“Hopefully making it look like this was all an accident. If we’re lucky, they’ll rule it as such and not look too carefully. Rich folks are sometimes surprisingly resistant to an autopsy, and police are sometimes inept. Even if they don’t, well, many people could have poisoned him, and you and I will be long gone by the time they find out you were ever here, if they find out at all.”
“Long gone? Both of us?” Rowan’s wide, wet eyes have me wanting to pull him into my arms. I’d also like to bring Tucker back from the dead so I can murder him myself.
I’m proud of my baby for saving himself, but if I’m honest, I was looking forward to making that sicko’s eyes bulge.
“Exactly. Little to the right, baby.” I lift Tucker into a standing position, gauging where he’d have been standing had he drunk-stumbled and struck his head on the desk corner. Then I drop him.
He thwacks the desk corner on the way down exactly as planned. Just as Jalen returns.
“Oh, man, that’s nasty.”
I roll my eyes. “Did you take care of the driver?”
“Yeah. Pretentious fuck ordered a limo just to take him forty minutes to the airport.” He shakes his head. “Gave the guy an extra hundred for his trouble, so by the way, you owe me a hundred dollars.”
“Fine.” I look around, taking in the space. “We should really get going.”
Rowan trails behind me. “What about the person coming to kill me?”
“If he shows up while we’re still here, we kill him. If he finds a body, he’ll realize his job is already done. I’ll have Ray put the word out to be sure.”
A call to Jalen’s boss and his hacker ensures the footage from the security cameras on site are wiped. We cram the security guys we took care of earlier into the trunk of my stolen vehicle, leaving Tucker in his office to be found later.
I fish out the contents of my wallet, handing most of the cash over to Jalen. “Thank you for taking care of those bodies.”
He sighs. “Shit. My debt’sdefinitelycleared now, you dick.”
“Fine. And thank you, by the way.”
Jalen waves me off.
“Something tells me you won’t be as dismissive next time you’re the one who needs a favor.”
He laughs. “Guess you better hope I don’t need one.”
Rowan stops short of the car we brought.
“Baby?”
Without another word, he doubles over at the edge of the drive and vomits into the grass. He wipes his mouth with the back of a shaking hand. “I killed him.”
“I know. It’s going to be all right. I promise.” Hopefully. I had a similar reaction after my first kill, but mine wasn’t a guy I’d thought I loved.
One thing at a time. I pull Rowan back, urging him toward the car. He climbs in without further questions. For the entire drive out of town, he’s silent.
Jalen drops us at a bus station, heading out with a jaunty wave to dispose of the security guys in the trunk.
“Where are we going?” Rowan blinks as if he’s got no idea how he got here. Given the circumstances, maybe he doesn’t.
“Out of town.”
“I need to get Iggy.”
“On our way here, Jalen had the presence of mind to contact a guy who used to be in your escorting group. He does animal rescue, I guess. Said he’d watch Iggy until we get back.”
“Back from where?”
“Back at the cabin you mentioned you’d never traveled. Seems like a good time to do that. Especially since it’s better if we’re both far from Belle Argo right now. Just in case.”
