His heart lifted. She liked it.
His phone vibrated with another text. But this doesn’t change anything.
But it did change something—she was at least communicating with him. He hesitated, trying to think of something cool to text back and settled on You’re welcome. I’m in Vegas. Wish me luck. And he added a few four-leaf clover emojis. Girls loved that shit.
A few seconds later his phone vibrated again. You’re not old enough to gamble.
Wes frowned.
His phone lit up and his hope that Meg was calling was dashed when he saw Carlotta’s name on the screen. Had she somehow found out about the money? Then he scoffed—now he was being a hemorrhoid. He connected the call. “Hey, Sis. What’s up?”
“Hi, Wes.” Her voice sounded tired. “Not good news, I’m afraid. Randolph was jumped and stabbed.”
His grip tightened on the phone. “Is he okay?”
“He’s alive in the prison infirmary, but it’s serious.”
“Should we go home?”
“They won’t let us see him. But if the worst happens, we’ll have to cut our trip short.”
“So we can’t see him until he’s dead, is that what you’re saying?”
“I suppose that’s true. But it was his choice not to talk to us when he had the chance.” She sighed. “Look, Wes, there’s nothing we can do except hope he recovers. Try not to worry. Do something to keep your mind off everything. I’ll let you know if I get any updates.”
“Okay. Thanks, Sis.” He disconnected the call, fighting tears of anger. Life just wasn’t fair.
“You okay, dude?”
“Yeah.” Wes swiped at his eyes. “C’mon, let’s hit the tables.”
“Fucking A, man. Hey, do you need some cash? I can spot you a few bills.”
“Not necessary.” Wes patted his jacket. “I got it covered.”
Chapter 10
“THERE’S THE POSTAL TRUCK,” Hannah said, bouncing in the driver’s seat. Something on her jangled, but it could’ve been anything from her jewelry to the buckles on her studded black clothing.
Carlotta glanced away from the shipping store entrance and gave her friend a pointed look. “You might ease up on the caffeine—this could be a long day.”
“I’m prepared,” Hannah said, holding up an oddly shaped pink rubber object.
“What’s that?”
“A portable urinal for women.” She positioned it for demonstration. “So we can pee like a guy without leaving the car.”
Carlotta scoffed. “When we need to pee, we’ll take turns walking to the coffee house.”
“Spoil sport. I brought it for you—I’m wearing a diaper.”
Carlotta laughed, but she didn’t doubt it. She knew Hannah was trying to cheer her up. There was still no word about Randolph’s condition.
She lifted the binoculars to watch the packages being unloaded across the street. They were sitting in a rented SUV in a parking lot, with the nose of the vehicle facing the shipping store.
“Are you sure you’ll recognize the box?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah. It had a colorful design, and I used a black marker to draw X’s on all six sides. There it is.” She released a pent-up breath, reminding herself this ruse was still a longshot. Randolph could’ve easily given a bogus contact number when he rented the box.
“This is so exciting,” Hannah said, bouncing.
“This from someone who yesterday was lunching with a prince.”
“A prince from some country no one’s heard of. We could probably go there and be duchesses or some shit like that if we had enough money.”
“You do have enough money,” Carlotta said lightly.
“My parents have money,” Hannah corrected. “I’m a slaving culinary student and underpaid body mover.”
“How many boxes do you think the postal guy is taking inside?”
“Ten or so.”
“I wonder how soon the man working there will call the customers to let them know they have a package.”
“He doesn’t seem to be overrun with customers.”
“Hopefully Tuesdays are slow,” Carlotta murmured.
When the postal truck left, she lowered the binoculars and relaxed in the seat. “Okay, the desk is manned until 6, so that’s up to eight hours of waiting.”
“Where does Peter think you are?”
“Out shopping with you. Where does Chance think you are?”
“Out shopping with you. He was suspicious last night, though.”
“What time did you get back from your meeting?”
“About nine o’clock. Thanks again for letting me use your bathroom for a changeroo. Where were you and Peter?”