Chapter 22
22
The jarring ringtone pulled him from a restless sleep. Timothy grabbed the burner on the second ring. “Yeah?”
“Timothy?”
He sat up with a jerk as every one of his nerve endings seemed to catch on fire. “Audrey, is that you?” He couldn’t believe it. The woman who’d long held his heart had existed in only his dreams for so long, it was hard to comprehend that she’d reached out to him. Maybe ...
Then reality hit him hard. He was holding a burner phone. Only one other person had that number, and it wasn’t anyone Audrey should ever know. “Where are you?” he asked in a rush. “Are you okay?”
“I’m on campus. I was walking back to my dorm when, uh, I met one of your friends.”
Her voice was trembling. She was scared and confused. The thought that she’d ever think that he’d allowed someone from the Arrows near her brought him to his knees.
Though, wasn’t that what he’d done? He’d needed to feel like he belonged so badly that he’d chosen a gang over her. Deep regret lodged in his throat, making it hard to speak. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”
But all he heard was a cry as the phone shifted hands.
“I’d forgotten your girl was such a pretty thing. So sweet too.”
Timothy ached to lash out. To tell Kane that he should have left her alone. That Audrey had nothing to do with his life anymore. It was by choice too. By her choice. And, as always, she was right. He was not only not good for her, he was so bad.
“You not going to say anything, buddy?”
At last, Timothy found his voice. But did he have anything of worth to say? He didn’t know. “Audrey has nothing to do with me. We broke up when I chose the Arrows over her. She’s a college student now. She doesn’t know anything.”
“I don’t doubt that’s true. Right now, I don’t want anything to do with you either. You’ve made a mess around here and owe us money. Stew ain’t pleased. That’s why I decided to take a walk and just happened to run into Miss Audrey. After we got to talking, she agreed that you might need a reminder about being responsible. No one’s forgotten about what you owe us, Timothy.” Kane’s voice sounded almost playful, like he was enjoying the game he was playing with them.
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“That may be true, but the problem I’m having, at least at the moment, is that two full days have passed.”
“There’s been nothing to report.”
“You need to change that, Timothy.”
Sure, he’d delivered that package to the Russell Ranch, but he wasn’t going to tell Kane that. Timothy was trying to get Stephanie to run away and hide, not die.
“Look, I’ve been all over Crittenden County. I’ve talked to people. Asked questions. No one’s seen the girl.” Technically, that was the truth.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Tim. Someone has.”
“But what if she’s moved on? I’m no detective.”
Kane sighed. It was a long, drawn-out affair. Timothy was familiar with it. He knew it was meant to convey irritation and a whole lot of sarcasm in one fell swoop.
“Timothy, Timothy, Timothy. It’s like you hear the words but don’t understand what I’m saying. Let me try to be clearer. If you want Miss Audrey to stay alive, kill the witness—and give me proof.” His voice took on a new, almost teasing tone. “And give us the money we’re owed. That’s it.”
Panic was setting in. Kane was giving him two almost impossible tasks. “You know it’s going to take time to do both. If I give you the money, will it be enough for you to leave Audrey alone?”
“It might buy you some time, but not much. If you really want Miss Audrey to never see me again, then you need to learn to follow directions, Tim.”
A sinking feeling settled deep inside his soul as he processed every word that Kane hadn’t said. He wasn’t going to live much longer. His only problem now was how he was going to be able to accomplish both tasks in order to make sure Audrey remained alive.
“Audrey is innocent. Don’t harm her.”
“No one’s hurt her. I’m not hurting her now. Like I said, our paths crossed when I just happened to be taking a walk on the campus. Isn’t that so?” he murmured to her. “Of course, there’s a whole lot of other guys who wouldn’t mind paying her a visit before we hand her over to Stew.”
Timothy listened for Audrey, but he didn’t hear her say a word. She was probably so scared she was incapable of speaking. “How long do I have?”
“We’ve already played this game, son. You’re way past the time limit we gave you.”
“For Audrey. What’s the timeline for you to leave her alone?”
“I’m glad you understand the seriousness of the situation. And because you’ve finally gotten smarter, I’m willing to be generous. You have three days.”
That surprised him. “Three days. Are you sure?”
“Positive. We’ve got some other things going on. Believe it or not, we can’t be sitting around, waiting for you to do what we ask you to do.”
“Can I speak to her?”
“Audrey, do you want to speak to the man who’s the root of all your problems? No? Well, that don’t surprise me none. I would have broken things off with him too. You can do better, doll. A whole lot.”
“Kane—”
“She don’t want to talk to you, boy, and all I’m doing is feeling frustrated because you’re making me do things I don’t want to do. I really don’t like bothering nice girls like Audrey. I’d rather her never know that people like me exist.”
Softening his voice, he added, “Wouldn’t that be something, if a person could live their life with blinders on? Pu r posely oblivious to the evil surrounding them? It’s a shame that she won’t be like that no more.” He lowered his voice. “You’ve ruined her, Timothy. And you’ve got three days to determine whether or not a man like me becomes just a bad memory ... or her new best friend. Because I promise you, Stew won’t be kind.”
“I understand.”
“You’d best be either wiring or delivering the money as soon as possible, Timothy. And don’t you start thinking that I don’t mean what I say. If you run off, I will find you. And then I’m gonna make you sit bleeding while I play you videos of Audrey’s last, very difficult days.”
When he heard Audrey whimper, tears filled his eyes. She’d been the best thing to ever happen to him, and he’d not only broken her heart, he was on the verge of ruining her. “I’ll call. I’ll call before the deadline. I promise.”
The phone disconnected.
Then he started to cry. He cried like he hadn’t in years. In over a decade. Since the day—
No. He wasn’t going to go there. He wasn’t going to remember. There was only so much trauma and pain a heart could take, and he’d already reached his limit for the day.
With shaking hands, he rolled out of bed. Lit a cigarette and inhaled. Felt the burn in his lungs and appreciated it. This, he knew. He now had $631 in his pocket. The guy he’d killed had owed the gang two grand.
Knowing Kane, he was going to expect more. He’d call it interest or whatever else he could make up to make sure that Timothy came up short.
So, three grand would be better.
Either three grand or find a way onto that ranch and kill the girl. Take a picture and get out of there before he got shot too.
He never thought he’d play roulette with women’s lives, but he had no choice. If he had to choose between Audrey’s life and the girl’s, there was only one option.
If he failed, Audrey would pay the price. And she’d already lost too much because of him.
Extinguishing the cigarette by tossing it in an old soda can, he headed to the shower. The clock was ticking. He had to go find a couple of people to rob.
The more, the better.