Page 19 of Roses Are Dead
And then?
I’d be free, but Beth might die without him alive to donate again. And I would not risk that. Not until I knew she was getting better. When Bear talked so casually about killing Carl, I couldn’t help the catch of my breath. It swamped me with how fragile life was. How all I’d suffered so far was for naught if Carl’s drug-dealing antics ruined everything.
And as much as I wanted to be at Beth’s house right now, I couldn’t just leave Carl with this man. Not until I was certain that his donated stem cells were enough to kick-start Beth’s recovery.
Then I’d gladly hand Carl over to Bear myself. Maybe even ask for the gun so I could be the one to shoot him.
He deserved it for ruining my life.
Carl’s smarmy voice filled the room. “If you want her, she’s for sale.”
Not this again.
Bear laughed. “I’m here, bitching at you for being seen with a cop and shorting the club on profit opportunities, and you think selling me some gash is going to make me forget that you’re putting my club at risk?”
What did he call me?
“Ah. Then I think we both need a gesture of goodwill,” Carl said calmly.
“I need you not to be sticking your ass out in front of the cops and freaking out buyers. What the fuck, man? We own you. The only reason you’re where you are right now is because you didn’t attract attention.” Bear was unhinged. His words spat out at a rapid pace, the Destroyers skull on his vest adding weight to his words.
In contrast, Carl was calm. “Times change. Maybe profits are down because I’m getting out.”
Bear fired back, “Times can go fuck themselves. You want out? Buy your way out. And do it without the fucking cops involved, got it? Otherwise, you and I both know that me and my brothers have no problem with losing you, permanently.”
There was weight in the silence that echoed through the house. I could feel the touch of the Goddess in this moment. The hair on my skin prickled, electrified. It burned where the cilice had rubbed me raw. I almost groaned out loud, but I managed to clear my head and think only about the presence of magic surrounding this place. It hung in the air, waiting…
Bear broke the spell. “You owe us eight grand. And another eight grand for losing out on one month’s best earnings. Pay me tonight and we’ll wash our hands of you. But we’ll be watching you. In or out, it doesn’t matter. Watching you. Got it? No more cops.”
Carl didn’t hesitate. “My payment date is in three days. You’ll get your money then. But I have a question, perhaps two. One of your hookers takes in what? Four hundred a night? Maybe even more on a good day, right?”
“What are you getting at, Carl?”
He grabbed me by the hair and lifted my head. “She’s yours for one month. Do anything you like to her, but I want her alive when you return her. And don’t go stashing her somewhere she can run away and snitch to the cops. I need her visible and seen with your club for one month. That’s all. When the month ends, I’ll buy out any remaining debt and even pay extra for the best earnings you should have had, and we’ll both be done with each other.
“With the use of her, that’s at least thirty grand in addition to the double payment. Plus, you’re guaranteed another witness to your club brothers’ indiscretions is silent, and I’ll not have to deal with her insubordination for a month. That’s more than generous enough. Do we have a deal?” Carl shook me. I realized this was his way of making me suffer. A way that wouldn’t trace back to him. He hadn’t changed one bit.
Carl wasn’t selling me for money; he was selling me for time. And in one month, I might know whether his stem cell donation had helped Beth. And in one month, if it didn’t, I’d have to return to Carl and beg him for help. Or, in one month, Beth would be alive and thriving, and I’d be… dead.
Getting me back from this terrible man alive was only a means to an end. Carl was working a game. One he’d just looped Bear into. I could walk back into this house without a scratch on me, and Carl would see to it that my dead body washed up somewhere the next morning with all the earmarks of torture. And since he wasn’t connected to me for over a month? He’d walk away, free. That’s how he operated.
I needed leverage.
“I’m not buying her,” Bear said.
“Of course you’re not. She’s on loan to you as a gesture of goodwill and insurance of that silence you want so much.”
I searched Bear’s face for some hint that he wasn’t worse than Carl. I needed hope. And found none.
His scowl deepened. “This goodwill? You go to the cops and say, ‘the Destroyers took my woman’ and fuck us. Is that your game?” He pulled out his gun again and pointed it at Carl.
In a voice too calm to be real, Carl slowly spoke, “You’re not listening. I need her trained to behave, and quite honestly? I know you and your club would do a much better job of breaking her than I ever could. Do whatever you want to her. I don’t care. I’ll pay sixteen grand to you—not as a buyout—but for teaching her how to be a good slave. And remember, if she can’t behave, it’s your reputation on the line. One that’s been a bit…tarnished lately. That’s all this is.”
“And between then and now?” Bear prompted.
“I’ll lie low. No more cops. No rumors. You won’t even know I exist.”
All hope fled. I’d walked right into Carl’s trap. Freely.
