Monster by Jessica Gadziala

silence people
anymore?) that I stopped talking and raised a brow.
    “You worry about
your friend. First and foremost. Don't go getting yourself in trouble
because I screwed up and got myself in a bad situation. This isn't
your job to fix this. So take care of your friend and let me handle
myself.”
    With that, she turned
on her heel and stalked to my front door. I ran a hand up one of the
sides of my head, feeling the short hair catch at my skin.
    This was going to be a
clusterfuck.
    I had to somehow
protect Shoot. Who wanted me to forget about him and take care of
Alex. And at the same time protect Alex who wanted me to take care of
Shoot because her plan was to kill herself. Meanwhile trying to not
piss off the notoriously mercurial and volatile Lex Keith who was
fully capable of having us all killed at once.
    Jesus Christ.
    I lived through this, I
needed to find a new fuckin' job.
    Janitor. Used car
salesman. Guinea pig trainer.
    Fuckin' anything that
didn't all but guarantee blood and terror at every turn.
    I sighed, grabbing my
keys, and making my way outside.
    Alex was already
sitting in the car, buckled up, calmly pushing back the cuticles on
her nails like we weren't very possibly walking into a well
orchestrated trap.
    If she wasn't so set on
dying, she would make one fuck of a good criminal.

    --
    There were two SUVs
parked out front the warehouse, empty, the hoods already cool to the
touch. Further cementing my idea that we were heading into a trap.
Alex didn't look at me as she unbuckled and went to her door.
    I grabbed my gun,
shoved it into the waistband of my pants and met Alex by her side of
the car.
    “Thanks for
trying to help me,” she said, looking at the building in front
of her while she spoke to me.
    “Ain't done
trying, doll,” I said, but she shrugged, biting on the inside
of her cheek. “You ready?” I asked, already all too aware
of how well prepared she was to get this done.
    “Yup. Let's get
this over with.”
    She fell into step
beside me as I let us in the front door, into the hall, then slowly
down the stairs. Beside me, she was calm as could be. No sweating. No
struggled breathing. Just oddly empty eyes and straight shoulders.
    Meanwhile my heart was
a fuckin' jackhammer.
    We reached the bottom
landing and I could hear voices around the corner. Alex paused and my
hand went out, landing on her hip for a brief second. Her eyes went
up to mine and she made her lip twitch upward before turning away
again. My hand dropped and we moved forward as a unit, stepping
around the curve of the wall and into view of the train car.
    Four heads turned at
the shuffling of our feet. Lex, two of his goons, and Shoot.
    Lex was closing in on
middle age with dark hair, dark eyes, and a thin build. His goons
were big piles of muscle, one ugly with a shaved head and black eyes,
one average looking with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Shoot had a
busted lip (likely from his taunting of Limp Dick Rick when we were
on the phone earlier) and a fading black eye. He was hunched just the
slightest bit to his left, suggesting he likely had bruised or busted
ribs. But he was alright. And the fuck even gave me a smile and a
half-wave when he saw me.
    I shook my head and I
saw Alex's brow raise slightly, taking him in.
    Whether it was because
of his manner or because he was a good looking guy, I had no idea.
    The train door was open
and I stepped through first, Alex on my heels.
    “Breaker, so nice
to see you again,” Lex said, his slick voice leaving a slimy
film on the air.
    “Lex,” I
said, nodding at him. “Shoot,” I said, nodding at him too
    “You must be
Alex,” Shoot said, letting one of his panty-melting smiles
spread across his face. “Been keeping my brother company?”
    “More like
driving him up a wall I'm afraid,” she said easily. To anyone
else, she seemed as at ease as Shoot himself. But I had noticed that
her eyes hadn't so much as moved across the car. She found Shoot and
she kept her eyes