to say on the topic. Or so I thought…
“So now what? You get to Laredo, I go home and then…what?”
I shrug. “I cross the border and live in Mexico for a while. I don’t want the diamonds, but I haven’t figured out how to get rid of them.”
“Maybe you should’ve just left them in the other hotel when Deke came in. Then he’d be happy and wouldn’t be after you.”
“Us, Wren. He’s after us. And that just goes to show how fucking little you understand about this shit. If I had left the diamonds there, great. Yeah, he would have them. But he wants me dead. It’s vengeance with him now. And as for you? I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s pissed off with you too. He’s not going to rest until we’re dealt with.”
“But…after Laredo,” she began with a quiver in her voice, “then what?”
Shit. I hadn’t really thought that through. “Don’t worry. We’ll deal with it when the time comes.” Not the most reassuring of speeches, but there you have it.
Now there really isn’t anything else to say.
Once it’s dark, we each don our hats and walk over to the convenience store to get a little more food and to kill time until Jamie arrives. There isn’t much to say, and as much as I wouldn’t have minded another round of spankings and sex, I need to keep my head in the game.
At eleven on the dot, Jamie knocks on the hotel room door. He’s a short little dude in a long black trench coat. With nothing but a nod in my direction, he comes in and sets up shop at the small table in the corner. Within thirty minutes, we each have a new identity.
Wren watches in apparent fascination as Jamie does his work. With a tiny laptop and mini-printer, the work went a lot faster than it used to. When he stands and packs his shit up, I hand him the cash that we had agreed on and he hands me a set of keys.
“White Honda in the back of the convenience store.”
Shit. I hate white cars. “White? Seriously?”
“Trust me. You’ll blend. There are so many white fucking cars on the road that unless someone is driving around only looking at plates, they’ll have a hard time pinpointing you.”
It makes sense. I still fucking hate it. “Thanks, man.” And then he’s gone.
Wren and I do a final sweep of the room. We managed to grab some stuff for the car at the convenience store, so we’re leaving with a little more than we came with. Then we leave. I check out of the room and go find the car.
We climb, in and it’s your standard-issue program car. Once we’re situated, I look over at Wren, and she seems a little nervous. “You okay?”
“This almost seems too easy. Like…I just can’t believe that we’re gonna drive out of here and go to Laredo and that’s it. It doesn’t seem right.”
“Well, that’s the plan, and I gotta hope that it all goes that way. I don’t plan on looking for fucking trouble.” Although trouble seems to fucking find me easy enough. I don’t share that with her, though.
Instead, I pull out of the parking lot and hit the highway.
Nineteen
Wren
So now I’m sitting in the passenger seat of the car beside the guy who took me hostage, and we’re driving into the night like we’re on some sort of romantic road trip. None of this is how I expected to spend this week.
I should be at home right now, doing homework or watching TV. Someone—maybe Philip—should have asked me out for Friday night, and I should be thinking about what we’ll do, what I’ll wear. Shelley should be sending me obnoxious, catty pictures of her and Greg. My dad should be asking me whether I like the birthday present he bought me.
I never did get it, since the bank hold-up happened before I had my birthday lunch with him.
I close my eyes and lean my head back against the seat, feeling a little sick at the thought of how worried my dad must be. He’s the only one who really cares about me, so he’s the only one I’m really bothered by.
The rest of my life can pretty much go to
“So now what? You get to Laredo, I go home and then…what?”
I shrug. “I cross the border and live in Mexico for a while. I don’t want the diamonds, but I haven’t figured out how to get rid of them.”
“Maybe you should’ve just left them in the other hotel when Deke came in. Then he’d be happy and wouldn’t be after you.”
“Us, Wren. He’s after us. And that just goes to show how fucking little you understand about this shit. If I had left the diamonds there, great. Yeah, he would have them. But he wants me dead. It’s vengeance with him now. And as for you? I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s pissed off with you too. He’s not going to rest until we’re dealt with.”
“But…after Laredo,” she began with a quiver in her voice, “then what?”
Shit. I hadn’t really thought that through. “Don’t worry. We’ll deal with it when the time comes.” Not the most reassuring of speeches, but there you have it.
Now there really isn’t anything else to say.
Once it’s dark, we each don our hats and walk over to the convenience store to get a little more food and to kill time until Jamie arrives. There isn’t much to say, and as much as I wouldn’t have minded another round of spankings and sex, I need to keep my head in the game.
At eleven on the dot, Jamie knocks on the hotel room door. He’s a short little dude in a long black trench coat. With nothing but a nod in my direction, he comes in and sets up shop at the small table in the corner. Within thirty minutes, we each have a new identity.
Wren watches in apparent fascination as Jamie does his work. With a tiny laptop and mini-printer, the work went a lot faster than it used to. When he stands and packs his shit up, I hand him the cash that we had agreed on and he hands me a set of keys.
“White Honda in the back of the convenience store.”
Shit. I hate white cars. “White? Seriously?”
“Trust me. You’ll blend. There are so many white fucking cars on the road that unless someone is driving around only looking at plates, they’ll have a hard time pinpointing you.”
It makes sense. I still fucking hate it. “Thanks, man.” And then he’s gone.
Wren and I do a final sweep of the room. We managed to grab some stuff for the car at the convenience store, so we’re leaving with a little more than we came with. Then we leave. I check out of the room and go find the car.
We climb, in and it’s your standard-issue program car. Once we’re situated, I look over at Wren, and she seems a little nervous. “You okay?”
“This almost seems too easy. Like…I just can’t believe that we’re gonna drive out of here and go to Laredo and that’s it. It doesn’t seem right.”
“Well, that’s the plan, and I gotta hope that it all goes that way. I don’t plan on looking for fucking trouble.” Although trouble seems to fucking find me easy enough. I don’t share that with her, though.
Instead, I pull out of the parking lot and hit the highway.
Nineteen
Wren
So now I’m sitting in the passenger seat of the car beside the guy who took me hostage, and we’re driving into the night like we’re on some sort of romantic road trip. None of this is how I expected to spend this week.
I should be at home right now, doing homework or watching TV. Someone—maybe Philip—should have asked me out for Friday night, and I should be thinking about what we’ll do, what I’ll wear. Shelley should be sending me obnoxious, catty pictures of her and Greg. My dad should be asking me whether I like the birthday present he bought me.
I never did get it, since the bank hold-up happened before I had my birthday lunch with him.
I close my eyes and lean my head back against the seat, feeling a little sick at the thought of how worried my dad must be. He’s the only one who really cares about me, so he’s the only one I’m really bothered by.
The rest of my life can pretty much go to
Similar Books
