Hotbox (75 page)

I could see his jaw working in defiance. “Then maybe I’ll just keep paying you a visit. You know, to check up on you since you’re too busy to call.”

“Matt, please. This is hard enough, okay? I do
n’t know if I can do it and…
” I sighed. “Just let me think about it
,
okay?”

After a long pause h
e nodded reluctantly. There
was awkward
silence
for several seconds before he said, “You need anything? You doing okay, otherwise?”

“Yeah, I’m doing fine. Just trying to keep busy and pass the time.
My,
uh, dad has been helping me out.
It’s good to have him back in m
y life. He’s cleaned himself up.
Things are good with him.
”

He nodded again. “
That’s great,
Ty
.” It was silent
again
and then he said, “
You are going to get her back som
eday, right? I mean y
ou’re not giving up, are you?”

I could only offer a very weak smile. “No, I’m not giving up
hope
. But this might take some time
,
and when it’s all said and done, I might not be the r
ight guy for
her
anyway
.”
             
He shook his head. “I hope you don’t believe that crap. She’d do anything for you, Ty. If I could just tell her to wait—”

“You can’t. Then you’ll have to explain why you’re so optimistic, then you’ll have to explain that there’s something going on that you can’t explain, and then, if she hasn’t already gotten it out of you—”

“Ty, all you have to tell her is that you can’t tell her. She’ll trust you! If you make her understand—”

“I can’t take that risk. This is an uphill battle and I can’t win!”

“
Then I think you need to talk to her yourself.
What if I get her here t
o see you
—”

“They’ll know,” I groaned.

Just the mention of a “they” seemed to startle him. I think he finally realized that I was in some deep crap, and I wondered what exactly was going through his mind.

“Matt, just put yourself in my shoes. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her
, or anyone she cares about
. I can’t take any chances right now. I need it to be this way for now. Let her be angry with me, okay? Let her hate me and—”

“She’ll never hate you,” he replied dryly. “Do you know she’s still wearing the ring?”

I swallowed
, and suddenly I was hit with a world of guilt and regret
.
Not that I hadn’t felt that already, but now it was about to drown me.

“Do you know that she didn’t even cancel the wedding
until
the day
before
because she hoped that you would miraculously show up?
” he continued.
“
People think she’s crazy.
Do you know that she’s gone home from work three or four times? Because she can’t hold
it together
and she just breaks down right there in the office? She missed, like, a week of work after you left. She’s even been to the doctor a couple of times. I’m not sure for what, but something’s going on that she won’t talk to anyone about.
I’m really worried about her
, Ty
.
Do you know what it’s like for us to watch all
of
this happen?
”

If it were
half
of what
I
felt myself…then yes, I understood completely.

“I’m sorry it’s been so difficult for you,” I replied sarcastically, and he rolled his eyes and made an impatient sigh in response. “But please just give it
some more time
, okay? Give me some time to at least try to fix this.”

“I still don’t understand why you just can
’t see her,
tell her what you just told me.”

I didn’t know how much of this I could take.
“How’s her dad doing?” I asked. “Anyone take another shot at him since I left?”

He stared at me with wide eyes.

“Have her tires been slashed lately, or any known rapists knock on her door?”

He didn’t even try to
hide the shock and his mouth hung open
.

“This isn’t about covering
my
ass, Matt, it’s about keeping people safe. Those are just minor incidents—warnings, I should say—but the
worst
will come if I even come near her.”

“Go to the police!
She’s like a sister to me, Ty.
If she’s in danger, somebody
’s gotta know!”

“She’s safe
because I
left. Going to the police would be the biggest mistake yet.
This has to do with me, not her.
”

“Talk to Joe.
Ty, I’m sure he could help—”

I cut him off with my bitter laugh, but I was borderline hysterical.
“You need to just let this g
o, okay? Give me some more time.
Matt, please don’t make me regret telling you what I’v
e told you. I shouldn’t have said
anything at all, but hones
tly, I just don’t have anything left of me. As long as I stay out of the way things are gonna be fine—”

“Except for Jayden. She’d rather her life be in danger just to be with you again. You know how she is—”

“Exactly!
She’s a very passionate person and she doesn’t think logically sometimes. I’m doing this to look out for her
,
and I’ll hurt you myself if you mess this up!”

He glared at me with the challenge, but after a few moments
,
seemed to relent with a scoff. “Fine, Ty, but you have to call me once in a while. You can’t just disappear and become nonexistent.”

I considered it for a moment and replied, “Fine.” I didn’t really know if I was being honest or not, but I had to agree so he’d do what I asked. The weird part was that I knew he would, as hard as it might be for him, but I guess I wanted to show him that I appreciated how much he cared.

After an uncomfortable minute of silence, Matt stepped up to me, gave me a quick hug with a rough pat on the back, and
mumbled
, “See ya, Ty.” He left without turning back.

With a
heavy
sigh I gathered
my belongings and headed out a few minutes later
.
What I shared with Matt was already haunting me, and I was scared to death that I’d made the biggest mistake ever. It was a moment of weakness, a need to be close to my fri
ends again, and I knew I would continue to regret it.

My father had returned from a
tow
call and was ge
tting out of
the
truck
when Matt
was taking off out of the parking lot.
He gave me a worried look and asked,
“Who was that?”

“Matt,” I replied, realizing
how sad my voice sounded out loud.

My dad knew of Matt, but understood that I didn’t want to talk about it just then. I told him I’d see him at home as I headed out in my truck.

Life didn’t change much after that, nor did I expect it to.
For another
month I continued my same old routines, mainly working myself to near death. Kent liked me a lot and I ended up making him a lot of money. I’d gained the trust of many customers over the past few months and business had actually picked up for him. My dad was pretty proud of me and praised me beyond my care, claiming that I was ten times the mechanic he was.

I took on a huge project from a
very prominent man in the area
and began re
storing
a
Boss 429 Mustang
. I put so much time and effort into it,
I
finished the car faster than I ever imagined. It also impressed th
e owner, and I received a very
generous
bonus
for my work. A week
after its completion
he brought me another project that belonged to a friend of his, and the result was much
the same. It was an empty life
though, and many times I found myself reliving my past with Jayden
as I worked,
just to put myself into another
existence
.

Other times I used information that I received from Kenny to form a plan. I discussed many things with my father—
he
being the only other person on this earth I could confide in—and I took his critique and analysis very seriously.
In
that time
I had received a phone call from Olevsky himself. I was a little shocked, even realizing that he was still out of the country, but I
was
pretty nervous to hear from him. I was hoping for some good news, particularly that I could resume my life with Jayden.

“I’m sorry
Tyler, b
ut we’re not to that point yet.”

I was sick and tired of his sympathy, sincere or otherwise.

“Just give it some more time,
”
he added.
Something in the way he said it gave me a very uneasy feeling.

“This is never going to end, is it? You guys are just stringing me along to keep me pacified so I don’t do anything to foil your business plans. I’m right, aren’t I? Dean has no intention for this to be over, and you just wanna get your brother over here
,
so you don’t even care
what happens to the rest of us
.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep, silent breath. I couldn’t believe that I
’d said that
out loud
.

After a short pause he replied, “Oh, so you know of
Ivan
, do you?” His voice was calm and collect, but I was sure he was sharpening his knives on the other end of the line. “And how might you have come about that knowledge?”

I scrambled for what I should say. There was no way I would ever snitch on Kenny. But then the thought hit me: Ke
nny wasn’t even the one that told me
.

“Dean,” I informed him. “The night he threatened to sic
‘
Little Lars
’
on Jayden.”

It was deathly quiet on the other end. “He had Lars with him?” he asked evenly.

“In the vicinity. I was forced to sit there and watch him come near her house, all the while Dean and
Dax
were laughing their
butts
off.”

There was
silence
again. “I d
o apologize, Tyler,” he finally said. “
I’m very sorry
—”

“Yeah, well
I’m
sick of all these games. I have half a mind to just—”

“Tyler, you’d better think before you speak.” After a long pause he sighed. “Are you still staying with your father?”

“Yes.”

He took another long pause. “Tyler, I’d like for you to come to Russia.”

“
Uh… What?”

“Yes, I’d like for you to come to Russia for a little while.”

“What- why?” I stammered. “I’m- I’m not leaving the country, I’m not leaving Jayden—”

“Tyler, there are some things I want to talk to you about, and I can’t do it over the phone. I’d like for you to come to Russia and stay with me for a bit—just a week or two. I promise it will be worth your time.”

I was speechless
. What the hell was in Russia?
“I’m sorry, but I have a job here, and I don’t even have a passport—”

“Yes, you have a passport. It can be delivered to your house within the hour, along with your travel itinerary. You just need to sign and
climb
in
to
the car to catch your flight.”

I was shaking my head. “I’m not coming to Russia. Finish up what you need to so I can get on with my life. There’s no way I’m leaving this state, let alone the country.”

“If you want to get on with your life, then you will come to Russia.
I promise you this is the first step.
”

It was very disturbing that I was beginning to believe him, but the obscurity of the situation was still tripping me up. “I’ll come,” I finally said. “If I can see Jayden
first
.”

“Absolutely not,” he replied almost immediately. “You still need to refrain from seeing her, Tyler.”