Page 43 of King of Pain

“She’s fine. And Roman too,” Mason says.

Still naked, I work my way up the bank in three quick jumps.

“The permits?”

He clears his throat. “We’re working on them.”

I run a hand through my hair and then turn my head to the side, cracking my neck. That is a fucking relief that Mason is cleaning up my mess. Then again, what’s new? “What do you need from me?”

“Guerriero? Is he on your tail?”

“Pretty sure I lost Gorilla yesterday. Now we’re in the middle of nowhere, at a family friend’s cabin in southern Colorado that no one can trace to either of us.”

Mason laughs, sounding relieved. “You always were a scrappy fuck. But let me just double check one detail. Who is the other person in theweyou just mentioned?”

Mason never misses a detail. “Name’s Kate.”

“Vincent’s date.”

“How the fuck do you know that?”

“Maddie. The vision-impaired girl.” He says, like he’s busy thinking other things. “I hear Kate’s in med school. She patch you up all right?”

“Fit as a fiddle.”

“Good. So no additional medical care required?” I look at the phone for a second before I answer.

“No. Our biggest problem is being short on money. And time.”

“I can wire you some,” Mason says. “No problem.”

“I’ve got enough to get back to Vegas.” My muscles are twitching, ready for action. “Unless you can send the helicopter?”

Mason is silent, not answering my question. “You really think that you lost him? Gorilla?”

“Yeah.”

“In that case, I might want you to stay put.”

“What?” I rumble into the phone.

Kate is slowly picking her way up the bank. I take a step toward her and reach out my hand to her, pulling her up. As soon as she’s on solid ground, I’m making my way to the porch. I don’t know what Mason’s got in mind, but Kate can’t stay here at the cabin.

“We raided the Vendettis’ house and they’re under arrest.”

I stop again, halfway up the porch. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Suspected murder,” he whispers into the phone. “Of you.”

“Shit.”

“You can’t just resurface, not now, Luke. You being gone… that gives us a unique opportunity. If I can keep them in prison, at least until I clear the permits, then we’ll be able to clean up this mess.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I see the problem. I need to do this for my family. I fuck up so much. This is the one time they need me. “All right, but Kate’s got to go back tomorrow.”

Mason cuts me off. “She can’t, Luke.”

I grimace, staring at the phone. “Why not?”

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