Page 93 of Ready Or Not

Riley glances over at me, and she looks like she’s going to be sick. “Talk to me, Rachel. I need a distraction.”

The vulnerable look in her eyes is probably manipulation. I don’t know enough about people to tell. But it tugs at me anyway, and I glower. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Anything. Anything, please, just something.”

She’s gripping the steering wheel so tight her fingers are white.

“I, uh…how do you like your hair?”

I wince. That was smooth. But I think the cut suits her face. Her jaw cuts out in a pretty line and is much more visible now, and I think I did a good job, considering my scissors were dull as fuck, and her hair was coated in blood.

Riley laughs roughly. “If you ever do that again, I’ll kill you. You know that, right?”

“I know.” I stare out the window. Manson’s going to be so upset that we’re gone. He left at my suggestion. “You’ll have to beat Manson to it.”

“You mean your buddy?” Riley glares at me.

“He’s not my buddy.” I shake my head.

“Sure he isn’t.”

“Listen. I’m just trying to survive, okay?”

“I told you I’d keep you safe. What part of that did you not believe?”

I glance over at her. She looks back at me before glancing back at the road. Her voice gets so low I barely hear it. “I couldn’t keep myself safe. But now…now I can at least keep you safe.”

50

A GOOD DAY TO DIE - Arankai

When we get close, Rachel starts asking all kinds of questions about where we’re going and who we’re getting. At first, it pisses me off, and I snap at her that I don’t need more judgment. She just waves me off. “Planning, Riley. We’re planning.”

I stare at her. She’s just going to…go along with it?

Rachel looks at me expectantly. “Riley. What kind of house is it?” She looks earnest. “And do we have masks?”

I blink. “It’s not a house. It’s an assisted living home.”

Rachel’s eyes shutter for a second, then she’s back. “Well. How convenient. I’ve spent a lot of time in those.”

She’s overthinking this, but I realize that her talking has pushed the sick feeling to the back of my mind.

“Right.” She picks at her nails. “So there’s cameras everywhere, but not in the rooms. There will be medical masks we can wear at the front door. But…” she trails off. “We aren’t family or on their visitor’s list.”

I shrug. “Sure we are. We’re his nieces.”

She darts a look at me. “I don’t have an unc…” She catches my drift a little late.

I smile. She’s cute. “Leave the lying to me, sweety. I’ll get us in there.”

Turns out, I don’t need to lie. We just follow behind a woman going into the building. She gives us a quick glance and lets us in.

No one expects women to be killers. Whoops. That’ll cost you a life.

Rachel made me wear my other mask in addition to the medical one she grabbed for me. I roll my eyes, but I humor her.

She’s cute when she gets huffy.

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