“I told you not to call.” I step away from the others and keep my voice low, the cell pressed against my ear.
“It’s that old man. He keeps nosing around. I almost ran into him first thing this morning, when it was barely light.”
“Did he see anything?”
“No. He stayed in his truck. But I think maybe he knows something, maybe knows we’re looking for it.”
“We’ll deal with him later, after the search is over and the cops have cleared out. Until then play your part and keep a low profile.”
“What do we do with the old man? If he comes back?”
“You’re meant to be on vacation, remember? Act like fishermen. Ask him fishing questions. He’s senile—give him something to do, keep him talking, and he’ll forget all about where he found you or why he was there or anything he saw.”
“I don’t like it. And you know Hank found another of them bear traps. If we aren’t careful, one of those rangers will be stumbling right into our operation. I thought that text message you had me send was meant to lead them away from here.”
“It did. They shifted the search area east and north of you.”
“Maybe it’s time for them to find the body? That will clear them out and we can get on with business.”
“I’ll decide when the time is right. Just like I’ll deal with the Forest Service. You keep the others calm and out of sight. Once things blow over, we’ll be back in business.”
“These boys are restless. You better pray it doesn’t take long.”
“It takes as long as it takes. We’ve got a good thing going—don’t wreck it because you can’t control your men.”
“Don’t you worry about me and my men. You best come through with your part or we’re sunk. And if we get caught, we’re taking you down with us. Just so you know.”
My grip on the phone tightens into a stranglehold. It’s my first time working with anyone else, but I had no choice. Doesn’t mean my so-called partners will live long enough to reap the rewards of their labors—but it does mean I need to play it safe until then. “I’ve got it handled. Don’t call again unless it’s an emergency.”
I hang up, visions of bloodshed calming my urge to slam the phone into pieces. I imagine how I will kill each of them, how I’ll get rid of the bodies, how I’ll hide all traces of my involvement and vanish into the background—until it’s safe for me to leave with my bounty.
A new life, new riches, new me. Just four more bodies between me and my new beginning. Well, at least four. We’ll see, maybe more.
For the first time today, my smile doesn’t feel forced or fake. It feels like power. Hiding in plain sight, the serpent in the grass—I’ve been doing this for decades and no one’s ever caught me.
No one ever will. But that’s not the fun of it. The fun comes from pushing things to the very edge—kind of like how I pushed Bill over that cliff—and playing with the possibility of destruction, no matter how remote. Dancing with death.
Because if I ever am caught, imprisoned, held responsible for my actions—if everything I’ve done ever comes to light—then I’m doomed. It would be a fate worse than death, powerless at the hands of someone else. Never. I’ll end things myself before I ever let that happen.
See? Not even death can stop me from playing my game my way. I have all the power. Just the way I like things.