Cross My Heart (42 page)

And it
’
s all my fault.

Time passes as I sit, suspended, crying while my head aches, until there are no more tears. When I finish, I wipe away what remains of my eyeliner and mascara. Daylight streams through the wi
ndow, sweltering and oppressive. D
ust motes float listlessly, flickering in the sun.
I reach for my
keys to crank the engine,
heart stopping when I see his silhouette framed in the side mirror, watching
,
moving closer.

He raps on the
glass
with his
thick
knuckle. I glance over at the h
ulking figure shadowing the car
and crack the window.
What is he even
doing
here?

“
You look kind of upset
.
You okay?
”
he
asks
, leaning into me
.

I inhale
deeply,
wiping beneath my eyes,
and my lungs shudder.
“
Yeah. Bad day. That
’
s all.
”

He laughs.
“
I can help with that
.
”
He stuffs his hand
deep
inside his
coat
pock
et
.
It
’
s too warm for a coat.
I
refuse
to look at
his face.

“
I have to go,
”
I tell him, reaching for the power window button.

“
Whoa. H
old on a minute. You
’
re
Blake Hanson
’
s girl
,
aren
’
t you?
”

“
Was.
”

“
I hadn
’
t heard. That
’
s too bad. You
know, I remember your brothers,
”
Vince
De Luca
goes on.
“
What are they up to these days?
”

I cle
ar my throat, swallowing hard.
“
Um,
they
’
re
still working with my dad. Daniel
is getting married next month.
”

Vince laughs.
“
That
’
s awesome. Man, I miss them. They
were some crazy sons of bitches.
”

I force a smile.
“
I
’
ll tell them you said hi.
”

“
Yeah, you do that.
”

He steps away f
rom the car, turning.
“
Hey
,
man!
What
’
s going
on?
”

“
Not a
whole
lot,
”
a familiar voice replies. I jerk my head toward the sound
.

Outside the sky is veiled in thin, cottony clouds
. T
he sunlight warm
s
my cheeks and forehead and the tip of my nose. There’s a lift in the atmosphere when I spot him, and something stronger than butterflies beats erratically inside.

I
watch as Parker Whalen approaches, then does some weird boy handshake-hug with Vince. He eyes me carefully, intense. Anxious. And it
’
s so unlike anything I
’
ve ever seen before that it sends an irrational chill up my spi
ne, leaving my skin tingling.

This all seems so . . .
wrong
. So . . .
planned
. And it hits me.

“
I got
what you needed,
”
Vince says, voice low, reaching inside the pocket of his jacket.

No.

I’m frozen where I sit
,
hands gripping the steering wheel,
head spinning, the entire world blurring around the edges.

No. No. No.

A col
d rush of adrenaline takes over
. I knew Parker had a past. Everyone knew it. He
admitted
it. But
he
said he was done with it. He swore he didn’t do it anymore.
Any
of it.

I feel my face tighten, trapped in a furious silence, a wave of resentment rolling down the entire length of my body.

There
’
s an exchange, and
I can’t decide if I want to yell at him or cry, punch him in the face or fall into his arms.

He lied.

He
lied.

To
me
.

The only person willing to give him a real chance.

I
listened
to him. I
believed
him.
He let me
fall in love with him
.

My heart smashes to pieces
,
shattering unti
l all that’s left are fragments. S
plinters.

My hands clench
tighter around the wheel
, fingers aching, and I want to scream
. T
o hit something.
I close m
y eyes and inhale deeply, struggling
to
collect myself
.

“
Here
are my boys!
”
Vince says, heading in their direction.

When I open my eyes I see
Tony
’
s
truck
pulling into a space further down the row.
Another basketball player is riding shotgun, and Blake is in the backseat, alone.

Before I have a chance to react, Parker is there, at my door
, kneeling
.
His eyes wide
,
intense.
“
You need to get out of here,
”
he warns
, voice strangled
.
He glances over his shoulder, where Vince is speaking to Tony through the passenger
’
s side window of his pick-up.

“
What are you
doing
, P
arker? I thought. . . . You
swore
. . . .
”
I choke on the words, the rest trapped at the back of my throat.

Don’t cry.

“
I said a lot of things, Jade
. But right now
I need you to trust me, okay? Y
ou
have
to listen
to me,
”
he
demands
.
H
is voice, it’s not angry: it’s urgent. Frantic, even. And that’s when I realize I’m not supposed to be here. I’m not supposed to be witnessing any of this.
I
’
m a liability.

“
What
’
s happening?
”
I whisper
.

“
I can explain everything to you later, I swear. Just
please
do this for me. I need
you out of here—fast.
”

“
What do I do?
”
My voice, it doesn
’
t even sound like my own. It
’
s stra
ined
, saturated with fear.

“
You need to crank your car, back out of this parking space, and pull away like nothing is wrong. Do you
hear
me? Do
not
let him think anything is wrong.
”
I shift my eyes to Vince, struggling to focus on the instructions Parker is giving.
“
Make a right turn onto the street and wait for me at the gas station at the end of the block. Go.
Now
.
”
 

Hands
cold and
shaking, I twist the keys in the ignition, nodding.
“
Okay.
”

The engine roars to life.

Parker rises, eyes trained on something in the distance. Instinctively, I turn toward the direction he
’
s staring. And I see it. Parked behind thick bushes at the edge of the neighborhood across the street. Mostly hidden, but visible enough to know.
. . .

A cop car.

I swallow hard and reach for the gear shift.

Someone curses, and
in the next moment my car jolts
,
something
hurled into it. The driver
’
s side is shadowed
and Parker is there, blocking the window. I jerk my h
and back,
heart thrashing
.

“
Let her out!
”
Vince demands.

“
No,
”
Parker replies, voice firm.

“
Step aside
, or you
’
ll
both
regret it.
”

Parker doesn
’
t budge. Vince
’
s voice is calmer now.
“
Sweetheart?
You might
wanna
tell your boyfri
end to start listening.
”

“
Parker?
”
I call
, hesitating.

“
Stay inside the car,
”
he insists.

“
Open the door!
”
Vince screams.
He drives something in
to the
window. The glass shatters, crippling from the blow
, raining onto me
.
I flinch, shielding my face with my arm.

“
T
his has nothing to do with her!
”
Parker says, a fresh wave of anger behind his words.

“
We
’
ll see about that.
”

He reaches through the broken window and lifts the lock.
“
Get out.
”

I reach for the door handle, fingers trembling, and pull.

The door swings ope
n, and Vince leans
inside,
his massive hand loc
king around my arm, squeezing it.
He drags me out
of the car
and I fall onto the gritty pavement. Kicking. Wrenching. Working myself free. He grabs
my ponytail
and pulls, yanking it by the roots. I scream. My scalp stings, and the pain brings tears to my eyes.

My purse falls onto the ground, its contents scattering.

My lungs spasm, and I gasp, searching for fresh air.

“
Don
’
t move,
”
Vince whispers into my ear
.
He’s so close. His hot breath reek
s of alcohol, medici
nal and rotten. My stomach roll
s,
flipping over itself,
like I’m going to vomit
.

Blake and Tony are out of the truck now, watching. Parker motions for them to
stay away, then turns back to me.
“
Stop it,
Vince,
”
he
says.

“
Which one of you
set me up?
”
he demands to know.

Parker’s eyes meet mine, and they’re so dull, muted, but I can see the fear permeating them
, even as he works to keep his voice level
.
“
Come on.
You had to
know you
’
d get caught one day.
”