8 Bodies is Enough(36)
“I covered the five hundred.”
“Thanks, man.”
“But you got worse problems. Dillon Carver is out to get you.”
Wes’s knees felt rubbery, so he held on to the bars. “Before I left town, I paid off my debt to The Carver with some of that money.”
“So I heard. Dillon said you got him in a world of trouble with his dad.”
“So I have a beating coming if I ever get out of here?”
“A beating? Wes, Dillon put a hit out on your scrawny ass.”
Wes swayed. “A hit?”
“Yeah, man. This is for real.” Chance looked past Wes. “Is that guy pretending to knit?”
Wes snapped his fingers to bring Chance back to the crisis at hand. “I thought I saw Leonard outside the hotel.”
Chance’s eyes popped. “Are you sure it was him?”
“No. But do you think Dillon sent him to smoke me?”
“If it’s Leonard, he didn’t come to Vegas to see Britney Spears.”
Wes jammed his hand into his hair. “What should I do, man?”
“Stay in as long as you can. The freaks in here are better than what’s waiting for you out there.”
Wes nodded. “Meanwhile, if anyone asks, I got the fake bills in a poker game back home, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Visiting time is over, ladies,” a guard said, walking up to the door. “Wren, your lawyer is on the phone.” The guy leered. “She sounds hot.”
“She is,” Chance said, “and Wes balls her all the time.”
“Hey,” Wes said, punching Chance’s arm. “I don’t anymore. And this isn’t the time to talk about hot ass.”
“It’s always time to talk about hot ass,” Chance said.
“I’ll be sure to tell Hannah you said that,” Wes said as the guard unlocked the door.
“Don’t do that,” his buddy said, back-pedaling. “She and Carlotta are on their way down.”
“Stand back,” the guard shouted to the masses. He clanged a baton against the metal to clear enough space for Wes to get out.
“I’m not talking to Carlotta. And keep your trap shut.”
“I’m as silent as the grave.”
Wes sighed. “Did you have to mention the word ‘grave’?”
“Sorry. Hang in there.”
When they got to the end of the hallway, the guard sent Chance in one direction and led Wes in another. Wes’s feet felt like buckets of cement as he walked into a room lined with phone banks.
“Number three,” the guard said. “You got ten minutes.”
Wes picked up the grubby handset. “Liz?”
“Yes, it’s me, Wes. Carlotta called, said you’d been arrested in Vegas. She said you wouldn’t tell her why. Did you get caught soliciting?”
“Uh, no. I got caught with counterfeit money.”
The silence on the other end caused his intestines to cramp.
“Liz?”
“Wes, don’t say another word, not to anyone. Are you still in holding?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, the police plant people in holding all the time to get arrestees to talk. Also, your phone calls are monitored. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Loud and clear.”
“I’ll be on the next plane out. Sit tight.”
As if he had a choice, Wes thought as he trudged back to holding. When the door opened, he caught a turd on the side of his face.
Perfect.
Chapter 14
“I CANNOT BELIEVE you didn’t take a picture of your mother,” Hannah said, honking at someone who tried to edge in front of her in the evening traffic. As a bonus, she gave them the finger.
“I blanked,” Carlotta said. “I was too busy soaking in the news that she’s alive, has dementia, and another daughter.”
“And now this situation with Wes. How are you even conscious right now?”
“Give me an alternative. My family is in full-blown crisis.”
“People check out, turn their backs on their families all the time,” Hannah said. “Your parents did.”
Her friend was giving her permission to walk away from everything and not feel bad. And didn’t some tiny part of her want to? Randolph might be on his death bed, and her mother might not even remember she’d ever been there. But Priscilla would remember, and Carlotta couldn’t leave her to the wind, no matter how much the little imp resisted. And she couldn’t abandon Wes, not when their family was on the cusp of reuniting.
Or falling apart altogether.
“You don’t have to make any decisions tonight,” Hannah said. “How bad is your mother?”
“Hard to tell, she went back and forth between current day and the time before she and Randolph left. It was hard to watch her struggle. I got the feeling she knows she’s not okay.”