Page 112 of One In Vermillion

She shook her head, but she smiled a little at that last bit.

“He’s going to grab you when it all goes down,” I said and she lost the faint smile. “In fact, I’m surprised he hasn’t already. The Wolves are in jail. The mayor’s been arrested and is going to have to resign. You’re the last support he has. He—”

“You really must think I’m a fool,” the senator said. “Go away, Miss Danger. I have no interest in your paranoid ramblings.” She nodded at someone behind me. “I’m ready to go.”

“Not yet,” a man said, and I turned to see her chief henchman, Franco Meathead, standing behind me, the big black SUV parked at the curb. He looked very serious as he took his sunglasses off. He looked past me as if I didn’t exist. “Cooper has photos. He won’t use them, not his style, but they were on Thacker’s computer.” He held up a Chromebook. “And on Cash’s. I pulled this out of his room just now. Thacker sent them to him. Blackmail.”

He opened up the Chromebook and showed her something, and she froze. I realized Vince’s suspicions about Cash paying Mickey Pitts to kill Thacker and get his computer and phone had been correct. I hadn’t wanted to believe he was capable of that.

“This is not like you, Senator,” Franco said to her. “I warned you after Cooper came to me the first time. We should never have come back here.” He closed the computer. “You’ve got to cut Porter loose.”

The senator licked her lips. “Have you seen Cash today?”

Franco shook his head. “No. The computer was in the spec house he’s been bunking down in. No sign of him. But he still has his phone. We need that. He’s got nothing left, Senator. The Wolves are gone. The mayor just resigned. His family’s not speaking to him.” He nodded at me. “Danger’s done with him. And he has Vince Cooper gunning for him. His back is against the wall. It’s time to get out.”

“That may be an overreaction,” she said, but her eyes stayed on him and there was no conviction in her voice. She was figuring the angles.

“Your choice, Amy,” he said to her. She blinked as he used her first name.

I was starting to think that Franco might be more than a henchman. This was more than a job for him.

Franco pressed his point home. “Cash or your political career. You can’t have both. And it could get worse. Cooper has Cleve Blue’s hidden ledger.”

The senator closed her eyes briefly at that last bit. Then opened them. They looked at each other for a long moment, and I kept my mouth shut. Franco was doing the Lord’s work. If I could have sidled away, I would have.

And then a silver Beemer pulled up to the curb and Cash got out.

“Well,thisis cozy,” he said, slamming the door. He came around the car and stared at me. “I didn’t know you and Amy were friends.”

“Oh, yeah, we’re pals,” I said. “We were just talking about some photos on Thacker’s computer.”

“Stop bluffing, Lizzie, nobody has Thacker’s computer.”

“Cooper does,” Franco said, his voice like a knife.

Cash hesitated, looking at Franco and then at me, gauging what we knew.

Franco held up the laptop. “And I have yours. Now. Hand over your cell phone.”

“Fuck you,” Cash said automatically. He looked at the Senator. “Call off your dog.”

Senator Wilcox ignored him, speaking to Franco. “We’re going home. We’ll send an aide back to pack everything up.”

Franco nodded and held out his hand to Cash. “Your phone.”

Cash smiled at her. “Amy, it’s not a good time for me to be up in Columbus. I—”

“You’re fired. Stay away from Columbus.” She turned on her heel and walked around him to the SUV. Cash was so stunned; he didn’t react for a moment. Then he turned on me, white-faced and furious. “Whatthe fuckdid you do?” He took a step closer, almost snarling. “I swear to God, Liz—” and then he was jerked back and I saw Franco had him by the collar.

“You should go, Miss Danger,” Franco said.

“Thank you, Franco,” I said and walked away. The senator got in the SUV and slammed the door shut and I got in my Camry and did the same.

The last things I heard were Cash saying, “You doing Cooper’s dirty work now?” and Franco saying, “No, this is for me. I don’t like you. And I am taking your phone.” He was holding Cash up by the collar, his feet barely touching the ground. With one hand. With his other, he reached into Cash’s black jacket and retrieved the cell. He let go and walked to the SUV and drove away, taking the senator from Burney. Cash stood alone on the steps of the Victorian.

I pulled away, too.

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