Killer One ✓

Chapter 06

Lacey.

I had been shot in the leg, slapped, punched, and had been bleeding from my head. I had practiced a dance routine for so long and hard that my feet bled and then got back up in the morning to do it all over again despite the fresh cuts. None of that hurt in the same way as watching Travis go through withdrawal and have him not want me around him to help. It was a pain deep in my gut. I hadn't felt it since my mom had died. The pain had come, feeling like something inside me had rotted, and there was nothing I could do because she was gone. There was no way to remove it or fix it. I just had to learn to live with that dead spot. I had to sit and function and pretend my heart wasn't breaking.

I sat on the bed because Travis got anxious when I was anywhere else in the small cell. The other two in the cell were allowed to help him, but as soon as I went to move, Travis would get mad. I just had to sit and watch as he got worse.

Cameron said he had multiple reasons behind keeping Travis and Ben around after they took care of whoever killed Ben's parents and why he made Travis his gunman. I wondered how different life would be if they had left.

"Give me another reason," I whispered to Cameron, who was sitting beside me. "Another reason you kept him."

Travis was coughing into the toilet bowl with Ben crouching behind him.

Cameron studied the scene in front of us. "Because Ben will always stay and the two are inseparable unless physically forced to do otherwise. They are a danger to their own selves and everyone around them when it comes to each other. Travis would put a bullet in my head if I sent him away from Ben."

Ben gave Travis a thumbs-up as Travis sat back and relaxed. Travis gave him the middle finger which only spurred Ben into making a second thumbs-up. I didn't think they could hear us.

"He left once," I stated.

"Yes. For his dad. Ben threw a fit every day until I told him to get Travis back."

I watched the two of them still. I didn't even know Ben could cause trouble. He was always the quiet voice of reason. Ben had even said he didn't think it was a good idea for Travis to interact with me when I came back to Melkin because it could put Travis in danger. I didn't see how that was any different from Ben wanting to bring Travis back to Melkin of all places, but still, I couldn't see him throwing fits.

"I thought you needed him back," I said, clearly remembering the first time Travis showed back up in Melkin and got into a fight with Cameron, "No one can leave the gang."

"It was for his own safety. Dacostas could've been tracking him down. Ben was causing trouble and I was worried he'd get himself killed. Either of those options would've ended up with Travis hurt, possibly arrested, and ruining his relationship with his mother. But he doesn't always listen to things like that. He listens to orders. If I tell him he's not allowed to leave, I can keep both of them safe and alive."

I pulled my legs up to my chest and hugged them to my body, going over his words. Again, he made it sound like Ben was more of a headache than I knew him as. Maybe I was underestimating him.

"Your insights always surprise me," I confessed.

"It's part of the job."

I hadn't considered that, but I supposed it was true. How else was he going to have control over so many criminals if he didn't know what made them tick and how to get through to them? Not only was he worried about their safety, but he was worried about Travis' relationship with his mom. Though, maybe if that was ruined, Travis would be distracted and that could hurt his own safety. I wondered if Cameron's brain ever shut off and how much he actually worried about. It sounded exhausting.