Dinner at Apollo’s was canceled.A d

Dinner at Apollo’s was canceled.
A dead body thrown—literally—at the front of the house would do that. And the body was still out there, right where it landed, while the police did whatever forensics they saw fit.
The body had a name, I learned—a name that sent a jolt of fear and dread straight to my very core.
The body belonged to one Ronald R. Miller, also known by the street name Rooster, and rumored to be my mother’s boyfriend.
This wasn’t good.
Rooster had a bullet in the center of his forehead, and I had heard Reece outside talking to another officer. Rooster’s jeans had grass stains on the knees, and it didn’t take a huge leap of logic to imagine that he’d been on his knees when that trigger was pulled.
Classic execution style.
Where was Mom? That question played over and over again, because everyone said she’d run off with Rooster.
Who now had a bullet in his head.
I shuddered as I focused my gaze on Jax. He was standing by the window, back tense and his jaw a hard line. He hadn’t said much since this all went down. We’d already given our statements, which wasn’t much.
Clyde reached over and squeezed my hand. “You doing okay, baby girl?”
I nodded. He’d shown up about an hour after the police. How he’d found out about what happened, I had no idea, but he arrived in his old-ass truck, shouting and bellowing to be let into the house, to see his “baby girl” through this “traumatic” experience that “ain’t right” and a whole bunch of things that included curse words. They wouldn’t let him come up on the front porch, for obvious reasons, and they hadn’t wanted him coming in, but he yelled until he got his way and he came in through the back door, which was off the kitchen.
“How much longer do you think . . . ?” I paused, swallowing against the sudden nausea. “Do you think it will take before they move him?”
“Soon,” Clyde said gruffly. “It’s gotta be soon.”
My gaze shifted to him, and I noticed a fine sheen of sweat glistening on his bald head.
Jax turned from the window and walked over to where I sat next to Clyde. He didn’t say anything as he perched on the arm of the couch. A second later, I heard the front door open and Reece walked in with a detective wearing tan dress pants, and a white button-down like Jax’s, but paired with a tie that matched his pants.
For some odd reason, I thought about what Roxy had told me about Reece being involved in a shooting. It was the last thing I needed to be thinking about, but I wondered if it bothered him seeing Rooster like . . . like he was. Then again, he probably saw that a lot.
I’d almost forgotten his name—the detective’s. He wasn’t that much older than us, maybe late twenties or early thirties. He was handsome, very much so, with neatly trimmed brown hair and clear blue eyes.
“We’re wrapping up now,” he said, his gaze tracking over the three of us. “Right now, we’ve got some suspects, and we’re going to find who did this.”
I nodded. “Okay. Um. Thank you?”
His lips twitched. “Now, Officer Anders told me you two have been looking for Miss Fritz.”
Officer Anders? I blinked slowly and then I realized he was talking about Reece. My gaze moved to Reece and then to Detective Anders. Wait a sec . . . “Are you two related?”
“Brothers,” Jax answered.
“I’m the handsome one,” Reece said, grinning.
Detective Anders tilted his head toward what was now obviously his younger brother. “Most definitely not the smart one.”
Cop brothers. Hot.
Sigh.
I needed my head checked.
“Anyway,” the detective said. “He was telling me you guys have been trying to find your mom and that you had some problems yesterday when you were in the city. I know what’s been going on.”
Jax’s eyes narrowed, and my stomach sank. No matter what, if the police really knew what had been going down, she was in trouble. Lots of trouble.
Reece held his gaze with a look that said sorry, bud, had to. “He knows about Mack. And that lowlife is the first on our suspect list.”
“This was obviously a warning to Calla,” Jax responded, voice clipped. “But it doesn’t make sense. If Mack found Rooster, then how did he not find Mona?”
“Rooster could’ve decided he wanted out of this mess,” Detective Anders said, crossing his arms over his chest. “He could’ve come back and if what your . . . sources are saying is true, if he came back without the dope or the money equal to what they are holding, he would’ve gotten a warm welcome.”
Yeah, he’d gotten a bullet in the head. Mom didn’t have the dope. And she sure as hell didn’t have the money.
It had to be Mack, because like Ritchey had said, shit rolled downhill and that shit had rolled all over Mack.
“We’re also looking for the man who matches your description that came into the house and took the drugs. We’re going to find them,” Detective Anders said. “But we need you all to back off. Let us do our jobs. We don’t want you around any of these people.”
I didn’t want to be around any of these people, but I had days left before I was supposed to produce my mom. I didn’t respond because I really didn’t want to listen to them try to talk me out of what needed to be done.
We had a lead.
Ike.
And Jax hadn’t mentioned Ike to the police or to Reece as far as I knew. Another officer popped his head into the room, announcing the front porch was cleared, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Jax followed Reece and his older brother out after the convo was wrapped up in here.
Clyde rubbed his hand over his chest. “This is a mess.”
I sighed. “I know. Mom . . . do you think she has any idea of what kind of mess she’s in?”
Clyde nodded. “I think she does, and I think if she is smart, she’s living in Mexico right now.”
God, that would suck—her moving far away and me never seeing her again, but if Mom was smart, that’s what she should do. There was no way she’d ever be able to come back here. “If she doesn’t come back . . . what happens to the bar?” I asked, focusing on the least important thing, because that was better than all the crazy more important stuff. I knew the bar would be left to me if she . . . if she passed on, but I had no idea about the technicalities if she simply disappeared.
“Baby girl, you don’t need to worry about that.” He lumbered to his feet, his chest moving in deep, heavy breaths. “The bar will be all right.”
My brows pinched with concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m doin’ fine. You ain’t needin’ to be worried about me.”
I wasn’t sure about that, but then Jax returned without the hot cop brothers. He walked straight to where I sat, grabbed my hand, and helped me to my feet. “You want to get out of here?” he asked.
Nodding, I wanted nothing more than to get out of here.
Clyde made his way over to me, and without Jax letting go of my hand, he gave me his bear hug. “I like that you’re not staying here. That’s good. Real good.”
I was reluctant to let him go when he pulled back. “Everything is going to be okay,” I told him, because I felt like I needed to say that out loud.
He gave me a toothy smile as his gaze moved to Jax. “Yes, baby girl, it will be.”
As Clyde left, I packed up more clothes and personal stuff and then we headed out to Jax’s truck. It was hard walking across that porch without picturing the body there.
Once in the cab of the truck, Jax looked at me. “You doing okay?”
I thought about that for a moment. “As okay as I can be.”
A slight smile appeared as he reached over, smoothing his thumb along my lower lip. “This shit with Rooster and Mack—with your mom isn’t right. It’s serious. It’s not normal. And it’s okay not to be okay with any of this.”
“I know,” I whispered.
His smile spread on one side of his lips. “Like I said. You’re brave.”
My chest warmed, and instead of denying that, I smiled a little. “Can we stop on the way to your house and grab something to eat?”
“Anything for you, babe.”
I liked the sound of that. A lot.
It was too late to do dinner anywhere, so fast food was on the menu. At this point, I’d probably have eaten horse meat, so I wasn’t complaining when he pulled into the burger joint. Not the best steaks in the state, but it would work.
Neither of us really talked on the drive to his townhouse or as we scarfed down our food. It wasn’t until we were cleaning up and I was tossing my soda in the trash that I knew we had to talk about this.
Or that I had to talk about this.
“Do you think Mom is okay?” I asked.
Jax was at the table situated by the door that led out to a small deck and postage-stamp-size backyard. He turned to me, chin dipped. “I don’t know.”
I closed my eyes as a rush of emotion swelled.
“I hate saying that, but I got to be honest with you.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I know you do,” he said, and then I felt him closer and I opened my eyes. He was right in front of me. “If Rooster bounced, then he was probably feeling the heat. That means your mom’s got to still be out there.”
Because she wasn’t lying on the porch alongside Rooster.
“But this isn’t good,” he finished.
Just like Clyde said. “There’s no way she can fix this. Even if they bust Mack for what happened to Rooster, there’s this Isaiah. That was a lot of dope and a lot of money. She can’t get past this.”
“No. She can’t.”
A ball lodged in the back of my throat. “She really did it this time. I mean, she really did it, Jax. There’s no fixing this. There’s no making it okay. And she dragged me into this, which has dragged you into this. And I’m so sorry about that. You don’t need this. You shouldn’t have seen Rooster today.”
“Honey,” he said softly, cupping my cheeks. He tilted my head back. “None of this is your fault. Know that. There is no need for you to apologize for any of this. You didn’t ask for it or bring it on yourself.”
What he said was true, but I couldn’t help but feel somewhat responsible, because it was my mom after all.

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Makan malam di Apollo dibatalkan.Mayat dilemparkan-secara harfiah-di depan rumah akan melakukan itu. Dan tubuhnya masih di luar sana, kanan yang mana mendarat, sementara polisi melakukan forensik apa pun yang mereka lihat cocok.Tubuh punya nama, saya belajar — nama yang dikirim sentakan ketakutan dan ketakutan lurus ke inti.Tubuh milik satu Ronald R. Miller, juga dikenal dengan nama jalan ayam, dan dikabarkan menjadi pacar ibuku.Ini tidak baik.Ayam memiliki sebuah peluru di pusat dahinya, dan aku belum mendengar Reece luar berbicara dengan perwira lainnya. Ayam jins memiliki rumput noda pada lutut, dan itu tidak mengambil lompatan besar logika untuk membayangkan bahwa dia telah berlutut ketika yang memicu ditarik.Gaya klasik eksekusi.Mana Apakah ibu? Pertanyaan itu bermain lagi dan lagi, karena semua orang berkata dia akan kabur dengan ayam.Yang sekarang memiliki sebuah peluru di kepalanya.Saya shuddered karena saya terfokus pada Jax. Ia berdiri oleh jendela, kembali tegang dan rahang beliau garis keras. Dia tidak berkata banyak karena semua ini turun. Kita sudah memberikan pernyataan kami, yang tidak banyak.Clyde mencapai atas dan meremas tanganku. "Anda baik-baik saja, bayi perempuan?"Aku mengangguk. Dia telah muncul sekitar satu jam setelah polisi. Bagaimana ia akan mengetahui tentang apa yang terjadi, aku tidak tahu, tapi ia tiba dalam truk tua-ass, berteriak dan berteriak agar ke rumah, untuk melihat Nya "bayi perempuan" melalui "trauma" pengalaman "tidak benar" dan sejumlah besar hal-hal yang termasuk kata-kata kutukan. Mereka tidak akan membiarkan dia datang di teras depan, untuk alasan yang jelas, dan mereka tidak ingin dia datang, tapi ia berteriak sampai dia punya cara-Nya dan dia masuk melalui pintu belakang, yang dari dapur."Berapa lama lagi menurutmu...?" Aku berhenti, menelan terhadap mual tiba-tiba. "Apakah Anda pikir itu akan memakan waktu sebelum mereka bergerak dia?"Clyde "Segera," kata gruffly. "Itu harus segera."Pandangan saya bergeser kepadanya, dan aku melihat kemilau halus keringat yang berkilauan di kepalanya botak.JAX berpaling dari jendela dan berjalan ke mana saya duduk di sebelah Clyde. Dia tidak mengatakan apa-apa karena ia bertengger di lengan sofa. Sedetik kemudian, aku mendengar pintu depan terbuka dan Reece berjalan dengan seorang detektif yang memakai gaun tan Celana, dan putih tua seperti Jax's, tapi dipasangkan dengan dasi yang cocok Celana.Untuk beberapa alasan aneh, aku berpikir tentang apa Roxy telah mengatakan kepada saya tentang Reece terlibat dalam penembakan. Itu hal terakhir yang saya perlu untuk berpikir tentang, tapi aku bertanya-tanya jika itu mengganggu dia melihat ayam seperti... seperti ia. Kemudian lagi, ia mungkin melihat bahwa banyak.Aku hampir lupa nama-Nya — detektif. Ia tidak yang jauh lebih tua daripada kita, mungkin akhir dua puluhan atau awal tiga puluhan. Dia tampan, sangat banyak sehingga, dengan rapi rambut cokelat dan mata biru yang jelas."Kami sedang membungkus sekarang," katanya, dengan tatapan yang melacak lebih dari kami bertiga. "Kanan sekarang, kami telah mendapat beberapa tersangka, dan kita akan menemukan yang melakukan ini."Aku mengangguk. "Oke. UM. Terima kasih?"Twitched bibirnya. "Sekarang, petugas Anders mengatakan padaku kalian berdua telah mencari Miss Fritz."Petugas Anders? Aku perlahan-lahan berkedip dan kemudian saya menyadari dia berbicara tentang Reece. Pandangan saya pindah ke Reece dan kemudian ke detektif Anders. Tunggu sebentar... "Kalian berdua berhubungan?""Brothers," Jax menjawab."Saya yang tampan," kata Reece, menyeringai.Detektif Anders miring kepalanya ke arah apa itu sekarang jelas adiknya. "Pasti, tidak satu cerdas."Polisi saudara. Panas.Menghela napas.Aku butuh kepalaku diperiksa."Pokoknya," kata detektif. "Dia menceritakan kalian telah berusaha untuk menemukan ibu Anda dan bahwa Anda memiliki beberapa masalah hari ketika Anda berada di kota. Aku tahu apa yang telah terjadi."JAX di mata menyipit, dan perut saya tenggelam. Tidak peduli apa, jika polisi benar-benar tahu apa yang telah terjadi, ia adalah dalam kesulitan. Banyak masalah.Reece diadakan dengan tatapan dengan tampilan yang berkata Maaf, tunas, harus. "Dia tahu tentang Mack. Dan bahwa orang rendahan adalah yang pertama pada daftar tersangka kami.""Ini adalah jelas peringatan untuk Calla," menjawab Jax, suara dipotong. "Tetapi tidak masuk akal. Jika Mack menemukan ayam, maka bagaimana dia tidak menemukan Mona?""Ayam bisa telah memutuskan dia ingin keluar dari kekacauan ini," detektif Anders berkata, menyeberangi tangannya di dadanya. "Dia bisa datang kembali dan jika apa Anda... sumber mengatakan benar, jika ia kembali tanpa ganja atau uang yang sama dengan apa yang mereka pegang, ia telah gotten hangat selamat datang."Ya, ia telah mendapat sebuah peluru di kepala. Ibu tidak memiliki ganja. Dan dia yakin sebagai neraka tidak punya uang.Itu harus Mack, karena seperti Ritchey mengatakan, kotoran berguling menuruni bukit dan kotoran telah memutar seluruh Mack."Kami juga mencari orang yang cocok dengan deskripsi Anda yang datang ke rumah dan mengambil obat-obatan. Kita akan menemukan mereka,"kata detektif Anders. "Tapi kita perlu Anda semua untuk mundur. Marilah kita melakukan pekerjaan kami. Kami tidak ingin Anda di sekitar salah satu orang-orang ini."Aku tidak ingin menjadi salah satu orang-orang ini, tapi aku punya hari tersisa sebelum aku seharusnya untuk menghasilkan ibuku. Aku tidak menjawab karena aku benar-benar tidak mau mendengarkan mereka mencoba berbicara aku dari apa yang perlu dilakukan.Kami telah memimpin.Ike.Dan Jax tidak disebutkan Ike polisi atau Reece sejauh yang saya tahu. Seorang perwira lainnya muncul kepalanya ke ruang, mengumumkan teras depan dibersihkan, dan aku menarik napas lega. JAX diikuti Reece dan kakaknya keluar setelah obrolan dibungkus di sini.Clyde mengusap tangannya di dadanya. "Ini adalah berantakan."Saya menghela napas. "Aku tahu. Ibu... Apakah Anda berpikir dia memiliki gagasan tentang apa jenis kekacauan dia? "Clyde mengangguk. "Saya pikir dia lakukan, dan saya pikir jika dia pintar, dia tinggal di Meksiko sekarang."Allah, yang akan mengisap-nya bergerak jauh dan saya tidak pernah melihatnya lagi, tetapi jika ibu adalah cerdas, itulah apa yang harus dia lakukan. Ada tidak ada cara yang dia pernah akan mampu kembali ke sini. "Jika dia tidak datang kembali... apa yang terjadi ke bar?" Saya bertanya, berfokus pada hal yang paling penting, karena itu adalah lebih baik daripada semua lebih penting hal-hal gila. Aku tahu bar akan diserahkan kepada saya jika dia... jika dia meninggal, tapi aku tidak tahu tentang teknis jika ia hanya menghilang."Bayi perempuan, Anda tidak perlu khawatir tentang hal itu." Dia berjalan berat kakinya, dadanya bergerak dalam napas dalam, berat. "Bar akan baik-baik."Alis saya mencubit dengan keprihatinan. "Apakah Anda baik-baik saja?""Ya, saya lakukan ' halus. Anda tidak needin' akan khawatir tentang saya."Saya tidak yakin tentang hal itu, tapi kemudian Jax kembali tanpa panas cop saudara. Dia berjalan langsung ke mana aku duduk, meraih tanganku, dan membantu saya untuk kaki saya. "Anda ingin keluar dari sini?" tanyanya.Mengangguk-angguk, aku ingin tidak lebih dari untuk keluar dari sini.Clyde berjalan ke arah saya, dan tanpa Jax melepaskan tanganku, dia memberiku nya beruang pelukan. "Saya suka bahwa Anda tidak tinggal di sini. Itu bagus. Nyata baik."Aku enggan membiarkannya pergi ketika ia ditarik kembali. "Segala sesuatu akan baik-baik saja," Aku berkata padanya, karena saya merasa seperti saya harus mengatakan bahwa dengan keras.Dia memberiku senyum toothy sebagai tatapan pindah ke Jax. "Ya, bayi perempuan, itu akan."Meninggalkan Clyde, aku mengemasi lain pakaian dan barang pribadi dan kemudian kami menuju ke Jax's truk. Itu sulit berjalan melintasi serambi itu tanpa membayangkan tubuh tidak.Sekali di dalam taksi truk, Jax memandangku. "Anda baik-baik saja?"Saya memikirkan hal itu sejenak. "Sebagai Oke seperti yang saya bisa."Sedikit senyum muncul sebagai ia mencapai lebih, smoothing ibu jari sepanjang bibir bawahnya. "Omong kosong ini dengan ayam dan Mack — dengan ibu Anda tidak benar. Ini serius. Hal ini tidak normal. Dan tidak apa-apa untuk tidak apa-apa dengan semua ini.""Aku tahu," bisikku.Senyumnya tersebar di satu sisi dari bibirnya. "Seperti yang saya katakan. Kau berani."Dada saya hangat, dan bukan menyangkal bahwa, aku tersenyum sedikit. "Dapat kami berhenti dalam perjalanan ke rumah Anda dan mengambil sesuatu untuk makan?""Apa pun untuk Anda, sayang."Aku menyukai suara itu. Banyak.Itu terlalu terlambat untuk melakukan makan malam di mana saja, jadi makanan cepat saji pada menu. Pada titik ini, saya akan mungkin sudah makan daging kuda, jadi aku tidak mengeluh ketika ia ditarik ke burger bersama. Tidak steak terbaik di negara, tetapi itu akan bekerja.Kami berdua benar-benar berbicara pada drive untuk townhouse nya atau seperti yang kita scarfed ke bawah makanan kami. Tidak sampai kami membersihkan dan aku telah melemparkan soda saya di tempat sampah yang aku tahu kita harus bicara tentang hal ini.Or that I had to talk about this.“Do you think Mom is okay?” I asked.Jax was at the table situated by the door that led out to a small deck and postage-stamp-size backyard. He turned to me, chin dipped. “I don’t know.”I closed my eyes as a rush of emotion swelled.“I hate saying that, but I got to be honest with you.”“I appreciate that.”“I know you do,” he said, and then I felt him closer and I opened my eyes. He was right in front of me. “If Rooster bounced, then he was probably feeling the heat. That means your mom’s got to still be out there.”Because she wasn’t lying on the porch alongside Rooster.“But this isn’t good,” he finished.Just like Clyde said. “There’s no way she can fix this. Even if they bust Mack for what happened to Rooster, there’s this Isaiah. That was a lot of dope and a lot of money. She can’t get past this.”“No. She can’t.”A ball lodged in the back of my throat. “She really did it this time. I mean, she really did it, Jax. There’s no fixing this. There’s no making it okay. And she dragged me into this, which has dragged you into this. And I’m so sorry about that. You don’t need this. You shouldn’t have seen Rooster today.”“Honey,” he said softly, cupping my cheeks. He tilted my head back. “None of this is your fault. Know that. There is no need for you to apologize for any of this. You didn’t ask for it or bring it on yourself.”What he said was true, but I couldn’t help but feel somewhat responsible, because it was my mom after all.