I hung mine up and slipped it into my pocket. Normally I’d get rid of a burner, but I needed them to be able to call me back.
Once I was finished, I walked back into the apartment and headed up the stairs. I opened the door and saw Hartley sitting at the table while Gage and Flynn were arm wrestling. She looked up at me and smiled.
“Flynn is winning,” she called out.
“Fuck that,” Gage grunted.
I shook my head. “Are you two fucking kidding me?”
“This. Is. No. Fucking. Joke,” Flynn managed to grunt.
I sighed and stood next to the table, watching the two fools. They were evenly matched, both straining as hard as they could. Hartley couldn’t help but laugh as the two men grunted and cursed at each other.
Finally, Flynn’s elbow slipped on what looked like spilled whisky. As soon as it gave out, Gage pounded his arm down to the table.
“Fuck!” he yelled, standing up. “Fuck that!”
Gage laughed wickedly. “Weak loser,” he said.
“You cheated!”
“You slipped,” Hartley observed.
He glared at her and then burst out laughing. The three of them laughed together as Flynn sat back down in his chair.
I shook my head. “Seriously you two. Don’t get too drunk. I need you guys ready for tonight.”
“We’ll be good to go, boss,” Gage said. “Don’t you worry.”
“Yeah, boss,” Flynn added.
I smirked at Hartley. “You’re not falling for this crap, are you? These fools aren’t always such clowns.”
“I think they’re just trying to show off for me,” she said.
“Damn right we are,” Flynn said.
“Pretty southern girl like you? Hard not to show off, just a little bit,” Gage added.
“Careful,” I said, grinning at them. “Come on, Hartley. We have to go make a little visit.”
She nodded and stood. “Thanks, boys. Don’t kill each other while we’re gone.”
Flynn saluted and Gage just grinned.
“See you later, Hart,” Gage said.
Hartley walked over to me and we went together over to the front door. I opened it up and we left just as the two idiot started laughing again.
“Fun guys,” she said.
“Yeah. They can be.”
“You’re sure they’re SEALs?” she asked.
“Very sure,” I said. “They’re just trying to make you feel comfortable is all.”
“You have good friends.”
“They’re good people,” I agreed, “but they can be idiots sometimes.”
She laughed and followed me down the stairs.
“Where to now?” she asked.
“Caldwells. This is the last stop before the main show. After tonight, we’ll be finished.”
“Yeah,” she said. “After tonight this is all over.”
“No more debt. No more danger.”
She nodded, resolute. “No more danger.”
I grinned at her. “Come on, girl. Let’s get the fuck out of here before the two idiots decide they want to tag along.”
We headed out of the building, walking close to each other.
25
Hartley
We made the familiar drive out to the Caldwell place. It was getting late in the day, and the sun was threatening to disappear down behind the hills. The area was bathed in a pink sunset, which was actually pretty beautiful.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the hills were a pretty gorgeous place to live. If I didn’t know what was lurking out there hidden in the mines, at least.
We pulled up front. The parking lot was mostly empty as we climbed out and headed up to the main building. I followed Travis inside.
King was standing behind the counter, and as soon as he saw Travis he reached for something.
“Stop,” Travis said. “You grab that gun and I’ll fucking kill you, King.”
“You have some nerve showing up here like this,” he said.
“I’m here for Janey, not you.”
“Motherfucker. I should gun you down.”
“I still have business with her. You really want to do this?”
Travis stared King down for a second, and slowly King brought his hands up to the top of the counter. “She’s around back,” he said. “Working with a group. Go make yourself known.”
“Thanks,” Travis grunted.
I smiled at King as we walked by. He just stared at us, a blank expression on his face.
We went out the back door and onto the back porch. Brock and Janey were working with a little ATV tour group, probably the last group of the day. They were giving them the quick safety rundown. We stood and watched, waiting for them to finish.
Once the speech was over and the group was heading out, Janey slowly walked over to us, smiling.
“There you are,” Janey said. “I was wondering when I’d see you again.”
“I need to steal from you tonight, Janey,” Travis said.
She laughed. “Uh oh. Not sure I like the sound of that.”
Travis grinned. “Listen, it’s on. We need to do it tonight.”
“That’s too soon,” she said. “We’re not ready.”
“It’s now or never. Something happened and now we need to rush.”
“Killed one of their boys? Fucked something up?”
“Something like that,” Travis said.
Janey looked at me. “What did you do?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said, surprised.
Janey narrowed her eyes and then laughed again. “I’m just teasing.” She looked back at Travis. “Okay then. What’s the deal?”
“I have a big rig. You hide some men in the back. I made a deal with the mafia that I’ll only meet with their head guy. You all come out, kill the mafia people, and pay us our money. That’s it.”
She nodded slowly. “So you’re giving me the infamous Merton.”
“Best I can do.”
“You said you’d give me the whole Dixie Mafia.”
Travis clenched his jaw. “This is short notice, Janey. Without Merton, they’ll be disorganized, ready for the taking. Can you get some men together?”
“I can,” she admitted.
“Merton is worth fifty grand, plus whoever else he brings.”
She stared at Travis for a second, thinking hard. Slowly she nodded. “All right then, Travis. Fifty grand, but only if Merton is there and dead.”
“One more thing. You remember Hoyt?”
“Ray’s old friend?”
“That guy, yeah. He’ll be there tonight. I want you to spare him.”
She cocked her head. “Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Because he’ll flip for you. Use him to secure what you need.”
She nodded once. “I can see the value in that.”
“Good. So we have a deal?”
She held out her hand. “We do.”
Travis shook with her. She turned to me and held out her hand. I shook it. Her grip was firm and warm, though her eyes were cold and serious.
“Come on, Hartley,” Travis said.
“One more thing, Travis,” Janey called out over the sound of the ATV group pulling out. “Fuck me over and I’ll make sure this girl dies. You understand that? I know where she lives. I’ll burn her farm to the ground.”
“You wouldn’t be the only one,” I grumbled.
Travis grinned. “Sure thing, Janey. I’ll pick you guys up around one tonight. Then we’ll head over to the old shoe factory. Be ready.”
“Got it.”
We turned and left, skirting around the building to avoid having to go through that bullshit dance with King again.
That had gone surprisingly well. I didn’t know what I had expected, but Janey had seemed quick to agree. Travis said Janey was a businesswoman, and business always came first, but I couldn’t help but worry anyway. Something seemed so strange about her, so cold and uncaring. It was almost as if she didn’t give a shit one way or the other how this played out.
But I cared. I needed this to work. Travis was taking a huge risk by turning on the mafia like this, and he was gambling our lives. But I couldn’t help but trust him anyway.
We climbed into the car and pulled out slowly.“What do you think?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“About Janey. Think we can trust her?”
“We don’t have much choice.”
“No, we don’t, but I want to hear what you think anyway.”
I bit my lip. “It doesn’t matter what I think, Travis. I haven’t exactly made good decisions.”
“Damn it, Hartley,” he said, shaking his head. “I care about what you think. This isn’t just my life on the line here.”
That surprised me. “I know that.”
“You think you’re such a fuckup? So you made one fucking mistake. This isn’t exactly something you deal with all the time. You made a choice that you thought was best for your family, and I can’t fucking blame you. Culver was a creepy fucking shit.”
“I know,” I said. “But I’m sorry, Travis.”
Suddenly he pulled the car off the side of the road. We were on a back country road with no other cars in sight. He pulled the car down into the grass and stared at me, this intense expression in his eyes.
“We’re about to go do something pretty fucking dangerous,” he said. “I need you to be okay with yourself. I need you to have your head on right for this.” He reached out and took my hand, pulling me close. “You hear me, Hartley? You’re strong. You’re smart. I need you.”