Page 27 of Drowning Her

I glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand behind her.

“After eight,” I said. Which meant that she had only been asleep for a few hours. It was a jerk move, but not enough to keep me away. She stepped to the side, letting me in. The two of us sat on the bed. She pulled the comforter around her. A bruise darkened her shoulder.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Forget about me,” she said. “What about you? What is it?” She tilted her chin toward the door. “You know Green will be back any minute, right?”

I nodded, holding my chest. Which was why I had to figure out a plan as quickly as I could and let the bruise go for now. What the Feldmans would do was so much worse.

“Have you been able to keep that money?” I asked. Her eyes flicked away from me. “Where is it?”

“I—”

“You spent it, right?” As long as Green didn’t have it. “Did you get new sunglasses? A purse?” When she didn’t answer, my pulse raced. “Don’t tell me you?—”

“What’s wrong with it, anyway?”

“Did you give it to Green?”

Her chin jutted forward. “You think he’s going to let me keep that kind of cash?”

I wrung my hands together. It had only been a little while, but I had already forgotten what it was like. It was hard for us to keep around cash, even tips that the clients gave us. Because if Green found out we were keeping something from him, we paid for it. And if we spent it quickly, feigning that a regular client had gifted the purchases to us, he would sell those ‘gifts.’ We had to spend it on little things:cheap sunglasses, bottles of nail polish, a new makeup palette.

I had screwed up everything in my old life, but with Bambi, I wanted to make things better for her, even if I wasn’t there to protect her. But Green was like an oncoming train, always off in the distance, until suddenly, he was running you over. He’d never stop.

I had to get her away from him. But how could I help her when I was in a similar situation? Wilder hadn’t punched or stabbed me like Green had, but now that I knew what ‘interested’ him, it didn’t seem that far off. My life was in danger.

“That money was foryou,” I said. “Green’s already got enough from the arranged marriage.”

“What’s wrong with it?” she asked again. “Why are you acting so weird?”

“My husband killed a man for stealing,” I said. “If he finds out I stole from him, I don’t want him to come after me.”

“Geez.” Her jaw dropped. “Who the hell did you marry?”

I shook my head. It was already done. But I could still change things for Bambi. “Either they go after me for stealing it, or they go after you. And that can’t happen.”

She chuckled, then leaned back on the bed. Sweat beaded on my arms. Did she not see the danger in this?

“How much do they have?” she asked. “Like, where do they keep the biggest chunk of it?”

The locked box in the Calving Barn flashed in my mind. “Don’t be stupid,” I said.

“What?” She picked up a loose stick of gum off of the nightstand and threw it at me. “They killed some other farmer, right?” she asked. ‘Rancher’ was the term, but wedidn’t have time to get into specifics. “They don’t suspect you then. You might as well take advantage of the situation.” I crossed my arms, and her expression dropped. “It’s not like theyneedit.”

“You want to get killed?” I asked.

“I’m sure you’re not the only one who steals. You think they have enough for me to leave?”

I didn’t know the answer. How much did it cost to leave a town with enough money to cover your tracks and change your identity so that your psychotic ex-boyfriend/pimp didn’t find you?

“Where do they keep it?” she asked.

“Bambi,” I said.

“I could go by myself. I could?—”

The door beeped and opened. Green’s eyes fell on me, a smirk on his face.

---