Page 43 of Severed Heart

“Tyler, this is Jeremy,” Russell introduces. “This is the recruit I’ve been telling you about, remember?”

“Probably not. Tyler’s been distracted playing with little plastic soldiers on school nights,” Dom supplies as I glare at the side of his head before scouring Jeremy.

“Sup, man,” Jeremy greets me, his tone tentative.

“Hey, man,” I say, feeling awkward as fuck about the impromptu meeting while becoming more ill at ease at the fact I’m clueless as to what’s going on.

“We can finish the meet and greet later.” Dom jumps in, sensing my apprehension. “Russell, Jeremy, you two head over first and try the lock,” Dom commands, as if he’s been doing this his whole life. Extending the masks and gloves to them, he then lifts the key for Russell. “We’ll watch your six.”

“Six?” Jeremy mimics in clear confusion as he pulls his mask down.

“It means to watch your back,” Russell supplies, taking the key after gloving up.

“Shit, sorry,dumbass,” Jeremy says through a self-deprecating chuckle. It’s clear he’s nervous, which makes me even more so. It’s my trust in Dom that curbs some of the edge I’m feeling.

Dom, Sean, and I stay back, scanning the complex and surrounding streets as I front them out while Jeremy and Russell creep toward one of the buildings.

“The fuck? You planned this without me?” I hiss.

“Not really,” Dom says, completely at ease. “Think of it more as an early Christmas present.”

“You know damn well I’m not the one to move on shitwithout knowing the plan.”

Dom palms my shoulder. “This is impromptu, brother. We didn’t know if we would be able to get the key.”

It strikes me then how we’re gaining access to the building and why. The key I now know belongs to Blake Spellman. The why is because he works for his dad, who provides car parts—many custom—for garages and shops in and out of Triple Falls.

“You had him start a fucking fight to pocket that key,” I surmise.

“If I had started it,” Dom spouts, “it wouldn’t be believable, and that key ring is now tucked safely back in Blake’s pocket thanks to some unexpected consoling from Ginger after school. Nothing heavy.”

Ginger is Dom’s on-again, off-again hookup and has been since middle school.

“Fight was happening anyway becausehe didrat me out to Coach,” Sean pipes as the door opens, and Russell and Jeremy wave us over.

“We lucked out he had the key on him,” Sean adds as the three of us sprint through the darkest part of the path to get to the door. My adrenaline spikes as Dom locks it, and the three of us begin to scout the office for security cameras, relieved when we come up empty.

“All clear,” Dom sounds out before opening the door, which leads to the larger part of the building. The space is the size of a small warehouse, which Russell and Jeremy are already scouring.

“This is the warehouse Spellman’s dad uses to keep thevintage partshe sells for mad money online. Merry fucking Christmas.” Dom grins, holding the door open for Sean, who slaps Dom’s chest in celebration as he passes.

“Fucking genius, bro.” Sean beams, stopping just past the door as I follow him. “And totally worth the loose molar,” he adds, eyes sparkling as he tightens his gloves with his fingers in anticipation. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, boys, I’m going to collect my winnings before I go grab a good night kiss from Tyler’s mommy.”

Sean barely dodges my swing before jogging over to join Russell and Jeremy. I watch the three of them for a few seconds as Dom walks back into the office, gazing out the window to make sure we got in undetected.

“So, Jeremy?” I prompt as Dom thumbs through a few papers on a nearby desk.

“Transplant,” he says, “checked out of Raleigh a few months back.”

“Checked out?”

“Boys home,” Dom says, stalking over to join me at the door. “He’s no mechanic, but he’s really good with his hands.” He pitches his voice into the warehouse. “Isn’t that right, Jeremy?”

Jeremy nods, his mask already lifted to his forehead before he reaches into his jeans and lifts a wallet.

My fucking wallet.

“The fuck?” I say, palming my back pocket in shock as Jeremy saunters over, giving me a sheepish grin.