soon as he knows we have her, he’s going to be back here with a fucking army.”
“Yup. You thought about if maybe we should get out of the city for a while?”
“No!” he barks. “I’m not being driven out of our city by the fucking Russians.”
“I know. But if it protects Jessie.”
“We’ll protect Jessie. He’ll never lay another finger on her.”
“You’re right,” I nod my agreement, although trouble has a habit of finding our girl even when she’s not looking for it. “You heard any more about the evil cunt who spawned us?”
“No.”
“How are Liam and Mikey?”
“Mikey’s okay. But Liam is… well, you know how he gets. He’s too hard on himself.”
“Yeah, I know. Tell him Jessie will give him a video call later. That should cheer him up.”
Shane laughs softly. “I’m sure it will.”
“You want a call too, bro?”
“No. What I need to say should be said face to face,” he says with a sigh.
“Okay. She misses you though.”
“I gotta go,” he says, clearly changing the subject. “Send me that license plate and I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Bye.”
Jessie walks through the door as I finish the call. “Everything okay?” she asks with a smile that damn near takes my breath away.
“Yup. Just checking in back home. Now, let’s hit the road and go find you a new laptop.” I put my arm around her shoulder and we walk back to my car.
