Page 74 of Texas Hold Em'
I couldn’t take it.
I surged out of the room, down the hall, and into the bathroom, where I barely made it to the toilet before throwing up violently. I couldn’t breathe. The world spun. Clinging to the toilet was the only thing that kept me upright. More nausea broke over me and I was sick again, and again, and again, until there was nothing left in my stomach.
I collapsed back and slumped against the wall as Caroline appeared in the doorway and looked down the length of her nose at me.
“You’ve killed before,” she said. “Why is this one worth your tears?”
I hadn’t even noticed I was crying. “I’ve killed in self-defense, but I’ve never murdered anyone in cold blood.”
Caroline crouched down and gave me what almost looked like an empathetic smile, but it couldn’t be. “Darling, you had a rough night. I can see that. But you did good work. My father is going to be pleased and dare I say impressed. You’re going to go home. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?”
I nodded weakly.
“That’s the spirit,” she said, straightening and pulling on a pair of gloves from her purse. “Keep the burner phone close. My father will be in touch about tomorrow night.”
I heard a loud thump from the bedroom and sat up straighter. “What was that?”
“Moss is going to put the body in the car and bring him to my father.”
“What?” I scrambled to my feet. “No, he can’t.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Can’t? Who are you to givemeorders?”
Keep your head on straight, Carrie. There’s still a way out of this. Tex hasn’t been down for four minutes yet. You have time to bring him back if you can get them out now.
“I need him,” I said.
“Ew, for what? He’s dead.”
“Leverage,” I said.
I heard a dragging sound and knew Moss was taking Tex from the bedroom.
Caroline put a hand on her hip. “Leverage? Sweetheart, your part of the job is over. You don’t need to worry about leverage. My father wants the body, so he’s going to get the body.”
“No,” I said again, more firmly this time. “I need to keep him here. There’s no way I’m going to be able to get the rest of the MC to the landfill tomorrow. They’re not going to trust me. It’s only a matter of time before they find out what I’ve done, and I’m going to tell them they can have Tex to bury him properly if they meet me at the landfill. Burials matter to them, Caroline. If you take him with you, I won’t have a shot in hell of getting them to the landfill and this will all have been for nothing.”
Caroline remained completely expressionless. Her red lips rubbed together as she considered my words. She turned to Moss, who was just coming out of the bedroom, dragging Tex from under his arms. I didn’t look down.
“What do you think, Moss? Does she have a point?”
Moss, the buzzcut asshole who’d beaten the living daylights out of Mason about a month ago, shrugged one shoulder. “Doesn’t mean shit to me. Your father cares that he’s dead. Does it really matter where the body goes?”
Caroline considered.
“You can have his body tomorrow night,” I added. “It won’t matter then because they’re all going to be dead.”
She nodded. “Fair enough. Leave him here, Moss. We can go.”
Moss let Tex fall to the hardwood floor with a heavy thump.
I winced.
Caroline smirked. “I thought you had a harder stomach than that, darling. We’re not all made for this life. No shame in that. Here.” She pulled something wrapped up in packing paper from her purse and pressed it into my hands. “For your trouble. And your flight home.”
With that, she snapped her fingers. Moss stepped over Tex’s body and followed her out the door. She called over her shoulder that shewould see me tomorrow night, and I watched them leave out the front door at the end of the hall. Seconds later, the headlights of the Rover lit up the hallway as they swung the car around, and all I could see were their taillights as they drove away.
I stared at Tex’s body lying in the doorway of the bedroom.
