Page 58 of Dead Man's List

“Huh. So you said no. Munro never told me that. Just said that he paid you and you took the money and reported him.”

Sam only smiled. “In that case, I’m surprised I’m still breathing.”

Tasker cackled. “Thank you, son. That makes me feel better, believe it or not.”

“Oh, I can believe it,” Sam said. “Why didn’t you have me bumped off?”

“Thought about it. But Munro lied like he breathed. My associates said they’d off you for free, but I told them not to. Just in case Munro was lying.”

“Spoiler alert,” Sam said. “He was lying.”

Tasker cackled some more. “Well, that flies. I figured if you’d taken the money, you wouldn’t have reported him. And if you had reported him and had the money as proof, Munro would be in here with me. He never thought people were as smart as he was. What an idiot.”

“So my life is saved,” Sam said dryly. “Thank you.”

Tasker laughed until tears gathered in his eyes. “I like you. I’m glad I didn’t kill you, too.” He lifted a brow. “Not that I killed anyone else. Like my lying, whoring wife.”

“Oh no,” Sam said, still dry as dust. “If you knew Munro was lying to you, why didn’t you kill him?”

Tasker stilled. “How do you know I didn’t?”

“Because you’re in here.”

“Could have ordered it at any time,” Tasker boasted. “But I didn’t.”

“Why not?” Kit asked.

Tasker cocked his head again, studying Kit this time. “What’s it worth for me to tell you?”

“Your self-respect?” she asked sweetly.

He just huffed a chuckle. “You’re cute, honey. You look like the girl next door, but I bet you’re dynamite in the sack.”

Connor drew a breath, but Sam shook his head, making Connor settle back into his chair with a scowl.

“What do you want?” Sam asked.

Kit barely swallowed her bark of outrage. They’d agreed not to offer any concessions. But…Sam had asked her to trust him.

Connor wasn’t as controlled. He swiveled toward Sam. “No way.”

Sam only shrugged, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “Didn’t say he’d get it, but it’s good to know where we’re starting from. What do you want, Mr.Tasker?”

Tasker eyed them all cagily. “Time off for good behavior.”

“Can’t do that,” Sam said, still calm. “Next?”

Tasker scowled like a child denied a treat. “Conjugal visits.”

Sam shrugged. “Should have thought of that before you chopped your wife into pieces.”

Tasker started to laugh again. “Oh, you’re something else. I guess you’re one of those assholes with ethics.”

Sam smiled. “Guilty as charged. What do you really want, Mr.Tasker? Seriously?”

“I want all of those things.”

Steadily, Sam met the man’s gaze. “What do you want that we can actually provide? You’re still wealthy. Someone on the outside must be sending you money through the prison’s JPay system. You have funds to get what you want from the commissary, within reason, of course. What else can we offer other than time off or similar compensation? Because you have to know that those things won’t happen.”

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