Chapter Twenty
Ride or What
Kingston
I checked myself as I dismounted, running my hand down the front of my cut and over the forty-five I was concealing beneath it. Roy had the girl; all I had to do was knock off Paxton.
I opened the screen door like I lived there. A smile was already resting on my lips as I entered with a hint of swagger in my step, closing the heavy door behind me.
“Oh, Roy wanted that open to ventilate.” Rigs giggled, sauntering toward me.
“I bet he did,” I grunted, glancing back at the entrance.
The fucking dumbass would have alerted the entire neighborhood to the situation at hand. He either wanted to get caught, or he had no intention of ever getting on board.
“Everything okay, baby?” Rigs asked, pressing her chest against me, and reaching for my neck.
I snagged her wrist before she could touch me and stared down at her like her next few words had better be the answer I was looking for, “Did you get everything draped and taped?”
“Of course, just like Roy said.”
“Everything? I don’t want to have to pay for damages.” I could see that the room I was standing in was covered well enough, but I didn’t know where Paxton was currently painting.
“It is, I promise.” She stretched to her tip toes, and presented her lips for a kiss.
“We’ll see.” I tried to sound as unconvinced as possible. I kept her wrist in hand, sliding my fingers to tangle with hers and nodding for her to lead the way, “Take me to him.”
She laughed like it was some kind of game, a broad, toothy smile flashing at me, before she led our conjoined hands over her shoulder. I allowed her embellished familiarity for the moment. Even if we both knew I hated when she acted this way.
I’d warned her to knock it off enough times.
Maybe today would be the day she finally heard me.
She slapped open the plastic-curtained-off section of a bedroom entrance and I discreetly pulled the revolver. She didn’t notice, and curled into my chest somewhat as she announced, “Lookie who decided to join us, Pacman.”
“Hey, brother,” Pacman warmly greeted me even before he’d committed to turning our way.
He barely even had a chance to register what he was seeing when he finally did face us. I I slid my thumb over the hammer and squeezed the trigger just as his eyes flashed.
Rigs jerked her hand back and got out half a scream before I caught her in the jaw with a backhand.
She was sobbing before she hit the floor, and scrambling the minute her ass landed. I raised the forty-five and cocked the hammer again, “You know, there are a couple of ways this could end, Rigs.”
She quit her incessant bleating, and began to heave, her shoulders coming protectively toward her jaw when her back met the wall.
“Stop it, you’re boring me and I’m kind of on a high right now, love. You understand?”
The light in her pretty eyes went dim, though they widened and leaked with copious tears.
“Focus. I need you to focus, or I’m gonna run out of patience.
I shot him as you were reaching for me. Which means we probably both have enough GSR on us to keep a jury guessing.
Nobody saw me enter. At best, you prepped the murder scene for me…
” I paused and glanced around at all her perfect draping.
She choked on a sob, and began to gasp.
“Rigs…”
“What are you saying, King? I won’t tell. I swear to God, I was never here,” she whined, her voice caving at the end.
“Shut up. Your bawling and squealing isn’t becoming of a future inmate.
You wanted to be my dream, my every thought, my fantasy.
Look at you now… Boo hoo, King left one little fucker leaking.
” I scoffed and shook my head, “You disappoint me. I thought you were ride or die material. I really believed you were perfect. Thought you had the whole Ol’ lady mentality, and here you’re as fragile as a doeling. ”
I gave my best imitation of a baby goat, the sudden shrill sound making her come off the floor a little with how hard she flinched.
“Fucking pitiful.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with this. You can’t frame me for this.” She wasn’t protesting, so much as she was pleading.
“I never said I was telling a soul, I was just letting you know what would happen if you ever found yourself so inclined. Now, take your shirt off.
She slowly blinked, a full body tremor coming over her.
“Take it off, or I will,” I calmly advised.
She snatched the shirt over her head and threw it at me.
“Good girl,” I condescended.
“What are you going to do to me?” she meekly asked.
“Not a damn thing. I’m going to keep this, in case you decide to loosen those lips for anything more than what you’re made for.”
She kept blinking at me like she wasn’t catching on.
“Why? What good is my shirt?”
“I told you it’s covered in gunshot residue. It’s all the proof I need to convince people that you helped me do it. Imagine if Forty found out before the cops…” I glanced toward the crimson puddle spreading away from Paxton’s lifeless form. “That was his only son.”
“I’m not going to tell,” she frantically promised.
“Oh, I know. If I doubted it for a minute, you’d be lying next to him, sweetheart.”
The horror in her pretty eyes was worth every second I wasted spelling shit out for her.
“Get the fuck out of here, and remember…” I fisted the shirt and waved it at her. “I’ll always have this.”
She moved in that stunned way, shakily shuffling toward the exit.
I felt like a genius as I followed her out, mounted Roy’s bike, and finally headed home.
The living room was dark, making the red light of the oversized digital clock stand out as I entered.
It was five minutes until nine.
Not bad, all things considered. I hadn’t anticipated being done until well after midnight.
“The fuck are you looking so smug for?” the ol’ man sneered, drawing my attention to the looming shadow in the kitchen.
I gravitated toward him fully expecting to see Roy sitting pretty at the table, but his usual spot was empty.
“Well…” Birdman pressed, his tone growing impatient.
“Well, what? I fucking handled my business. Where the hell is he?” I tipped my head toward Royal’s place.
“She’s dead?” He didn’t beat around the bush; he wanted concrete confirmation.
“No,” The minute the word left my mouth his face crumpled with disgust, and he swiped the air like I was wasting his time, until I furthered, “I left Paxton cold and leaking, though.”
His gaze snapped to mine, and I knew he was looking for some sign of fuckery.
“I handled my business, was there ever a doubt?”
“No,” he hesitantly mumbled, “No, of course not. Not in you anyways.”
He patted my back and shook his head, “Your brother is different. He spends too much time with that soft-hearted mother of his. I was afraid he wouldn’t be able to put Pacman down. It’s better that you did it and left him the girl. She’ll be easier to handle if he fumbles it.”
I grunted, not seeing any flaw in his logic.
“What time is that broad expected to be home? The one whose house you did it in?”
“She works six to six, over in Centralia. I was going to head back around midnight, wrap him up and get him the fuck out of there. I can sprawl his ass out at his own damn house and let Sabrina find him in the driveway.”
“Nice.” He gave a throaty laugh and nodded, “After you do that, I want you to linger around Forty’s place, make him think you came to see Kennedy in the morning.”
Oh, I’d definitely be at Forty’s in the morning, if for no other reason than to reap the rewards of my hard work. Hell, yeah, I was going to be there when they broke the news to him.
I wouldn't miss it for the world.