Big mistake. The kid stared at him as though trying to decide something.
“She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?”
Trev was silent, trying to decide if the kid would call Bryce.
Austin’s face fell. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I didn’t want to. I panicked. Mouse is a nice lady. She probably doesn’t remember it, but when I was a kid, she helped me out. My bike got a flat, and she stopped and made sure it was working again. She’s real nice. I wouldn’t have hurt her.”
There was a long moment of quiet. “The mob sent a guy to deal with Bryce. Someone from New York. I overheard Bryce and my dad talking. God, don’t tell them I told you. They would fucking kill me. They were going back to that house they sent me to. The mob dude said he would kill Bryce if they didn’t find the drugs. You need to tell her to stay away.”
Sheer panic threatened to overwhelm Trev. He’d sent them home. “Call the cops.”
Austin’s eyes were old and tired. “Who do you think’s been watching the place? The deputy’s been on the payroll for years. Only the sheriff is clean, but he’s retiring soon.”
Trev pulled a card out his pocket along with all the cash he had. He jotted down Leo’s cell on the card and handed Austin both. “That’s three hundred dollars. It’s yours if you’ll just call that number and tell the man who answers what’s going on. Tell him Shelley’s in trouble, and we need him. He’ll know what to do. You don’t have to say anything else to him. Austin, please. You don’t have to live this life. Help us.”
He was putting all his faith in a meth head, but he’d dumped his phone once he’d hit town and Marty wouldn’t stop calling. He had to get to Beth.
“There’s no way out.” But Austin’s fingers were already pulling the phone from his pocket.
“That’s what I said six hundred and ninety-three days ago.” It was how long he’d been sober. It was how long he’d had to give to the universe before he’d found his life, his Beth. “And the man who answers that phone is the reason I’m alive today. Thank you.”
“Yeah, um, the football dude wanted me to call you. Someone named Shelley is in trouble.”
Austin continued to talk as Trev raced to his truck and peeled down the road.
He prayed he would get there in time.
Chapter Twenty
Beth’s hands trembled as she stood in the hallway. She could still feel the cold press of metal against her head, though Carlo had moved on to standing behind Bo now.
“I don’t know where to start.” She felt powerless. It was a big house.
“You seem like an intelligent woman. Where would you hide half a million dollars worth of cocaine?”
“I wouldn’t touch half a million dollars worth of cocaine.”
Carlo smiled, seemingly amused by her. “As I said, an intelligent woman. Now prove how smart you are or your boyfriend is going to join Mr. Hughes.”
Bo sat still, his face betraying nothing as though he didn’t want to show her his fear. But she was afraid. She was so afraid for him.
“She doesn’t know anything.” Shelley wasn’t being as stoic as Bo. She was pissed and didn’t mind telling the dude with the gun. “It would be faster if you would let me help her search.”
Carlo chuckled and put a hand on Shelley’s hair. “Yes, I’m sure you would like that. Do you know what your husband offered me in exchange for not beating him to death? He offered me you. He said you were a hellion in bed. I like a little spice in my women. Perhaps I will take you with me when this is over. A woman as pretty as you is always a valuable commodity. Your skin is so fair.”
“Don’t you fucking touch her.” Bo growled the words.
Carlo pointed the gun at him. Beth felt her heart stop. “I don’t need you, Mr. O’Malley. I suspect the girl will try to save whoever she can.”
“You do need him.” Beth squared her shoulders. “I swear to god, if you kill him, I won’t help you. I’ve been in love with that man since I was five years old. If you put a bullet in his brain, you’ll have to kill me, too. How long do you have before someone shows up out here? How many people can you kill before someone notices? This is a small town. I doubt no one’s noticed you. Did you take a room at the motel? Did you have dinner at Patty’s? Trust me, someone noticed you, and everyone is talking about the smooth Yankee. And everyone will blame you if we end up dead.”
“I could simply disappear.”
“And your face will be everywhere. This isn’t the city. This is the middle of nowhere. A murder like this will be all over the news. How helpful will your employer find you then? Think about that before you kill the man I love.”
Carlo’s eyes became cold slits, his handsomeness almost reptilian in the moment. “I take your point, Miss Hobbes. Take mine. I don’t have long. I need to find what I came for, or I have no use for any of you. My employer would rather keep this quiet. If I don’t have to dispose of bodies beyond Mr. Hughes, I would welcome that. I would rather leave you tied up for the authorities to find. That would not make a huge news story. But I will kill you all if I don’t get what I want.”
Beth nodded. She took a long breath. She hated the fact that Bryce’s body lay in front of the door to her bathroom, but Carlo wasn’t moving it.
“Shelley, what do you remember about Barry?” Barry had been the one to hide the drugs.
“I remember he was an asshole.” She sighed. “Honestly, now a lot of things make sense. I remember hearing him and Bryce…” She choked on the name, her eyes going to the body, but she took a breath and visibly calmed. “Barry and Bryce had a huge fight before Barry died. Before Bryce killed him. None of it made sense at the time. Barry kept insisting that Bryce was cutting him out. He said he wouldn’t be cut out. I guess he was talking about the drugs.”
“And it would have been easier to hide them here than his own place. That would have been the first place Bryce would look,” Bo reasoned.
“Maudine was sick the last few months of her life. It wouldn’t have been hard to hide something from her. I didn’t think she and Barry were that close,” Beth explained.
“They weren’t,” Shelley said. “When he started to visit her a couple of times a week, everyone thought it was because he was getting in good before she died. He told Bryce as much. He told Bryce that all the old lady ever did was watch TV and write in that journal of hers. He said she probably wrote pages about him since she didn’t have much else to write about.”
“The journals. Of course.” Beth started to cross the room, excitement lighting her step.
“Careful,” Carlo warned.
Beth held her hands out. “I have to get a box out of the closet. The woman who owned this house kept meticulous journals all of her life. They’re in the closet. Maybe she saw something. She would have written it down.”
Carlo nodded slowly toward the closet door, the warning clear in his eyes.
Beth opened the door and pulled out the box. She took a moment, searching for anything she could use. The closet was full of housedresses and sensible shoes and blankets. Nothing that would help.
“Miss Hobbes.”
Beth opened the box and pulled out the newest journal. “Found it. Give me a second.”
She scanned the last several weeks of Maudine’s life.
“‘Barry visited again. Vulture. The vultures are circling as my life comes to an end. He can’t fool me. I never even liked his father.’ And then she talks about her cats. There’s a lot about her cats in here. Apparently Mr. Sprinkles had bowel issues.”
“Beth,” Bo said, his mouth a firm, authoritative line.
She skipped the sections on cats. “Here we go. ‘Barry the vulture came again today. I don’t know why he bothers. He’s always on his phone. He never really listens. He offered to clean out the barn though. Why, I have no idea. No one has used the barn in fifty years.’”