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“Who, Oz and Zig? Oh, I’m sorry, my dear, but they’ve already left. As soon as I gave them their money, as a matter of fact. Knowing them, they’ll hit a bar and spend the night with a couple women of loose morals before jumping on the next profitable job.”
His words sting, and I don’t hide my reaction from him, even though I don’t believe a word he says. I won’t let my fear and insecurities get to me. Neither man has given me any reason to doubt them, and I won’t be doing it now just because some Colonel Sanders wannabe says so. His lips curl up ever so slightly, giving him away. He thinks I’m buying what he says, and he likes that he hurt me.
“But they promised they’d come back.”
He sighs as if he hates having to admit the next part, though we both know he’s relishing it. “Don’t feel bad. This is kind of their M.O. They even place bets on which brother can get the woman to fall for them. Sometimes they both go after her together. When the victim is in a vulnerable state, it’s easy for them to swoop in and play the hero.”
I swallow what I was going to say next and bury my head against my knees, using my hair to hide my face. He probably thinks I’m crying, but I’m trying to hide the look of murder I know is in my eyes.
“I’m sorry, Salem. Can I call you Salem?” When I don’t answer, he sighs again. “It’s nothing personal. It’s who they are. There is a reason mercenaries get a bad rep.”
“Mercenaries?” I whisper.
He pauses. Seems I might have surprised him. “You didn’t know they were mercenaries?”
“No. I thought they were soldiers.”
“Former soldiers. After being dishonorably discharged. Now they are just guns for hire.”
I squeeze my hands into fists as he walks a step closer and smooths the hair behind my ear.
“Let’s forget about them. You are about to embark on a new adventure.”
“I just want to go home.”
“Get some rest.” He ignores my words before strolling to the door.
“The doctor will be around to give you a more thorough examination. Word to the wise, you might want to have him test you for STDs. You never know where those assholes have been.”
He walks out, whistling a merry tune, while I seethe inside and plot his murder.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
Oz
“Look, the way I see it, you have two options. You either help us, and we all get the fuck out of here, or you try to stop us, forcing us to kill you. Either way, Zig and I are still leaving.”
Skinner shakes his head, but Dillon looks like he might be considering our words.
“As you pointed out before, we’re armed and you’re not. See, trying to get us to switch sides is fine and all when you have something we want. But you have nothing. You think I give a shit about redemption after what I’ve seen? What I’ve done? No, what I care about is money, something these guys are happy to give me.”
“If you believe that, you’re dumber than you look, and you already have a face that looks like Picasso painted it.”
“Believe what? That they won’t pay us?”
“No, that we’re unarmed.” I pull my gun and fire a bullet into Skinner’s skull as Zig throws his knife into Dillon’s throat. The gun drops from Dillon’s hand as he falls to his knees, his hands going to the knife. “Probably could have talked Dillon around to our side. He seemed a little more understanding of the situation they inadvertently put themselves in.”
Zig shrugs as he reaches for the man’s weapon, checking to see if it’s loaded before pocketing it. “I hate fickle pricks. Either be a good guy or a bad guy, not some dollar store version of both. I wouldn’t trust him not to run at the first sign of trouble.”
“I didn’t say I disagreed with you.” I reach over and yank Zig’s knife from Dillon’s throat, an arc of blood spraying us both as I hand Zig his knife back.
“Thanks.” He wipes it on the side of his pants, looking down at Skinner, who is now on the floor staring up at the ceiling as blood pools around him.
“If they had done their job right, they would have made sure we really were unarmed instead of taking our word for it.”
I nod. The man’s not wrong. “I guess they thought we wouldn’t have any weapons, with us being in the jungle and all.”
“Well, I guess that’s why they call stupidity the silent killer.”
