“Did you find something?” Brinley asked, moving closer to Reed.
“Not necessarily, but my work is starting to get stranger by the day, and I’m at a loss as to how to make sense of it.” Reed pointed to the den and opened the bar next to the fireplace. “Do you drink?”
“Mostly wine, but the way my life is going lately, I’m thinking anything sounds good.” Brinley sat with her legs on the sofa and smiled. She wasn’t relaxed, but there hadn’t been any talk of killing her or anyone else in a while, so there was no reason to have every shield up.
Reed poured them two glasses of Frangelico and added ice. “This is something my friend found when we were both old enough to drink, and we kept up the tradition of ending hard days with some, even if we shared it over the phone most nights.”
The comment was surprisingly personal, something Reed had never done without prompting in their short time together. Brinley had tried to express her gratitude at every opportunity, but this might be another chance to get to know Reed better. If Reed saw her and Finn as people and not marks, it upped their chances of surviving this craziness. She’d watched enough ID TV to know that.
“That sounds nice. I do that sometimes with my mom.”
Reed nodded and sighed. “There’s a room upstairs for you and Finn.” She took her shoes off and yawned. It looked like the fatigue of the last few days was catching up to her. “Did I tell you that?”
“You did, but I wanted to wait for you and didn’t want to find Finn skiing down the stairs if he woke up alone. He’s a handful, so I let him fall asleep down here.” Brinley took a sip of her drink and closed her eyes. “What do you find strange about this work? If you can tell me.”
“Do you really want to know? You’ve got enough problems.”
Brinley laughed. “I was planning to quit my job before I found out anything I couldn’t ignore, and someone put a hit on me. Since that plan didn’t work out for me, I’m thinking anything you have to tell me won’t make things worse. And I’d rather keep my mind busy than sit here thinking about being afraid of death all day long.”
“You’re an interesting person, Ms. Myers.” Brinley handed over her empty glass, so Reed poured them some more. “I thought you’d be screaming to be let loose no matter the consequences.”
“Oh, I’m freaking out, but I’m trying to do it quietly since you don’t seem to have a lot of experience with hysterical women,” Brinley said, and it made Reed laugh. “No matter, though, we’re stuck together, and the best thing is to help each other.”
“Hold on.” Reed stood and went out to the garage. She came back and put a stack of stuff on the coffee table, then watched Brinley stare at it. “Your contract came through right after I finished something similar.”
“You killed someone?” Brinley asked and tried her best not to appear horrified. From the way Reed was staring at her, that plan had not gone well. Considering what Reed had just said, a poker face wasn’t easy to pull off.
“I’m not a nice person, and if the price is right, I do take those contracts. That’s as simply as I can explain it.”
“Reed, I’m not going to judge you, but let me ask you something.” Brinley wasn’t exactly sure how to handle that information. It wasn’t like playing house when you were a kid, but the other person left after you made the mud pie so they could go out and kill people.
“What do you want to know?” Wariness radiated off Reed like heat from a furnace, and Brinley didn’t want to make any wrong moves.
“This other job you had, was it someone like me?”
Reed smiled and shook her head. “Are you trying to explain away what I did? Believe me, you don’t want to do that.”
“Just answer my question,” Brinley asked forcefully.
“It was someone who was your exact opposite. He was an evil bastard, and I made a lot of money, but I should’ve turned it down. Damn, you’re like truth serum.”
“Why do you think you should’ve turned it down?” Brinley’s voice was soft, and Reed seemed to suddenly become alert.
There was no way Reed would be taken down by this kind of seduction—not after everything she’d supposedly done. Not that seduction was on her mind, obviously. But Brinley had to find a way to level their situation. If she had something to offer, then it would be harder to get rid of her. “No reason.” Reed finished her second drink and stood up. “Do you need anything? I’m going to bed.”
“Oh, go ahead.” Brinley was confused at the abrupt retreat. “I’ll stay here if that’s okay.”
“Sure, but remember not to call anyone.”
“I already promised I wouldn’t. You have my word, and you don’t have to leave.”
Reed picked up the stuff she’d brought in and stared at Brinley. “Maybe tomorrow we can figure something out that’ll get you back to your life sooner.”
“Reed,” Brinley said, stopping her from going. “Today was another strange day, but while you were gone, I figured something out.”
“What’s that?”
“We got here because you didn’t fulfill your contract, but now we really are in this together. I believe you when you say we’re not safe.” Brinley stood as well but didn’t move from the sofa. “You have to know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my son, and nothing I’m not willing to accept to keep him safe. Do you understand?”
Reed shrugged. “Not really, but I’m not going to stop trying to help you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I believe you about that as well, so I’m not worried.” Reed nodded and turned to go. “Reed,” Brinley said her name again, trying to make the connection that would keep Reed on their side.
“Yes.” She kept her voice low, as if being careful not to wake Finn.
“You need to forgive yourself.”
“You don’t really know me, so how can you say that? We both know the outcome would’ve been very different if Finn hadn’t been with you.”
“I do know that, but thankfully he was, and that means you shouldn’t dwell on what-ifs. You need to forgive yourself.” She wasn’t sure if she meant it but felt like it needed to be said.
Reed turned around and faced Brinley. “Forgive myself for what?” She crossed her arms and tilted her head.
“Whatever it is that brought you to this place in your life, that makes you ache. I may not know what it was, but I have a feeling you’re not to blame.” That part, at least, she knew was true. She’d seen Reed’s humanity. She’d seen the way she smiled at Finn, and she’d taken the time to do what she could to make them comfortable. She might be complicated, but there was more to her than just a thief and hired killer. The thought was surreal, but that’s what life was these days.
Reed simply stared at Brinley for a long moment. “Thanks.” There would never be that kind of forgiveness for her, but it was generous of Brinley to suggest it considering the circumstances. She nodded and left, not wanting to expose any other weakness that Brinley seemed to see so easily.
Another shower was good, and she sat naked at the small rolltop writer’s desk in her room and opened the books and files she’d taken. If anything, work would take her mind off Brinley.
The ledger seemed to be a record of all the transactions Victor had done for Robert Wallace. There weren’t that many, and all she could think was they were test runs, considering the comparatively small amounts for each one.
“What the hell were you doing?” Reed tapped her pen on the ledgers. Wallace and Victor’s business dealings had started about six months prior and there had to be more of a paper trail than this, but it wasn’t in the villa. “It’s not in the office, and not in your little love nest,” she said, closing the ledger and opening the file. “That leaves the house if you have anything else.”
The file concentrated on Lucan’s wife, Mandy, and her affair with the lawyer from the firm Reed had scrubbed of Victor’s divorce plans. The private eye had gotten some great photos. They were good enough to earn Mandy and her lover a grave somewhere they’d never be found if Lucan ever figured out the affair was going on. The question was, why had Victor cared?
“I’m too fucking exhausted to care myself,” she said in her old habit of talking to herself. She’d started doing it as a way to fill the silence she’d lived with for so long, but also to actually use her voice. The only person she’d had to talk to for a long time was Oscar, and she didn’t like bothering him with her insecurities.
She checked her computer before she got into bed, and there were no new work orders in the private email account. Not that she was looking for any, but she was curious as to what else would come up, considering what was happening around town. “Thank God for that.”
The darkness of the room relaxed her into sleep, but she found Penny waiting for her in her nightmares.
“Here.” Penny gave Rebel five dollars and shoved her away. “Stop all that fucking crying and go get me some cigarettes.” The order was slurred, and Penny stumbled. “Stop it or I swear I’ll give you something to cry about,” Penny yelled, grabbing the sides of her head like she couldn’t stand the noise.
Rebel put her shoes on and wiped her nose on her arm, trying desperately to swallow her emotions. She was hungry since there’d been nothing in the apartment for two days and her mama had been too sick to notice. The problem was, she knew better than to complain. Mama didn’t like it.
“You deaf, you little shit? Go get me some cigarettes.” Penny whipped her hand back and slapped the top of her head.
She ran out and tripped going down the stairs, catching herself, but not before hitting her head against the railing. There was blood on her fingers after she touched her forehead, but it would be worse if she didn’t get the cigarettes, so she kept running.
The clerk at the convenience store hesitated like he always did, but he handed over a pack and gave her thirty-eight cents in change. It was the same amount every time, and she was planning to keep it like she did every time. She really didn’t know much about money, but all those coins were hidden in her room, and when she had enough of them, she was going to run away.
She took the money and the smokes, ready to run back, when the clerk stopped her. He was an old man, but he was nice to her. “Here, kid.” He peeled open one of the ham sandwiches from the cooler and handed it to her. “Eat it before you go back.”
“Thanks, mister.” She took it and ran, not wanting to stay too long. Mama said if she did, that someone would take her away and not bring her back.
The dumpster behind the apartment building was her quiet place, so she sat and took big bites of the food. There were new kittens this time, but she was too hungry to share like she usually did. A car door slamming made her jump to her feet and peek. It was the man who came sometimes to get in bed with Mama, and when he did, Mama made her hide. Those were the times Mama screamed about how she couldn’t fucking believe she had her, and how she was fucking ruining her life.
That he was here meant she could stay longer and breathe. She sat and played with the kittens, figuring it would be better than hiding in the dark closet not making a sound until Mama yelled it was okay to get out.
When she woke up it was dark and the man’s car was gone, so she took her time going up the stairs, though she’d much rather stay with the kittens. Mama was sleeping with no clothes on, and she put the cigarettes next to her and kept quiet so as not to bother her. She hid her coins and lay on the sofa. The slap across the cut on her face woke her up and she tried to roll into a ball to protect herself.
“Where the fuck were you?” Penny screamed as she hit her over and over. “I should have gotten rid of you. I should’ve fucking gotten rid of you.”
Reed woke with a gasp and her arm over her head, the echo of the slap and her memory of the pain still viciously clear. It was a toss-up as to what hurt more, Penny’s beatings or her words. She’d mourned her mother even though Penny had been nothing close to a parent. The idiot had died not long after that day, and Reed’s only inheritance had been the thirty-eight cents she still had on her from her last trip for more cigarettes.
The coins had been in her pocket when Mrs. Speck had driven her away, and she’d managed to keep them even through all those years of misery in the system. She’d had to leave so fast, she never got a chance to get the rest. Hopefully whoever got them understood the complete misery that had gone into that pile of coins.
“Fuck me, Penny, why don’t you just stay dead?” Reed sat up, knowing sleep wouldn’t come now. “Might as well get something done.” She got dressed and wrote a note and left it for Brinley. Years of experience got her through the house and outside without waking anyone up.
It was one thirty in the morning, but she still had plenty of time for what she had in mind. “Let’s see what you know, Dean Jasper.”
* * *
Yankee Balboa sat in one of the villas at the Bellagio and waited. When Benito Lucassi had called him and placed his order, he’d almost laughed the old guy off, but the amount of money the fucker offered made him agree. Between this job and the bitch with the kid, he’d be able to go to Cabo for a few months and enjoy some fishing and plenty of fucking.
“Come on, man, is it broken?” he asked the big dude he had tied to the bed. “You got two of those pills in you so you should be hard as stone by now. Don’t tell me it’s performance anxiety. It’s not like I’ll be taking notes on what you’re doing wrong.”
The guy moved his head from side to side and moaned, but he couldn’t get too loud because of the gag.
Caterina Terzo was next to him, but she still was out from the shot of heroin Yankee had given her, and he had to laugh at what came next. “Whoever the sick fuck is who thought of this scenario is a genius.”
Caterina moaned but her eyes didn’t open.
“She really fucked that chick Victor was with?” He pointed to Caterina, and the big guy shook his head some more. “Don’t lie, big man, you know she did, and now that girl’s dead after your boss tricked her out. Her family’s pissed about that, and you need to ask yourself if you want to stand between this bitch and justice.”
Thankfully the guy’s dick was starting to get hard and he could finish this.
“Stop moaning and listen,” he said, grabbing the guy by the chin. “You want to walk out of here?” The guy’s eyes widened, and he nodded much more enthusiastically, or as much as he could with his chin in Yankee’s grasp. “Good boy. All you need to do is fuck your boss, and it’s your ticket out.”
The guy stopped moving and stared at him, his expression one of disbelief.
“Stop bullshitting me and tell me you haven’t thought about it. Someone like Caterina Terzo needs to be put in her place, and if you’re the man who does it, you get to walk out and brag about it.”
It took a moment, but the guy shook his head again.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’d rather die than fuck this loser?”
The guy shook his head and blinked rapidly.
Yankee guessed dying from fucking Caterina or from Francesco finding out what he’d done were one and the same. “I’m going to untie you, and if you make any move other than what I’m asking, you’re going to join those cops in a closed casket funeral. Understand?” he asked as he cut one leg loose.
The way the guy resisted when he tried to roll him over onto Caterina made Yankee believe he really did fear Francesco more than him. The idiot stopped struggling when he jammed his gun to the back of his neck. Finding Caterina with this guy’s dick in her was the last piece of the tableau that Benito wanted the police to find, but there was only so much he was willing to do for a job. He wasn’t going to sit there and try and shove the damn thing in.
Whatever reaction Francesco Terzo was going to have didn’t seem like something Benito was worried about. That wasn’t his problem, and he shoved the dildo in the guy’s ass none too gently.
The move made the guy buck a few times as if trying to dislodge it before he slumped bonelessly onto Caterina. His weight made her open her eyes and say fuck once, before Yankee forced a pill down her throat and slammed his hand over her mouth and nose. The thrashing and gulping that followed made Yankee confident she’d swallowed it, so he sat on the bed and waited.
Caterina Terzo died with her eyes open and her bodyguard on top of her, making it look like they’d been fucking, and that was close enough. It was the revenge London’s grandfather had wanted for her and had gotten permission to mete out. Benito’s guarantee of New York’s okay was the only way he’d accepted the job. He wasn’t an idiot, and he wasn’t about to get caught in the crosshairs of the warring mob families.
“Hello, sir,” Yankee said, packing away all the ropes and cuffs he used. “It’s done.”
“The way I wanted?” Benito asked.
“Exactly that way, sir. Give me twenty minutes and you can have someone call it in. Terzo paid for the loss of your blood with her own.”
* * *
“I’m telling you,” Alex said as Robert got undressed. They’d had a few late nights trying to keep the police out of their business, and trying to keep the media from reporting from the front of the casino. All the attention had Caterina Terzo on Robert’s ass and he was getting damned tired of it.
“Alex, I’m not interested in talking about it again.” He folded his pants and placed them on the chair in his room. “I’ll tell you what I’ve said to Caterina a million times. The only thing we can do is wait it out. If we try to shut down the cooperation we’ve shown, the cops will only ramp up the pressure.”
“Why do they keep coming back?” Alex, at least, seemed more relaxed now that he was in his underwear.
He pointed at Alex’s pants and lay down. “Because we had to kill those two idiots Jasper hired, and our contractors were even bigger idiots by killing those kids. At least the other guy got rid of the bodies, but he accepted the money, so they’re dead. No one’s stupid enough to collect the fee if the job’s not done.” He put his hands behind his head when Alex got naked and took his time putting his hands in his boxers. “The kids are what’s going to force us to be patient.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Robert exhaled when Alex finally shut up and sucked the head of his dick in. His phone ringing wasn’t anything he wanted to deal with, but it wasn’t the time to let anything slide.
“What?” He was glad Alex didn’t stop.
“Mr. Wallace, it’s Rick.”
“Who?” He put his hand on Alex’s head to get him to slow down.
“Rick, I work security at Bellagio. You told me to call you if I saw or heard anything strange. Remember that?”
“Yeah,” he said, stopping Alex since this guy seldom called. The last time was when Victor had been found, and he’d paid him five grand for that information. “You have something for me?”
“The police just called for us to check out the villa next to where they found Madison, and I just left there. Once the cops showed up they threw everyone out.”
Robert sat up and pushed Alex aside. “What did you find?”
“The same kind of shit we saw when Madison died, but this time it was Caterina Terzo and some guy named Leon Santiago. It was the same thing, right down to Caterina and the guy dying while they were fucking. That’s what they told me.”
“Caterina Terzo’s dead?” he asked, which made Alex sit up as well. “You sure it’s her?”
“I didn’t get to take any pictures, but I’m telling you, it’s her. She doesn’t come over here often, but I’ve seen her.”
“Rick, come by the office tomorrow and I’ll have something for you. Remember that there’s always going to be a payday if you keep calling.” He hung up and smiled. “Can you believe it?” he asked Alex. “The bitch is dead, and she was offed the same way Victor bit it.”
“Who do you think had the balls to do that?” Alex said, standing up and pouring him a drink. “Francesco is going to be insane until he finds out who.”
“This is nothing but good for us. If Francesco and Lucan spend their time looking for her killer, it takes their eye off us.” He enjoyed the burn of the whiskey. “Shit, if this had come sooner, we could’ve saved ourselves the contracts we had to take out. Caterina would never have found out.”
“Not really, lover. There’s no way you could’ve left those women out there knowing what they did.”
“No sense in worrying about it since we’ll be rolling in cash before Terzo and his partners figure it out.” Now was the time to get in touch with his new contacts and finish their business. “It’s time to start celebrating.”
“Not yet,” Alex said, going back to what he’d been doing, “but soon.”