No. Having just one bullet intensifies the high.
Finally, the toilet flushes. A moment later, the woman comes out, does a double-take as she sees Maybe shooting at her, but falls dead before her brain can process what she’s seen.
Maybe ejects the clip, replaces it, and heads down the stairs. Hailey’s waiting for her, proudly waving the two wallets in the air.
“It’s the mayor!” she says.
“Cool,” Maybe says. She shoots Hailey in the throat. Hailey’s gun clatters as it hits the ceramic tile. Her hands instinctively go to her throat as she staggers a few steps, spewing blood.
“Oops!” Maybe says.
Hailey hits the floor like she’d been dropped from a high place.
“Wh-why?” she whispers.
“You were right. I was jealous!”
“H-help me!” Hailey whispers. Her throat is flooded with blood. It’s oozing through her fingers, spilling down her chest.
“I’ll help you,” Maybe says, “if you tell me his name.”
Hailey tries to say something, but her words are garbled.
“You’ll have to do better.”
Hailey gathers all her strength, tries to shout. Her words come out in a loud, raspy whisper, but they’re clear.
The name Maybe hears means nothing to her. And why should it? She doesn’t know anyone outside her little circle of acquaintances. She repeats the name to Hailey.
“Sam Case?”
Hailey nods. Then whispers, “P-please h-help me.”
Maybe puts one in Hailey’s forehead to end her suffering. Then she picks up Hailey’s gun, removes the silencer, and drops both pieces into her tote. She repeats the process with her own gun. Then she picks up Hailey’s tote bag and removes Hailey’s wallet and car keys before stuffing the rest of Hailey’s gear, and the bag, into her own tote.
Then she walks out the front door and heads down the two-lane highway all the way to the public beach where Hailey’s car is parked. Once there, she drives to the country club, puts the totes and her suitcase in the trunk of her rental car, then drives Hailey’s car to a convenience store. She buys the type of wet wipes that contain bleach, uses half of them to remove fingerprints and DNA residue from the interior and exterior of Hailey’s car. Then she drives to the airport and turns it over to the guy at the rental car agency, being sure to wipe the steering wheel, gear shift, interior door handle, and the keys with a wet wipe before climbing out.
She walks into the airport, takes the escalator up two floors, and hails a cab to take her back to the country club to retrieve her own car. Before returning it, she goes through the same procedure of wiping down all the surfaces. After returning her rental car, she walks to the airport’s long-term parking garage, climbs into her own car, and drives back to Jacksonville.
On the way, she calls Sam Case.
33.
“Hi,it’s me,” Maybe says to the voice mail recorder. “Call when you can.”
She’s passing the Brunswick exit when his call comes in.
“Everything okay?” he says.
“Peachy.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m still in Georgia. Everything’s peachy, get it?”
“Right. Does this mean you finished the job?”
“It does.”
“Damn, you’re good.”
“I know.”
“Everything go okay with Hailey?”
“You never said I had to work with someone else.”
“Couldn’t be helped. Pay’s the same, though.”
“She froze.”
“What?”
“She froze up on me. Killed one of the hookers, and then just stood there. I couldn’t get her to leave.”
“I don’t understand.”
“She was catatonic, Sam.”
Maybe smiles as it registers in his brain that she used his actual name.
“She told you my name?”
“Yes. Just before she froze.”
“She told you my fucking name?”
“She did.”
“Where is she now?”
“Back at the condo.”
“ What? You left her there?”
“Like I said, she was catatonic. There was nothing I could do.”
Sam’s beginning to panic, and his voice shows it. “You should’ve killed her!”
Maybe says nothing. Finally Sam says, “You did, didn’t you.” More like an answer than a question.
“I asked myself, ‘what would Sam Case do?’ And then yes, I killed her. Didn’t want to, but I was afraid she might tell the authorities what she knew. Did I do good?”
He pauses. “You’re telling me the truth?”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I didn’t say that. It’s just, I don’t understand why she’d freeze up like that.”
“On the way there she said she couldn’t deal with killing innocent people. Said you hired her to kill businessmen, and she didn’t sign up for this type of work.”
“You got all that out of her? Plus my name?”
“I don’t know how you ever trusted her. I can’t believe you slept with her.”
“What?”
“She told me all about it.”
“That’s not true.”
“You’re denying it?”
“If she said that, she was lying. I met her exactly once in person.”
“How can I believe you? Sounds like everything else she said was true. I don’t know why she’d lie about that.”
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. Depends on if I can trust you.”
“I’m telling the truth. Hailey and I never had sex. Period.”
“That’s your story and you’re sticking to it.”
“It is, and I am. And it’s the truth.”
“So you say.”
They’re both quiet a minute. Sam ends the silence.
“Guess we’re lucky she got one of them. Did you verify it was the mayor?”
“Yes.”
“I hate to lose Hailey, but it’s clear you’ve become my go-to person.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, seeing as it was just the two of us anyway.”
