Page 71 of Texas Hold Em'
She looked longingly at me, and her gaze said everything. She didn’t want to be apart in the final moments before shit hit the fan.
I went to her and took her hands in mine. “We’re going to get through this. All three of us. Okay?”
She nodded. All the fear she’d carried the last few days seemed to have taken a back seat as adrenaline got behind the wheel. “Okay.”
Before Carrie left, she helped set the scene. I got back into the blood-smeared bed. They adjusted the sheets all around me and referred to the picture on the flip phone to make sure I was in the same position. When they were good and satisfied, Carrie slipped out to watch for Caroline and her father’s enforcer.
Brody leaned up against the wall at the end of the bed so I could look up at him without moving. “How do you feel?”
I chuckled. “You know that feeling you get when you’re at the top of a rollercoaster looking down and you know it’s a hell of a lot more than what you thought you signed up for?”
“Yup.”
“Well, I feel like that, but the rollercoaster has a track that ends midway through, and I’m not bolted inandthere’s a lightning storm.”
Brody laughed. “Sounds fucking fun, brother.”
“Yeah,” I said as I eyed the paddles hanging off the side of the defibrillator, “it’s a fucking blast.”
CHAPTER 30
CARRIE
Headlights.
There were headlights coming down the road.
At some point in the night, my training had kicked in and I was able to do what needed to be done. The fake blood hadn’t bothered me the way I thought it would, and neither had seeing Tex lying in it. Yes, I’d felt a bit weak in the knees, but having a task to do helped get me through the minutes.
But as soon as I had to come out here alone and watch for Caroline to arrive, all the courage I’d mustered slipped away. I’d shivered even though it wasn’t cold as I’d stared down the empty dark road, and as soon as those headlights came into view, I thought I might pass out.
I leaned against the wall as I peered out into the night. Soon the vehicle was close enough that I could tell it was a white SUV.
Caroline’s Rover.
“Shit,” I breathed.
With that, I ran back down the hall to Tex’s apartment. I burst through the door and called out that they were coming as I ran across the living room. I gripped the doorframe of the bedroom to swing myself into the room and came up short at the sight of Brody settingup the defibrillator and leaning over Tex, the paddles held inches over his chest.
“Alright,” Brody muttered, “we have to do this quickly. Any last words before things go dark for four minutes, brother?”
Tex smiled, and for the first time, I saw his nerves.
“Wait!” I cried.
Tex peered down at me without lifting his head from the pillow.
“We can’t wait,” Brody hissed.
I rushed forward, squeezed between them, and planted a kiss on Tex’s lips. When we parted, I brushed my fingers through his hair. “Don’t die. Okay? I need you to come back.”
Tex’s nerves seemed to leave him as he gazed up at me. “See you in a few.”
“We have to do this now.” Brody’s voice was pulled tight under the pressure.
I stepped back.
Brody raised the paddles again.
