I came up next to her. “I mean it. I won’t.”

She stared at me and her eyes finally softened, blinking several times. “I know. Sorry. I’m just…anxious.”

I nodded and Jackson bounded down the hallway with a raggedy old dog. “I got Dude!”

Bella smiled at him, bent down and wrapped him up in her arms, hugging him tightly. “Yeah, you do.”  She kissed the top of his head. “Ready?”

He charged past us, out the front door. “Ready!”

We dropped him at the restaurant and circled back to Fort Walton, crossing the bridge back to the mainland and west through the town, then north toward the interstate. She drove us into a small pocket of homes nestled against the freeway and pulled to the curb in front of a pale-green stucco one-story. The yard was bright green, flowers neatly arranged in planters across the front of the house. The sidewalk was swept clean, the driveway hosting a newer model white Volvo.

“This is it?” I asked.

“Yep,” she said, nodding. “Come here about once a month or so, I think. College kids.”

“Guys?”

She nodded. “Guys. Frat boys.”

“Give you trouble?”

Her nose wrinkled. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

Which was probably true, because I was becoming very aware that Bella could handle a lot.

“Let’s go,” I said.

“You’re coming with me?”

“I didn’t come along just for the ride.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “It’ll be fine.”

Skepticism crept into her eyes, but she pushed open the door and got out. I followed.

The door opened before she could punch the doorbell. A shirtless guy in his early twenties sporting a shaved head and dark goatee smiled at her. “Hey, beautiful.”

“Hi, Paul,” she said.

He looked past her at me. “Who’s your friend?”

“Just a friend,” Bella said.

His eyes narrowed. “You usually come alone.”

She slipped the backpack off her shoulder and held it out to him. “You want your stuff or not?”

His eyes stayed on me. “Yeah. I’ll get the money.”

“Nope,” I said. “We come in. No money out here.”

“Look, pal, I don’t know who…”

“You got an open garage door two doors down and open front doors on either side of you,” I said. “Cop two blocks back, just rolling around, checking the neighborhood. I’m doing you a favor. Paul.”

He craned his neck, looking past me to see if I was lying.

I wasn’t and he recognized it.

He pushed opened the screen door and we entered the house.

The air in the house was humid and smelled of sweat. The hum of a swamp cooler buzzed in my ears, but it wasn’t doing much cooling. The living room was furnished with things that looked like they’d been picked up at a garage sale—a torn up sofa, a beat up chair, a chipped wooden coffee table. A massive flat screen TV was the only new thing in the room.

Another guy was lounging on the beat up chair, staring at the TV and his head rolled in our direction. “What’s up, Bella?”

“Hey, Greg.”

He held up a hand meant for me. “Hey.”

“Hey.”  I looked at Paul. “Whose got the money?”

Paul hesitated, then disappeared down a hallway.

Bella set the bag on the table. “Same as always.”

“Right on,” Greg said, swinging his legs around and sitting up. His hair hadn’t seen shampoo in ages and his T-shirt and shorts looked as if they’d been on his body for several days. “You helping out now, big guy?”

“No.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What’s the deal then?”

Paul came back into the room and held up a stack of cash. Bella took it from him, counted it quickly and nodded. “We’re good.”

“Listen up, guys,” I said. “This is the last time you buy from Bella. You got it?”

They looked at each other, confused.

“What?” Bella whispered.

“She won’t be back and you won’t go looking for her,” I said.

“Says who?” asked Paul, agitation all over his face.

“Me,” I said. “And if you don’t like it, let’s settle it now.”

Greg looked at Bella. “David know about this?”

“Don’t worry about what David knows,” I said. “All you need to know is what I’m telling you. Even if she shows up with product, you won’t buy it.”

“Bullshit,” Paul said, stepping toward me. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Guy who’s gonna make your life miserable in about two seconds if you don’t back off,” I said.

“Looks like someone made your life pretty miserable,” he said with a sneer. “You sure you wanna mess up that pretty face some more?”

“Try me.”

“Noah, come on,” Bella said. “Don’t.”

Paul didn’t back up and decided to come closer. I grabbed his arm, surprising him and pulled him in tight to me, spinning him around so his back was to me. I swung my arm around and across his neck and pinned his other arm to his side.

“Don’t be stupid, Paul,” I said. “Stupid people get hurt.”

“Easy, dude,” Greg said, standing up. “We don’t need any of this.”

“Tell your buddy that then.”

Greg rubbed his hands together and then through his dirty hair. “Look, man, we gotta have the product to make rent, okay?  It’s…what we do.”

“I don’t care what you do or what you sell or who you sell it to,” I said. “But you’re no longer buying from her. You can buy direct from David for all I care. But not Bella.”

Greg thought for a moment. “That’s it?  He sends someone else, we’re cool?”

“We’re cool,” I said. I pressed my forearm a bit harder into Paul’s throat. “We cool?”

He gave a terse nod. I released and knew it was coming. He took a step and spun, his arm already cocked to throw a punch. I stepped into him and slammed the heel of my hand into his jaw. He toppled backward over the table and landed at Greg’s feet, blood spilling from his mouth.

“Don’t let him get up,” I said to Greg. “Or I’ll make sure he can’t get up next time.”

“No worries, man,” Greg said, glancing at his friend. “I won’t let him up.”

I looked at Bella. “Let’s go.”

TWENTY-SIX

“What the hell was that?”

“What?”

Bella smacked her hand on the steering wheel as we drove out of the neighborhood. “You can’t just do that shit with David, alright?  He is gonna be furious. You have no idea what he’s capable of.”

“Relax,” I said.

“Relax?  Are you serious?”  She hit the wheel again. “He’s gonna come after me now. Guarantee you they’re calling him right now.”

“No, they aren’t.”

“How the hell do you know?”

“They just want their weed,” I said. “Right now, Paul is trying to piece his face back together. It’ll be awhile before they decide what to do. They’re too scared.”

She shook her head, exasperated. “You think you know, but you don’t.”

“You wanna know what I know?” I said.

“Yeah,” she said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm and anger. “Tell me what you know.”

I stared out the window at the aquamarine water. “I know that I’ve been shot at. I know that I’ve had the shit kicked out of me far worse than what David did. I know that I’ve seen people killed right in front of my eyes. I know that I’ve been in rooms with dealers who do about a hundred times the business David does. I know that I’ve been in jail. And I know what it’s like to kill someone.”

The car slowed and I could feel her eyes on me, even as I continued to stare at the water in the distance. She pulled over to the curb, but I was still going.

“So I know a helluva lot more than you do,” I said. “I know a small-time operation that wants to be big-time when I see it. I know arrogant pricks who are too stupid to expand their business when I see them. I know dumb ass college kids who need to sell weed in order to pay the rent and buy beer when I see them.”  I swiveled my head toward her. “And I know you asked for my help.”

She held my gaze for a moment, then dipped her eyes.

“If you want my help, don’t question me,” I said. “This world you’re in, that seems so scary?  It isn’t shit to me. This is a fucking amusement park compared to what I know. It’s not exactly something you put on a resume, but this is my wheelhouse. I am in my fucked up element.”  I paused. “So I know what I’m doing. That’s what I know.”