Hi voice pleaded with me. “Take the money, Kick. You’ll never hear from me again. And I promise not to rob or hurt those people anymore.” His meaningless words fell out of his mouth. I knew they meant nothing, because Bruno was a creature of habit and he’d never made good on any of his promises before.

“It’s too late for more shitty promises.” I looked around his kitchen. “I won’t miss chasing you for cash. Between the dive of a bar you drink your life away in and this dump, you’ve really outdone yourself in life.”

He spat at my feet before giving me a filthy look. “Fuck you!”

I pointed my gun at his forehead and pulled the trigger.

He fell backwards as blood went everywhere.

I pointed the gun at his chest and fired three more bullets into him. Just to be certain King got his wish to never have to deal with him again.

Then I grabbed the money from the brown container, and the money off the table, stashed it in my jacket and left the way I’d come in.

Bruno’s body may not be discovered for days, weeks even, depending on the stench it caused. He had no family or real friends I was aware of, and in the world we lived in, no one gave much of a shit about anyone unless you were part of a club or gang. Bruno belonged to no one and so no one would care.

That was the cold hard truth of our world.

***

Two hours later, after I’d been home and sorted Bruno’s cash out and then delivered King’s amount to him, I pulled up at the cemetery. I had no idea why, but I’d felt the pull there. It wasn’t where Jeremy was, his family had organised for him to be cremated. As I left my bike and began walking across the grass, it hit me.

Shelly’s here.

I’d almost made it to her grave when a little old lady stumbled and fell on the path in front of me. She landed on her knees and struggled to get back up again. I quickly walked to her so I could kneel down and help her up.

“Are you okay?” I asked, assessing her to see if she’d done much damage.

Her eyes came to mine and while I saw a small amount of pain there, she smiled. “I’m a silly old fool,” she said softly, “I’m always falling over these days but I haven’t hurt myself. If you could just help me up, I’ll keep going.”

She raised her arms and I placed my hands under her shoulders and helped her up. A little unsteady on her feet to start with, she regained her balance, but I kept hold of her until I could verify she wouldn’t fall again.

“Can you stand on your own now?” I asked, watching her intently to make sure she could.

Nodding, she said, “Yes, I’ll be fine. Thank you for your help. It’s hard to find good people like you these days.”

I ignored her incorrect assumption about me being good and slowly let her go. When I could see she was all right on her own, I asked, “Where’s your car?”

She gave me a smile. “I can manage on my own.”

I shook my head and reached for her elbow to help guide her. “No, I want to make sure you get there without falling again.”

“Thank you. Even my own son doesn’t look out for me like this,” she murmured as we began walking.

The journey to her car took some time because she couldn’t walk very fast, but that was okay with me. I was just glad when we got there and she hadn’t fallen. Once I had her settled in the car, I shut her door and stepped back. She smiled and gave me a wave as she drove off. I stood lost in my thoughts while I watched her go, and didn’t hear the approaching footsteps on the gravel.

“Kick?”

I spun around.

Evie.

“What are you doing here?” she asked before I said anything.

“I really don’t know.” In that moment, I felt lost. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, I felt alone in this world, like I had no one in my corner.

Fuck, what the hell is wrong with me?

She frowned. “Are you okay?”

I scrubbed my face and blinked my eyes a couple of times. “Yeah, I don’t know what the fuck it is, but I’m okay.”

The hardness she tended to look at me with these days eased a little and she said, “It’s Jeremy’s death, I’d say. I feel the same way.”

I didn’t say anything, just stood and watched her. Fuck, I could watch her forever and never grow tired. She seemed so vulnerable at the moment, though, and I wanted to wrap her in my arms, but I knew that would be a bad move so I kept my arms by my side and stayed silent.

Her body relaxed and she raked her fingers through her long hair. “Why did you two have that falling out years ago?”

She caught me off guard. I hadn’t been expecting that. My body stiffened and I blew out a long breath. “It’s a long story, Evie, and there’s no point rehashing it. What’s done is done, and Jeremy’s gone so I can’t fuckin’ fix it now.”

“I feel like whatever happened between you two had something to do with me, and I hate that. I hate thinking that I came between you guys.”

Fuck.

I hated the tinge of sadness I could hear in her voice, and the way her body slumped.

“It wasn’t your fault. We were just stubborn assholes and couldn’t see past a disagreement. It was a fuckin’ waste of a good friendship and if I could go back and change it, I would. Instead, I have to live with it now. Live with the fact I fucked up.”

She shifted on her feet and slung her handbag over her shoulder. “Okay, I can respect that, and I’m glad it wasn’t because of me.” She took a step away from me and added, “I’ll catch you, Kick. I’m gonna go visit Shelly now.”