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Her brittle, bitter laugh almost made me cave, but I knew I hadn’t heard the punch line. I just kept listening.
“They’d have me whoring myself out or shoving drugs up my cunt, no thanks. Two hundred grand is a lot of cocks to suck.”
And there it was. That mercenary, selfish behavior that I hadn’t been able to recognize as a needy teenager, but now I saw that shit clear as day.
“So it’s okay for me to risk everything when, by my count, you’ll take all the earnings just to pay back your bikers? Same old Krissy.”
Her head darted around like she was high on something. I knew it was fear. “Come on, Mandy. This is my only shot.”
She sucked on the cigarette like she wished it was something harder, her eyes hard and wild.
“Then you should be practicing instead of bothering me.” I dug my hand into my purse, because that wild look in her eyes got a little too twitchy for my liking.
She was doing that dancing, pleading thing like she needed a fix. “Please, Mandy. Just do this for me. We used to be friends once.”
I laughed. “And back then I was too stupid to realize that I took all the risk and you reaped half the benefits. Now you want it all. As tempting as that sounds, I’ll pass.”
People didn’t change and I hated myself for having even one fucking flicker of hope that she was someone different. Someone better. My feet couldn’t carry me away from her fast enough.
She called after me, “Mandy, I already told them you’d help. These aren’t guys you say no to.”
I called back, “You shouldn’t have done that,” and sped up toward my car. I knew this probably meant I was in this shit knee-deep now, but no matter what I did, I would not help her or those fuckers.
I heard her coming after me.
“Just listen.”
She grabbed my shoulder and I spun around, aiming the container of pepper spray right at her eyes. “Dammit, what is your problem?”
I heard her startled intake of breath, saw the shock of betrayal in her eyes. Good. She knew how I felt after she’d worked me over.
I leaned into her face, my finger on the device. “Stay away from me. I mean it.” This time I knew she wouldn’t be coming after me.
Lately, leaving Las Vegas sounded better every day.
Chapter 14
Savior
“Am I the only one who’s on edge when we do these runs?”
That came from the back of the vehicle. Since many of our businesses were cash based, trips to the bank and the credit union were stressful as fuck.
“Hell, no,” Cross said from the seat beside me. “If you’re not on edge then you’ve got shit for brains,” he said a little louder than necessary to make sure the prospects up front understood. They still had that young man’s swagger, thought their shit didn’t stink and believed they were immortal. Because they’d made it back from that hell in the desert, they thought they could beat anything. Anyone.
“Don’t worry Prez, we’re so on edge our assholes are puckering!” Stitch, one of our newest prospects called from behind the wheel.
“Good. Keep ’em puckered. That’s how you know you’re alive,” Cross called out with a gleeful smile. He knew how to fuck with prospects like no one else.
The hummer came to a stop in front of the steps of the credit union and Cross and I jumped out first, carrying the metal boxes of cash straight to the door. Jag was at the doors with Max, holding them open so we wouldn’t have to stop. Alonzo, the manager, met us and we went straight back to a secure room.
“Damn that never gets any easier.”
“Can I interest you in a coffee while we count, gentlemen?” Alonzo was a well-dressed biracial man with the skinniest fucking moustache I’d ever seen. But he was always polite and professional when we came in, so he was good in my book.
“Coffee sounds good,” I told him.
“I’ll have tea if you have it,” Cross said, shocking the shit out of me.
