Between Now & Never Read Online Free PDF Page B

want to be. Smart, Cody. Real smart.
    My finger slides over to stop the recording, but I think better of it at the last moment. I flip the switch to silent first. Still, even if I call the police, the dealers will hear my voice.
    I focus on the conversation late, knowing I should have tuned in long ago.
    The dude in black says something I can’t quite make out.
    “So when do I meet Ian?” Vic asks.
    “You don’t,” the guy in black says.
    Ian, Ian, Ian . . . I convert the name to memory.
    “You deal through us,” the mullet guy says, flipping through a stack of cash Vic handed him. I keep my breathing in check. Silent. Vic doesn’t have enough. My mind reels at the harsh reality. And this is real.
    Mullet reaches the end of the cash pile and pauses, his chest deflating with obvious disappointment. He pulls the joint from between his lips and flicks it, sending it straight at me. “Where’s the rest of the money, Vic?”
    The joint tumbles to the asphalt and rolls under the grocery carts, losing momentum when it touches my foot. Silently I pick it up, the distinct smell reaching my nose. Weed for sure.
    “We’re cool, man, we’re cool,” Vic says. “I’ll get you the money.”
    The dealer in black, intimidating in build, shifts his weight from one foot to the other, his silence telling me all I need to know. I drop the joint.
    “The money, Vic,” dude in black growls, holding his hand open. The streetlight casts enough of a glow on his features for me to get a quick shot of his face on camera.
    Vic mumbles something I can’t make out, a confession. This whole thing went from bad to worse fast, as I expected. I feel it in the air. I can’t see very well behind these carts, so I lift one foot and touch it down. Toe, heel, toe, heel, dodging pebbles and rocks scattered over the pavement. I stay hunched down step-by-step until I can look around the shopping carts. I refocus on the scene as Mullet pulls something out. I peer around the cart for a better look as the slide of a gun snaps into place, releasing an echo that shoves my nerves into overdrive.
    Freak.
    I panic, all concentration lost. Dad had me training with firearms by the time I was seven. Still, nothing can prepare anyone for this.
    Think.
    A bullet is in the chamber now. Means there wasn’t one there before. This guy is trying to intimidate Vic and it’s working. It’s working on me, too. At best, these guys want to scare Vic, get what they want from him. But these dudes could very well be high on drugs, screwed up in the head, like Dad said.
    The meaty guy in black seizes a fistful of Vic’s shirt. He’s a good three inches shorter than Vic, yet he still manages to spin him around and shove him up against his car.
    “Get the money, Vic,” he says, his lips curving into a twisted grin. “That sister of yours, the one with the tight little body? I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on that.”
    Julianna. Something lurches inside me as his words ring loud and clear. Vic shoves against him in a flash of rage. Clearly pissed, the dude in black smashes Vic’s face, knuckles thudding into flesh with a nauseating thump.
    He sinks punches into Vic’s ribs and stomach. The sight guts me out, leaving me immobile. Useless. Staring.
    My hand wraps around one of the rocks at my feet before I think about what I’m doing. I’m officially crazy. Desperate. No time to back down now.
    Vic isn’t putting up a fight and he’s smart. He’s outgunned.
    One, I count and swallow hard. Two. No way is this going to end well, but I wind up anyway, committed to instinct against what is probably my better judgment. Three. I pitch the rock over the carts, sending it flying in a high arc toward the other end of the empty alley. It crashes into the rocky landscaping at the edge of the asphalt.
    Both dealers reel around toward the sound, facing away now. Vic turns and looks straight at me.
    I shake my head slowly. Twice.
    “We got company, Vic?”
    “No.” Vic