He stepped out of the shadows now, leaning against the molding of the door. Where did it go? She didn’t know. “Don’t play stupid.” His eyes held no feeling. She was expendable to him, and she knew it.
“I won’t.” She had done a lot of despicable things for him, but she wouldn’t run drugs. Maybe it was the baby, or maybe she had just decided to be ethical for the first time in a long time. “I’m done with you.”
He laughed. The sound sent shivers down her spine.
“I have the money to pay you off.” Cairo made her voice stronger than she felt.
“I’ll have to check the balance.” He sounded amused.
Cairo stood taller, looking at him with level eyes. “I’ll wait.”
He studied her for a few seconds, then turned and headed deeper into the house.
It was now or never. He was going to kill her anyway for refusing him. It was up to her to get her evidence and get the fuck out of there. She stepped past the navy blue couch, past the large oak TV stand, and down the first hallway. It was an old house, the detailing Victorian, but it had been well kept. There wasn’t any peeling wallpaper, nothing out of place or dented.
There was a faint creak. She froze. Was he back already? Her heart was threatening to jump out of her mouth, and for a second she thought she was going to be sick. But there weren’t any further noises. She let out a relieved breath.
“Got you.”
No! God, no. I don’t want to die…
The long shadows near the house hid him as he pulled her body out of the trunk, heading swiftly to the unlocked door. There were few streetlights, and the house was flush with darkness. He wasn’t about to turn on any lights. Not that he needed them.
He had the supplies in his car, and it wasn’t long before he had the noose formed. It would look like a suicide, and that would be it. But first he had other priorities. Starting with her heavy coat, he slid his glove-coated fingers into each nook and cranny, searching them thoroughly.
When he was finished, he took the coat off of her in disgust. Nothing. He checked her pockets and anywhere else on her body she might have hid a flash drive.
Nothing. Just a damned deck of cards.
“Damnit,” he seethed, the words hissing out between gritted teeth. He swore more, but silently this time. It would be hard to explain why he was swearing at a dead body if someone found him.
He knew she had made a copy of the files, and a flash drive was the only logical place to hide them. But where was it?
He turned the deck of cards over in his hands. She really did hold onto the past, didn’t she? Gamblers never quit, even the cheaters. He could use that to set the scene. Her history of gambling was well-known to her loved ones, and it wouldn’t take much digging to uncover what she was doing. It was perfect. He felt a prickle of uneasiness sweep over him, felt the small hairs on the nape of his neck stand up. Did she tell anyone about what she had done? Had she given someone the flash drive for safekeeping?
He was going to have to find out.
2
Wednesday 28th September; 4:55pm
Liv walked over to the door, her hand reaching out to switch the sign from ‘open’ to ‘closed’. Then she stopped. There were five more minutes. She could at least humor them. She turned back to the counter of her coffee shop, surveying the equipment. It was dead on a Wednesday, only a handful of customers. Of course, they were all using it as an opportunity to gossip about the reason Liv had returned to Amaranth.
Her family was big on privacy, even to the point they lived at the edge of the town boundaries. Her mother hadn’t shown her face in town much. Gram followed the same rules. Of course, that was starting to wane now that Gram’s memory was going.
She looked over at the far side of the room, at the slightly chunky beagle sprawled out on the orthopedic bed. Mocha was older, seven and a half, and mostly well behaved enough that she was often welcome at the coffee shop when Liv didn’t want to leave her at home.
Or whatever she called it.
She stretched her arms over her head, trying to keep herself awake and aware. Being home for the first time in ten years had done more than enough to fog up her brain.
The door jangled, the bells on the handle ringing. She looked up, surprised. Even though she’d decided to stay open the five more minutes, she hadn’t expected anyone to show up.
“I can see your midriff.” River, Liv’s best friend, looked scandalized.
Liv rolled her eyes. “Hi, River.” It wasn’t the strangest name Liv had ever heard in her small town. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m working tomorrow, came to see if you needed anything.” River sauntered her way over to the counter, her long, gawky limbs suiting her six-foot frame. That was one of River’s favorite complaints, that men were scared by her height.
Not that Liv, at five foot four, could particularly blame them. But she and River worked, despite the height difference. And even after ten years away from Amaranth, they were still friends. River was one of the few people Liv had kept in touch with while she was away.
The big city had been a huge difference from her cozy, small town. Liv had drifted from one job to the next – vet tech, nursing assistant, receptionist, fast food. Anything and everything, she’d tried it. When Gram had started forgetting things, mentioning Liv hadn’t called when she had or not remembering to feed Mocha, that was when Liv knew she had to go home.
Once River fell silent, Liv turned her attention back to what she was
