It was dim and smoky, with a large TV on the back wall playing a football game. Five men sat at a poker table. Hoyt and Guff were there, plus three other guys I’d never seen before.
And sitting in the back corner watching the TV screen was Culver. He looked up as we entered.
“Ah, there he is, Travis Rock.” Culver stood up and the other men all stared.
“Culver,” Travis said. “Boys.” He nodded at them.
They ignored him.
“To what do we owe this visit?” Culver asked, walking over.
“I got an update on my progress,” Travis said.
Culver smiled his creepy grin and gestured. “Go ahead.”
“Visited the Caldwell compound the other night. Killed one guard, nearly killed another. I saw the shipment.”
Culver nodded. “Good. So you know where it is.”
“I do. But here’s the thing. There’s way more than just fifty grand worth of stuff and drugs in there. Frankly, it’s at least double that.”
Culver continued smiling. “Probably true.”
“I can’t steal all that without help. I need a team of guys if I’m going to pull it off.”
Culver nodded at the boys playing poker. “They can help with that.”
“No,” Travis said firmly. “I’m hiring my own team from guys I trust. But I’ll need cash.”
Culver frowned. “Why would we give you more money? You’re trying to work yourself out of debt.”
“Five grand,” he said. “I’ll hire the muscle, get your shit back. You know you’re going to be making a big profit off this.”
“We’re already at a loss. You’re helping us break even.”
“I’m helping you steal your own shipment plus whatever else they had in there, which will definitely make this worth your money.”
Culver stroked his chin and glanced at Hoyt, who simply crossed his arms and shrugged. Culver looked back and stared at me.
“What do you think, Miss Hartley? Is our boy here going too far?”
“I trust him,” I said simply, too afraid to say more.
“I’m sure you do.” Culver looked away. “Guff, Heber, take these two out back and shoot them.”
Guff and another man stood up. Travis, however, reached for his holster, his gun in his hand but not drawn.
“Hold on now,” Travis said. “That’s a mistake.”
“You’re pushing my patience, Travis. We want this job done. We don’t want to invest more money. I simply decided to get rid of you two and to use my own local talent to pull this off.”
The man named Heber stepped up to Travis, his hand on his gun. Travis stared the man down. “You draw, you die,” Travis said. “Not a man in here can outdraw me, least of all you.”
Heber glanced at Culver, and Culver laughed. “Okay. Calm down. Sit back down, Heber.”
The man slowly backed off. Travis looked back at Culver. “If you could get this shipment back on your own, you wouldn’t have taken me up on my offer. You people need a man like me to pull this off.”
“Maybe that’s true,” Culver said.
“Five grand. Then it’ll be done.”
There was a tense moment, a pause, before finally Culver laughed again.
“Very well. Guff, go get the money.” Culver shook his head. “You drive a hard bargain. I’m impressed.”
“You wanted the best,” Travis said. “You fucking got it.”
Guff came back a few minutes later with a small black duffel bag. He tossed it over to Travis, who caught it and handed it off to me. The bag felt heavy, and I saw cash shoved in there.
“That’s all?” Culver asked.
“That’s all.”
“Okay then. Get out before I decide to kill you myself.”
Travis turned and strode out. I left on his heels and saw Culver smiling out of the corner of my eye.
We moved through the bar, not stopping, and went right outside. We didn’t stop until we were back in the car and were pulling back out onto the road.
“Well,” Travis said finally, “that went pretty good.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you kidding me? They almost killed us.”
“That was just a bluff, just trying to test me.” He grinned at me as he pulled back out onto the main road. “Now we can pay Janey off.”
“You’re insane.”
“Maybe, but we’re getting there.”
I shook my head and marveled at him. I’d never met a man who could walk into the heart of a gangster’s hideout and bluff money from him, but Travis could pull it off. Any other person and this plan would seem insane.
But I trusted Travis. I trusted that he could play both sides, make this happen.
I felt elated and terrified, the same wave of euphoria I’d been riding since this all started.
I felt wild, free, and crazy. Travis was to blame for it all.
16
Travis
We went to bed early that night. After talking five grand out of the mafia and making a deal to go behind their backs with Janey, I was pretty fucking exhausted. Besides, I needed to do more thinking, more planning, before this all went down.
I was up earlier than Hartley, like usual. I made coffee and pancakes again. After breakfast, we got dressed and hit the road.
We drove out to the Caldwell’s place again, though this time we weren’t going out for a fun little ATV tour. The bag with the money in it was stashed in the back, and I was hoping that the deal from the night before still stood. I believed I understood Janey, but it had been so long. Anything could happen, and I had to be ready for it.
We parked in the lot and I looked at Hartley. “What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I grunted. “Just thinking about last night.”
“Which part?”
“The part where I licked that pussy until you couldn’t think anymore.”
She blushed and looked away. “I thought we weren’t talking about it.”
“Just hadn’t brought it up yet is all.”
“Well, I’m glad you had fun.”
I laughed. “You’re the one who had fun. I’ve been fucking hard ever since.”
“Not much I can do about that.”
“With a fucking body like that, there’s a lot you can do for this hard cock.”
She stared at me for a second and then shook her head. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“All right then. Right down to business.”
She opened her door and stepped out. I followed, grabbing the bag from the back. I let her lead the way, enjoying the view of her firm little ass swaying in her short jean shorts. It was taking all of my strength and willpower not to fucking press her up against a wall and take her like I wanted to.
But I knew better. Mixing business and pleasure wasn’t the smartest move in the world. Still, with Hartley I could barely resist wanting that pleasure. She was built for it, begging for it, and I wanted to take her and make her moan my name. Nothing got me harder than seeing that girl come while looking in my eyes.
We went up to the front door and entered into the main room again. Brock, Janey’s dumbest brother, was standing behind the front counter, reading a magazine. He looked up as I approached.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, not even pretending like he didn’t know.
“I’m here to see Janey.”
He frowned. “Why? And you know, I didn’t appreciate you lying to me the other day.”
“I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you who I was.”
His frown deepened. “Janey is busy.”
“Get her. Tell her I’m here to finish our deal from last night.”
“What deal?”
I sighed. “Go get your sister, Brock. I don’t have all fucking day.”
Brock straightened up at that. “Hey now. That’s no way to talk to me.”
“Listen, Brock. This has been a rough few days. I really don’t need to deal with your shit, too.”
I could feel Hartley next to me getting uncomfortable, but fuck if I was going to eat shit from this dumbass.
Brock slowly came out from behind the counter and stood directly in front of me, squaring off. “I said, Janey’s fucking busy. Come back another time.”
“Your sister is going to be very pissed when she realizes that her dumbass brother ruined a business arrangement for her.”
I stared him down, practically begging for him to come at me. I was feeling particularly annoyed today, and a little fight with Brock was probably enough to blow off some of that steam.
Unfortunately for me, though, King stepped in through the back door.
“She’s waiting for you in the barn,” King called out. “Brock, back down, man.”
I smirked at Brock. “Listen to your brother.”
I could tell he wanted to swing, and badly. Instead, he slowly backed down. He turned and walked behind the counter, grumbling to himself the whole time.
“Come on,” I said to Hartley. We went back out the front door and headed across the property toward the barn. I knew exactly where I was going, considering I’d just scouted the place recently.
The back doors were sitting slightly open. I pushed them open and stepped in, Hartley on my heels.
What I saw stopped me in my tracks.
The whole damn place was empty.
Janey was leaning up against a hay bale not far away, smoking a cigarette. She smiled at me as I looked around. I finally stared at her and cocked my head to the side.