Hero At Large. Robyn Amos

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СКАЧАТЬ had a different value on their side of town. A good pair of athletic shoes was worth more than a kid’s life. For teenagers, even light conversation was heavy. Instead of talking about which couples were hooking up or breaking up, they talked about who’d been shot lately. Instead of fantasizing about the kinds of jobs they would get or the houses they would buy, they picked out the music for their funerals and the types of caskets they wanted.

      How, Gray wondered, was anyone supposed to have hope for the future? For them, a better life just didn’t exist.

      This was it. The only way out of the ghetto was drugs and guns. So why not do it right? No more petty thieving. No more quick payoffs. Why not hold out for the big score? They knew how to get the money, but it took a lot of planning and patience.

      The transition from street thug to businessman had been easiest for Los, who looked more like a fashion model than a common thug, anyway. He was willing to do anything that would bring in enough loot to keep him in designer clothes, trendy cars and materialistic women.

      Franco, Los’s younger brother, who was tending bar in the VIP lounge, wasn’t much of a problem, either. He did whatever his older brother told him to do, but Woody and Flex were another matter.

      Woody had gotten his leg shot off in a drive-by when he was eighteen. Even though his prosthesis wasn’t really made of wood, no one could resist the nickname. He hadn’t been too keen on the idea of checking ID and collecting cover charges at the door. He and Flex still didn’t understand why they had to do real work at the club in addition to their private endeavors. But their positions at Ocean were crucial to the operation.

      As long as they got their work done and made regular contributions, Ocean’s manager, Paul Nocchio, didn’t care what other business the men conducted on the side. It hadn’t taken Gray long to make connections with local arms dealers and begin to funnel business through the club. With just a few deals, he’d been able to start swimming with the big fish.

      Now he planned to catch himself a shark.

      Sarita leaned over and gave Rennie a hug. “Thank you so much for coming, chica.”

      Rennie squeezed her in return. “Thanks for the invitation. We’re having a great time. Are you doing another set tonight?”

      Sarita nodded. “One more at ten-thirty. Then I’m going home to get some sleep. I was so keyed up about this performance that I didn’t sleep at all last night.”

      “Then I’ll let you get ready,” Rennie said, backing toward the door. “I’ll see you at our group session tomorrow evening?”

      “You bet.” Sarita walked her to the door. “Do you know how to get out? This place can be confusing, and all the doors backstage look the same. Make sure you leave through the second door. Otherwise, you’ll end up in the storage room.”

      Rennie stepped into the hallway, feeling a rush of pride for Sarita. She’d come such a long way in just nine months. When Rennie met her, Sarita had been dancing in a run-down strip bar trying to pay for her sister’s hospital bills after the younger girl had her face slashed by an all-girl gang. It had taken Rennie months to get Sarita to trust her.

      Now Sarita was going to nursing school, working part-time at the hospital, and she’d even met someone special. Her new boyfriend, who worked as a bouncer at Ocean, had helped Sarita get this singing gig. Rennie smiled. She was really beginning to feel like she’d made a difference in the young woman’s life.

      Rennie was so caught up in her thoughts, she forgot Sarita’s instructions. Not sure which of the identical doors led to the club, Rennie exited through the first one she came to.

      “Oops,” she exclaimed as three men immediately whirled around. “Sorry, I think I’m lost—”

      Somewhere in her subconscious, Rennie knew her mouth had stopped forming words and her lower lip was hanging lamely, but she was powerless to do anything about it.

      Rennie had been hit by a wave of recognition so strong, it forced her backward several steps. Blinking rapidly, she tried to pull herself together, struggling to catch her breath. Had that one margarita given her hallucinations? It just couldn’t be….

      “Gray? Is that you?” she whispered.

      Chapter 2

      “Rennie…” In the split second it took for Gray to register her presence, several emotions jolted through him like bolts of lightning.

      Some of the sensations he was feeling were reflected in her eyes, like the surprise and excitement, the regret…and especially the pain. The sight of her brought an immediate and stabbing ache ten times more intense than what he’d felt each time he’d thought of her over the years.

      But one emotion was entirely his own, and it took precedence over all the others. That emotion was raw, undiluted fear.

      It kept him rooted to the spot, staring and shaking his head, until someone cleared a throat behind them, launching him into action. He pulled her to him in a brief embrace, and in one motion spun her around to face the door. Taking her elbow, he led her to the corridor. “Now that you know what’s behind door number one, let’s try door number two.”

      They were both silent as he guided her to the main room of the club. To avoid losing her in the crowd, he took her hand and pulled her toward a roped-off staircase. “The VIP section of the club is upstairs. It’s much less crowded there.”

      Gray didn’t just want to get her to a quiet corner where they could talk, he wanted to get her as far away from the gun shipment as possible. It made him crazy to think about how close she’d come to seeing something she shouldn’t have back there.

      He still didn’t know how to process her sudden appearance. When he’d come back to L.A., he hadn’t believed for a second that he might run into Rennie. When she left him to go to college in Texas, he’d been certain she wasn’t coming back.

      This was the last place he would have chosen for their reunion.

      Gray led her to the bar, releasing her hand, which had been trembling in his. Clearly, she was as nervous at this unexpected meeting as he was. “Can I get you a drink?”

      “Just water.”

      While he gave her order to Franco, in the mirror he saw her run a self-conscious hand over the back of her hair.

      Rennie had nothing to worry about. She looked perfect. As a teenager, she’d been pretty, with lots of potential. As an adult, she was heart-stopping. Especially in that short, clingy little dress she was wearing.

      After he handed her the glass, Gray motioned her to a quiet corner table. Once she was seated across from him, she gulped her water, as if to avoid being the first to speak.

      He smiled at her, trying to put her at ease. “It’s good to see you.”

      She nodded. “Yes, it is. I mean it’s good for me to see you. That is, good to see you, too.”

      He couldn’t help laughing out loud. “Yes, I knew what you meant.”

      “This is so strange. I was just talking about you to a couple of my girlfriends.”

      “Did СКАЧАТЬ