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Trevor adds, “Tonya will be our scapegoat. We’ll be each other’s alibies. Carmine goes tonight. That one’s all yours.”
“Take my cell tonight,” Preston says after a pause of thought. His thumb runs over the leather of the steering wheel again. “Text Billie, call and hang up a few times. Do that while you’re on the phone to Kate.”
Trevor’s brow furrows.
The look that Preston slides to him is full of exasperation. “We need both our cells to ping off the tower closest toyourplace, not Grace’s. It supports our alibi that we hung out at yours, that neither of us are anywhere near the girls when I kill Carmine.”
“Take the truck tonight. The one I stole from Cletus’s,” Trevor says and, reaching into his pocket, fishes out a single key. “He doesn’t need it,” he adds with a smirk. “And it hasn’t any plates. I used it to get to Gigi after the vigil.”
Preston takes the key.
Swapping cars is clever. The sticks will notice if either of their cars drives through Southside. But an unplated truck? That will fit right in, it will belong, and so no one will pay it any mind.
“So,” Trevor claps his hands together, “Carmine dies tonight. We leave Kate and Billie for the final night. We do need tofigure outthe final night. How are we going to do it?”
“The old servant’s closet,” Preston says quietly.
Trevor nods and clicks his fingers. His eyes liven. “We use that to switch places. Confuse the girls, keep our alibies solid throughout the night. I’ll stab you in the arm or something, but I’ll have Tonya dressed as Blood Hood, ready for the swap. I’ll throw her at you when the coast is clear, make the switch. Pin the whole thing on her—in case anything goes south, we must be quick about it.”
“When I kill Blood Hood,” Preston agrees, “it’ll be Tonya, not you.”
Trevor smirks, that twinkle still dancing in his eyes. “Me and you, bro. The only survivors.”
Preston turns his dark eyes on him.
Trevor’s quiet a moment before he chances, “What’s your plan with Billie, then?”
Preston lowers his lashes and turns his gaze on the road ahead. Under the shade of the trees, shadows darken the area to dusk; and further up the road, where Rich Hill begins, the blue of the day’s sky glitters over ponds and fountains. A world Billie where doesn’t belong.
Preston admits, “I haven’t decided.”
“Well if you decide you’renotgoing to kill her,” Trevor asks, “whatwillyou do with her?”
Preston looks ahead at the murky hill road. He reaches for the key in the ignition and turns it. The car purrs to life almost instantly.
“It’s what I’ll dotoher,” Preston says. “I’ll take away everything she has here in this town; everyone she has, too. I’ll strip her life down to nothing—and I’ll make sure she can’t ever run from me again.”
Trevor’s answer is silence. A silence that keeps the rest of the way uphill.
Trevor won’t voice his thoughts, he’s not stupid enough to risk it, but he will make sure Billie doesn’t survive Blood Hood. He’ll kill her himself if he has to.
And Preston will thank him one day.
21
NOW
AUGUST 1998
There doesn’t have to be more to it thanthis: Billie just likes how it makes her feel.
Life, she fast learned, is pretty fucking bleak without a dose of booze to get through the day. Starving herself of those fancy-looking cocktails all around her in the city.
Hey, maybe she can just… cut down on how much she drinks? Doesn’t have to drown herself in it all day long. But a few sips here and there?
No harm in that.
Preston won’t agree (yet).
