Bound by an Echo Page 6

  "Listen, I am in trouble. A few months ago, I started skimming a little off the top of some shipments. No one noticed at first. I thought I could make a little extra money, and I could help get The Cliff the way we finally wanted it. My guy was supposed to pick it up tonight and I got a call there was a problem. Yury knows about the missing drugs, and he's looking for the person who has it." Dale took a breath.

  Rory wanted to fucking punch him, seriously fuck his shit up. "You are telling me you fucking had me pick up drugs, you fucking stole from Yury? Then you brought the shit here?"

  "I'm sorry man, you were the only one I could turn to. I didn’t know what to do. You know what Yury will do if he finds me with it. You are one of his favorites, you can get away with things the rest of us wouldn’t. Can we keep it just a couple days until I can get another buyer?” Dale begged.

  A part of him felt bad for Dale, the other part wanted to kill him. As if he didn’t have enough on his plate, with the carnival and Laurel coming back out of nowhere, now he had to deal with Dale and stolen drugs. “You have one week, and I expect them to be gone before then. I’m not touching any more of this stuff. You can take it to the cellar, make sure to lock up behind you.”

  Dale nodded his response and turned to walk out. “I’m not done with you.” Rory was trying to calm himself down and have his one nice and even. Well at least even.

  Dale turned back to him. “Oh yeah, there was a second thing you wanted to talk to me about.”

  “How do you know her?” His question was simple and to the point.

  “Who are you talking about?” He seemed genuinely confused, which only served to piss Rory off even more. How did anyone just forget her?

  “Laurel,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “Oh yeah, the hot blonde. That’s the piece of ass I helped last night. She is staying at the B&B with Aunt Terri.” Dale barely got out the explanation before a fist made contact with his eye.

  “Watch how you fucking talk about her. You got it? She isn’t some piece of ass you pick up off the street.” Rory was quickly losing his temper. One more comment like that from Dale and he would be picking up his teeth off the ground.

  “Fuck, are you serious? Who the hell is this bi-woman? I have never seen you go off about someone like this.” Dale was holding his face as he tried to keep it together.

  “She’s, well, I don’t know. She is someone I knew a long time ago. Just watch it, ok? She probably won’t be back, anyway. Do what you need to do, I need to get out to the bar. I’m sure Missy isn’t happy to be the only one out there.” He turned to walk out when Dale’s phone rang again. He knew it would be a long night, and no matter what, he wasn’t helping him with the rest of the boxes. He had done enough, and he wasn’t trying to get his hands any dirtier that they already were. He was still trying to figure out how to get away with not doing this last job with Yury. He could tell him he was done and he was out, but if he lived through it, he would probably still be stuck working for him. He should have known better before even taking the first job, but he was in a bad spot back then.

  The bar was slow that night and Missy only had a few regulars sitting at the bar. “Hey doll, I need to run an errand real quick. Will you be ok for a little while on your own up here?”

  “Sure, suga’. Ed and James here will keep me company, won’t you, boys?” She gave him a wink and went back to earning her tips.

  Rory made his way to his truck and got in. He can’t go without his truck, so lucky for him, Billy came out earlier and fixed it for him. He rolled the window down and lit a cigarette. He took a few deep drags and just listened to nothing. He didn’t have anything to do, but he needed time to himself. Away from work, Dale, and the memory of Laurel. He smoked it almost down to the filter before flicking it out of the window. He wanted to see her again, but he knew it was for the best if he stayed away. He didn’t have anything to offer her, and she had finally gotten out of this hell hole. He didn’t expect her to want him after all this time, and even if there was a chance she was single and interested, he would never ask her to come back to the place that held so many bad memories for her.

  The silence outside was interrupted when a truck started in the parking lot. Rory didn’t even have to look to know who it was, there was no mistaking the sound of Dale’s truck. He couldn’t help but look though, once he squealed tires trying to get out of the parking lot. He could only imagine where he was going. In all honesty, he didn’t care. He leaned back and closed his eyes as quiet overtook him, once more. Rory was close to dozing off in his truck when his cell phone rang.

  “What the fuck now?” he asked himself. He looked at the caller id and recognized a number most people didn’t have access to. “Rory,” he answered.

  “мальчик. Meet me in fifteen minutes, I will be at your house.” Yury hung up after delivering his summons.

  “Fuck!” He couldn’t catch a fucking break tonight. He started the truck and threw it into drive. He had no idea what would be waiting at home.

  The drive only took about ten minutes, tonight. For once, he didn’t have to sit at a light or run over a slow tourist. He pulled in front of his house and Yury sat on the swing on his front porch. He got out and made his way to him.

  “Yury.” He nodded to him.

  “Ah, there he is. I heard you had some trouble with your truck. I am happy to see it is fixed now,” Yury continued to swing lazily as he spoke.

  Rory sat beside him, but didn’t speak. They were built similar, although Yury wasn’t as big as he was when he was younger. Both had thick hair, with Rory’s light hair cropped shorter than Yury’s. He still turned heads and got plenty of women. Rory waited for him to speak again, knowing things were always done on his time. His ass started to fall asleep and all he could think about was his bed.

  “I know what happened twenty years ago. I know you were there, and I know what happened to your little friend’s father,” he looked straight ahead as he spoke.

  He decided to go for it. “If you know about my past, why ask me to destroy more lives. This town has been through enough, no one knows who was responsible the first time. They finally have something good happening, and you want to take it away again.”

  “This town doesn’t need it!” Yury finally looked at him. “I would think that you, of all people, wouldn’t want them here. You shouldn’t want the past dug up just as much as I don’t. Do what I pay you for, I expect something soon. Maybe then it won’t be as bad as before. Do your job now and they may not lose as many people as they did the first time.” With that, he stood and walked to his black, luxury car. He got to his door and turned back to Rory. “You weren’t the only one that got hurt and lost others that day.” He got in his car and pulled away.

  Rory didn’t know what to think. Of course, he didn’t want that damn carnival back. There were too many bad memories that went with it. He just couldn’t kill anyone else. Maybe if it was just a few small things to go wrong, then like Yury said, he wouldn’t have to be the cause of the deaths of people like before. His head was pounding. After everything that happened today, he was exhausted. He still didn’t know why Laurel was back, he had to get rid of the drugs before Yury found out where they were, and then there was Dale, who was hiding something more than drugs, he just didn’t know what it could be.

  Tomorrow, he would start to fix things. He could go to the B&B first thing in the morning and try to talk to her, if she hadn’t left town yet. He didn’t want to end things the way they had earlier. Maybe she would even let him take her to breakfast, give them a little more time to catch up. Then he could make sure she was leaving and not staying to check out the carnival for herself. He could deal with Dale afterwards. First, he had to call Missy and see if she could close up, and then he could try to sleep. The idea seemed almost funny, because in the back of his mind, he knew nothing was going to happen as he planned.

  Chapter Eleven

  Laurel

  Dale was proving to
be her knight in shining armor. “Tell me that whatever you are doing, it will make it back to the airport.” She needed to get out of this town and soon.

  He gave her a cocky smirk and tilted his head slightly. She knew he was hot, but that look did things to her that made her want for more than just a quickie in the back seat. “Babe, there is nothing wrong with your car,” he moved slightly closer to her. Only inches from her, she stopped breathing and time stood still while she waited for him to make a move. She was an actress for fuck sake, but when it came to making moves in person, she was an eleven-year old girl again, waiting for Rory to hold her hand.

  He smelled amazing as he stood close; too close. She was much shorter than him, even in heels. She stared at the top couple of buttons that he left open on his fitted flannel. She wanted to reach up and unbutton a few more. Laurel had to stop herself, this wasn’t like her. She had always craved something, someone. What was she doing? Her body is betraying her and she was overwhelmed with him being this close.

  They stood there for what felt like hours; he moved first. His fingers brushed against hers, moving slowly up her arm, bringing goosebumps to her skin and making breathing even more difficult. He continued to touch her until he reached her shoulder. His hand wrapped around her neck, pulling her closer. She could feel his breath on her ear. It was just erratic as hers. Laurel put her hand on his chest, feeling the rise and fall. She needed to do something; say something, “Why won’t the car start?”

  He didn’t move as she assumed he would; he moved closer, eliminating the distance between them.

  “You ran out of gas, babe.” His whisper was intoxicating, but the fact she ran out of gas made her laugh.

  “Are you serious, Dale?” She backed away from him and his grip.

  He smirked at her, not wanting to let go, “Yeah, I am, but I did put a couple gallons in. That should be enough to get it to the station on Main.”

  She stared at him, lost in his emerald green stare. “If it was out of gas, why are you messing with the engine?” She needed to keep the conversation going, to escape him and what she wanted to do to him.

  He turned to the car, pulling the hood down in place. “Give it a go, it should start. I saw how much gas you had when I brought it up the mountain, and I figured you didn’t stop in town.” He was right, she didn’t even think about getting gas, “Start it up.” He backed away as he held his hand in the direction of the car. She found the keys and without breaking his eye contact, she hit the ignition. The car did exactly what he said it would do, it started. He smiled that million-dollar, fuck me, smile, and she felt it between her legs.

  Laurel was in trouble, and she needed to get the fuck out of this town, before she did something stupid. She closed her eyes, only to open them for the dashboard that was glowing orange due to the gas light flashing at her. He was right, it was as simple as needing gas.

  Climbing from the car, she walked over to him, “Thank you. For everything.”

  He looked at her with lust in his eyes, “Anytime, love.” He leaned down, painfully slow. She closed her eyes as he moved closer to her. She waited for him to act; to give her a reason to act in return. His lips brushed against her ear as he spoke, “Come to dinner with me, tonight. Rory is closing the bar.” He didn’t move, nor did he ask; his request was not optional especially after everything he had done for her.

  Rory. That was all she had heard. She wanted nothing more than to have Rory say those words to her. She wanted Rory to want to take her to dinner, fix her car, to hold her. “Yes.” That was the only thing she could say. She couldn’t think, couldn’t process her actions, but she needed to move away. “I have to go, before the car runs out of gas, again.” If she was going to be stuck in this god forsaken town again, she was going to have fun while she was here. She saw the way Rory acted when Dale was talking to her. This was her way to remind him that he made a big mistake.

  He chuckled as he stepped back, “See you at seven.” He turned and walked back to his truck, parked behind her. He climbed in, leaving her with a quick wave and a smile.

  She stood next to the car longer than she needed to, but she couldn’t help it. She was out of her league in a small town. All of this was easier to avoid in LA, being no-one talks to anyone in the city.

  With a heavy sigh, she crawls into her car and heads for the gas station. Her mind wouldn’t stop processing what just happened. Why was she so attracted to Dale? He was just a guy that had helped her; she wasn’t attracted to him when he picked her up on the mountain. This place was changing her. Her accent had returned, and her rational thinking was gone. There was no excuse for her actions.

  The stop lights in this town are longer than any other. There are two in the whole area, and she is stuck at this one for five minutes. “Come on!” she began yelling at the cars in front of her as if it would help. She laughed at herself, but the station was only a block away.

  The light turned green, and the cars still took their sweet ass time as they crossed the street. Finally making it to the light, it was just turning yellow, but she wasn’t having that. Gunning it, she made it through at the last minute, just as the car started to sputter again. Pumping the gas got her to a speed that could coast to the station if needed.

  She made it to the pump on fumes. She laid her forehead on the steering wheel and thanked the metal object for not screwing her over, again. She filled the tank and wondered what to do next. She had plenty of time before she had to be ready for her date. She laughed as she thought of that word; date. She hadn’t been on a real date in years. She was always conservative with her choice in men, but she was taking her chances with Dale.

  With a tank full of gas and nowhere to go, she decided to explore Crater City a little. She wasn’t ready to visit the carnival, so she decided to go see her old school. Her mind was racing; her driving was being done subconsciously. A few right turns and a couple lefts brought her to a stop sign. The corner of Morris Ave and Hunting Drive. She knew exactly where she was, but she wasn’t really sure she wanted to relive those memories either.

  She was about to pull out to cross the street when a large black car blew through the stop sign turning in her direction. Adrenaline caused her heart to skip a beat and pound against her chest. She began breathing again as she stared the driver in the eyes. He looked as if he recognized her, but no one in this town knew her anymore. She never should have told Terri either, but she knew Laurel was hiding something. She needed to get out of Crater City.

  She turned in the direction the car had come; down Hunting Dive. Whether she was ready to see her childhood house or not, she would regret leaving without seeing the wood and bricks that she had once called home. The yard was well kept and the peeling paint had been touched up. Other than that, it looked exactly the same as the day she left. The curtains hung from the windows the same way. She half expected her dad to come to the door, yelling at her for taking too long to make it in the house. Her mother would be standing next to him, cowering as he pounded back another beer.

  Laurel closed her eyes, reminding herself that none of that can happen anymore. The bruises won’t occur, and there will be no need to avoid all human contact because she couldn’t hide the wince when someone touched a tender area on her body.

  Opening her eyes, she shut the car off and crawled out. She looked around again, taking in the beauty of the neighborhood. The vintage homes were well taken care of. Many of them were recently renovated. She stopped as she crossed the street. There was a truck parked on the street near the house. She didn’t want to trespass on their property, but she wanted to reminisce for just a moment. The swing hung from the porch, held precious memories. Rory sat with her, right there, the day she told him she was leaving Crater City. She didn’t know where she was going or if she would ever be back. He held her hand as she cried. She didn’t want to leave, but her mother was already halfway out the door. She said it was for her own good, and Laurel didn’t know any better back then.

&n
bsp; She climbed the stairs to the wooden swing. She sat down, hoping not to disturb the new owner. They may not mind if she just sits there for a moment. Laurel thought about knocking and asking for permission, but there were no lights on, nor did she hear any movements inside.

  Being haunted with the past, Laurel could see the look on Rory’s face as she broke his heart so many years ago. Maybe, that’s what this was all about. She left him as a kid and he gave up on her, not wanting anything to do with her now. Her lower lids filled with tears, threatening to spill over. She was here, and she missed him the most. If she didn’t know he was still in this town, she wouldn’t mind as much, but the truth is, he is here. He is somewhere out there, hating her.

  Regretting the decision to say ‘yes’ to the date with Dale, she pulled her legs to her chest and laid her head down on the throw pillow in the bench, allowing the tears to fall from her eyes. She needed this. Her eyes stayed closed as she cried into her hands. The pillow absorbed many of them, but they still decorated the fabric with proof of her despair and pain.

  She cried until here was no more to give. She didn’t move. Her eyes stayed closed as she began to relax in to the pillow. The breeze picked up, swinging her back and forth, rocking her to sleep.

  Her body had had enough, while her dreams felt real. She heard him. She could feel him. Rory was there and he was going to leave her this time. It was his turn to hurt her.

  Chapter Twelve

  Rory

  Rory couldn’t sleep, he was laying there tossing and turning when he heard the car pull up. When the car door shut, he had jumped up, worried Yury had come back. Instead, he watched Laurel. She had looked at the house, almost stunned. He was curious as to what she was about to do. Had Dale told her he bought the place? He still didn't know how close they actually were. She hesitated before coming up, he could only imagine what she remembered as she walked up to the house. He backed away, he didn't want her to see him spying from the window. He threw a pair of jeans on and walked downstairs. He stood in the kitchen, feeling lost. He had no idea what to do. What if she knocked on the door? Did he answer, did he pretend no one was home? He passed back and forth, his bare feet barely making a noise on the hardwood floors. After the tenth pass across the living room, he decided to peek through the curtains.