4 Price (1/2)

I came back from the bus station on some imaginary high that I had the situation under control. When I entered my house that high was shattered by the look on Johnny's face.

I could see him sitting at the kitchen table from my Living Room. His arms crossed hard and a grim face set on the table. On it sat the backpack and a phone I hadn't seen before. He did little but offer me a glance and nod to the table.

With a certain amount of trepidation, I crossed the floor and sat across from him. He nodded to the phone in front of him. The hard as stone look on his face was so out of character for Johnny that he looked like a different person.

”That's my burner phone”

He said under his breath with a slight breathlessness to his tone.

”Open it.The message is for you more than me”

I did so. I took the phone thinking to myself that having a burner phone was unusually smart for Johnny. Maybe I didn't know him half as well as I thought.

”Code is two, four, ninety. Open it up”

The phone opened up for me without an argument. Right to a text conversation with a persona named Ricky.My blood ran cold at the pictures that lined the conversation.

The first was a picture of me getting out of the fox body at the ice cream shop. The next was me leaving with Jessica getting in the other side. The last picture was taken from inside a car going down my street. It was of me grabbing the backpack out of the car and Jessica heading to the barn.I hadn't even realized a car was going down my street at that time.

The last message was a threat straight from Ricky.

”Both you kids are dead. Even your friend's little girl”

As calmly as I could I sat the phone down and slid it to Johnny. He clasped his hand over it making it stop. Neither of us made a sound. I didn't know what to do and I was deathly afraid talking would give away how scared I was. I couldn't trust my voice not to shake.

The two of us sat there in silence for a moment before I had to say something.

”Look Johnny this isn't my world! You're the burnout here you have tohave some connections to get us out of this!”

Johnny swallowed hard and nodded. I was shaking now and had to hold onto my jacket pockets to keep myself still.

”I do. Listen Jack. What we need is protection. Protection isn't free”

”How much do we need? I've still got about three hundred”

Johnny shook his head with a small smile like I had said something funny.

”Jack. You remember what the first thing I said to you was when we met after graduation?”