Page 173 of A Quick Buck

Alistair tensed.

Landon smiled sadly. “You made it so easy to hate you, Noah. You really, really did.”

“Landon—” Noah started.

“No. No, no more.” Landon kept shaking his head. “No more mistakes, no more crazy plans, no more relying on other people. None of this bullshit should have happened. None of it. It should have been over days ago, and—”

“Landon!” Noah tried again. “Please, stop—”

Alistair slid his arm back to keep Noah away, and he suddenly lunged toward Landon.

Noah didn’t even have time to gasp before a shot fired.

Alistair had Landon’s wrist, aiming the gun up into the sky, and Noah couldn’t tell if anyone had been hit. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t speak, and his feet were frozen to the ground. He kept waiting to see blood, evidence of mortal damage, but time seemed to be as stuck as he was, and he didn’t understand what had happened.

He didn’t want to break the spell, terrified of who he was going to see fall, Alistair or Landon.

“Fuck, that lil’ motherfucker sure runs his fuckin’ yap, huh?” Junior’s voice grunted. “Christ!”

Noah’s eyes snapped to the corner of the garage, and he was totally stunned to see Junior standing there.

Pale, a little shaky, with a gun in his hand.

That’s when Noah realized Landon hadn’t been the one who fired.

Landon had been shot, and Noah watched him crumple to the ground. There was blood coming out of his mouth, and Noah tried to turn away so he didn’t have to see it. He went the absolutely wrong way and saw Patrick’s hand sticking out of the mulch.

“Oh, God.”

Noah’s abdominal muscles instantly heaved, and he stumbled a few feet away to puke.

“Yous guys okay? Mr. Star?” Junior asked worriedly.

“We’re fine. We’re fine, Junior.” Alistair pulled Junior into a big hug, clapping a hand across his back. “Thanks to you.”

“Yeah?” Junior sounded surprised. “I just, you know, I was gettin’ worried, and I saw that little guy and the gun, and, and, and…fuck.” The ability to express himself seemed to have fled, and he hugged Alistair hard. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I, my dear friend,” Alistair said earnestly. “Thank you. For saving us both. I love you, my dear friend.”

“I love you too,” Junior murmured, his voice cracking. “So fuckin’ much.Fuck.”

Noah retched again, loudly.

“Yeah, yeah. Fuck off, Crisco.” Junior quickly pushed away from Alistair before he saw that Noah was actually throwing up and not making fun of him. “Oh, shit. Yous okay down there?”

Noah had made it down to the opposite end of the garage, giving a thumb’s up as he braced himself against the wall.

Alistair frowned. “Noah?”

“Good.” Noah belched. “I’m just gonna stay… down here now. This is good. Right here.”

“Noah. Oh, my sweet boy.” Alistair was there beside him in a moment, rubbing his back and handing him a handkerchief.

“Erp. Thanks.” Noah wiped off his face and prayed the world would stop spinning. “Landon. This whole time… it was him. He killed Jason Carbone so Medina would kill my uncle… and he was trying to fuckin’ poison me… oh, God. I can’t believe… Medina. Medinaknewwhat Landon was doing, and he still… oh myGod.” His entire body revolted, and he had to fight the urge to heave again. “I can’t believe Landon did this. I just can’t.”

“It’s over now,” Alistair swore. “It’s all over, my boy.”

Junior nudged the mulch with his foot. “Huh, so that’s why we’s could never find Patrick. He was busy bein’ worm snacks.”