DRASTIC (Book 4 of the Soundcrush Series)

Chapter 78: Drummer Boys Sins Come To Bear Part 1

Okay, this Part 1 of the scene you've all been anxiously awaiting. Part 2 isn't written yet, so unfortunately no double update today...

Bodie

When he pushes me into the back of the van, the Irish Dickhead first works to strap my hands together behind my back, so I get a full view of Marley and Darius bound and hooded, slumped against the wall of the open interior of the van. Marley is gasping quietly, trying to control her breath, and I know she can hear the scuffle of Dickhead shoving me across the van floor. Darius is quiet and still. Withdrawn. Thinking hard, maybe. Or maybe just plain terrified.

"Hey. Hey. Marley. I'm here. Darius—"

"Shut the fuck up," Dickhead says as he backhands me.

I spit on the fucker. "Make me," I growl.

"Bodie...no..." Marley whispers in horror, but Dickhead and I are in a staring match. He definitely wants to hit me again, but instead, he roughly drags a hood over my head and slams the door.

Good. That's good. He has orders not to hurt us. At least not yet. If the plan was simply to kill us, he wouldn't have hesitated to rough me up after I spit on him.

No, Sully Lorcan wants something from me. And if he wants something from me, maybe I can use it to barter for Marley and Darius.

Or maybe he knows I'm a rat, and maybe all he wants is my suffering for betraying him. And maybe Marley and Darius are the way he's going to extract it.

Now I hear the passenger door slam, and the van lurches into forward motion. I scoot to the wall, so that Darius is between Marley and me.

"Darius...are you hurt?" I whisper low.

"I'm okay," Darius mutters. "I'm fine. Just...who the hell are these people?!?!?"

"IRA," I tell them both. To Marley, "The...guy I do busineth with in Thailand. His...relations."

"What?" Darius says. "What is IRA?"

"Terrorists," Marley whispers. "Irish terrorists. Oh god. Bodie, how could you—"

I take a deep breath and cut her off angrily.

"Shut the fuck up, Marley. Last thing I need is your fucking mouth right now. You think I wanted to get in bed with the IRA? No, I just wanted to help your goddamn BabyDaddy like you asked. I didn't know who I was dealing with when I started, okay? Just like I didn't know what I was getting into...all this this shit with you and your kid! You were supposed to get me clean, that was all, and look where we are now!!! I didn't even want all this shit with you!!!It just fucking snowballed, like everything else in my life!!! Playing house with you and Darius turned into doing your Babydaddy a favor turned into being a drug mule turned into this shit!!!"

I'm hating the hate I'm spewing but I can't do otherwise, suspecting they have the van bugged, hoping if not they can hear me through the cab wall. "Just...just shut up, okay? Just keep your mouth shut like you been taught. You don't fucking know anything anyway."

Marley chokes back a sob and I can tasted bile rising up from the way I spoke to her. I hate treating her like a drug dealer's whore, but I know she's smart enough to read me right now, and strong enough to play along.

I'm not wrong.

"I fucking hate you," she growls back. "At least Daemon didn't have a God complex. He had...perspective. And Daemon was faithful when I was with him. I have to put up with your fucking Hollywood whores. First Arabella. Now Row del Marco. For what? A gig working for your band where I work my ass off? A big fancy house that I never get to see because I'm always babysitting you and your fucking band? And now you are going to get us killed. Daemon treated me like a queen. He protected me...I should have never thrown in with you—"