Chapter 45
“You’re not serious, are you?” Nova said, annoyed by the situation.
“You tried to kill me, remember?” I said.
“I didn’t try to kill you.”
She said it with a straight face.
"Did you forget about the entire incident in the parking lot?"
"I wasn't really going to pull the trigger.”
I gave her a flat look.
"I don't know what I was going to do. I was emotional, and I overreacted, and I'm sorry.”
She looked at me with sad, adorable eyes, but I wasn't falling for that trick.
I'd handcuffed her to a rail on the bulkhead in a guest stateroom with extended cuffs. I put a few bottles of water on the nightstand by the bed. She had some room to move around.
"This is cruel and inhumane punishment.”
I laughed. "I'm more than happy to put you into the county lockup if you prefer. There's no telling what could happen in there, so we’d have to put you in solitary. You’d be in a 6x8 cell and have about the same amount of room to move around in. But I can tell you, it wouldn’t be nearly as nice, and you wouldn't have your own TV.”
She frowned at me but knew I was right. "I guess I can suffer through this for a little bit.”
"Are you hungry now? Do you need to use the restroom?”
Nova hesitated for a moment. "Yes, and yes."
I uncuffed her from the bulkhead.
She hurried into the restroom and took care of her business.
There was no way she could escape, and even if she did, she wouldn’t be doing herself any favors.
Helping us out was the best chance she had at breathing free air.
Otherwise, she was looking at a stretch I didn't think she had the stomach to handle.
She returned a moment later, and I cuffed her back to the bulkhead.
I went up to the galley, fixed her a ham and cheese sandwich, then brought it back down to her.
"How long will I have to stay here?”
"Until we can eliminate the threat.”
"What if that takes a long time?"
"Get used to your new home.”
"I want you to keep your phone charged. Act normal when people call. As far as anyone is concerned, you haven't been arrested or charged with anything. You're not talking to the cops. You’re not working with the cops. You got me?”
"Believe me, I have no intention of outing myself as a snitch, but Chad already knows. What difference does it make?”
“He suspects. He doesn’t know.”
“Where the hell am I supposed to tell people that I am?”
“You met a guy, and you’re staying at his place for a few days.”
“What about my job? I’m supposed to go on shift in an hour.”
“Call in sick.”
“I’m gonna lose my job.”
“You’ve got bigger problems.”
We had cleared this whole thing with the sheriff, but he wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea. It beat putting her up in a hotel and babysitting her there.
Her phone buzzed with a call from Shane. She looked at the screen, then showed me the caller ID. "What do you want me to do?"
"Answer it. See what he wants.”
“He wants to kill me.”
“Good.”
She gave me an incredulous look.
“If he tries, we’ll arrest him.”
I didn't think Shane or Chad had the ability to track her phone. If they did, this would be a short-lived experiment.
I told her to put it on speaker.
She swiped the screen and answered. "What's up?"
"What's up with you?" Shane said.
"Just chill’n.”
"Really? Just chill’n?” he said in a doubtful voice.
“I’m about to go to work.”
"What are you doing talking to Chad?"
"It's a free country. I can talk to whoever I want.”
"That was a bad idea.”
"Why?”
“Because.”
“Mason would still be alive if it wasn't for him,” she said. “What the fuck were you two thinking?”
"I'm not going to talk about it. I told you to leave it alone.”
"My brother dies doing stupid shit, and I'm supposed to just leave it alone?”
"Unless you want to end up like him, you need to drop this nonsense. Leave Chad alone and get out of town. Now!”
"Why? What’s that skinny little runt going to do?”
"I care about you, Nova.”
She scoffed. “No, you don't.”
"If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't be making this phone call.”
Nova was silent for a long moment. Her eyes filled with torment, trying to reconcile what he was saying with his conversation with Chad.
She looked at me and said to Shane, "And what if I don't leave town? What if I go to the police?”
"And tell them what? That your brother was working for a guy who works for the cartels? How do you think that's going to benefit you?"
"I don't know.”
"It's not. It's just going to piss these people off even more." Shane paused. "I'm begging you. Pack up your things and leave right now. Don't come back.”
"I'm not leaving town. I'm not leaving my mother. Not now. Not after all she's been through.”
"Where are you right now?”
"None of your business.”
"Meet me at Echo Beach.”
"Why?”
"Because I want to try to talk some sense into you.” He paused and said in a soft tone, “I'd like to see you one more time before you go.”
"I just told you, I'm not going anywhere.”
"Nova, these people are not fucking around.”
I nodded to her.
"Echo Beach, huh?”
"Pack a bag, tell your mom goodbye, and I'll have some money for you so you can get out of town and start over.”
"Who's going to take care of my mother?”
"I'll look after her. I promise. Look, we go way back. I loved Mason like a brother. It eats me up what happened. But that's life.”
Nova paused. “No. That’s not life. Most people don’t get killed while trying to kill a cop. Most people have more sense than that.”
"Meet me at the monkey bars at sunset. This is your last chance, Nova. I’m trying to give you a lifeline. Take it." He ended the call.
She looked at me with conflicted eyes. "What if he's genuinely trying to help me?”
"He genuinely tried to kill me, and he and Mason successfully killed Ethan,” I said. “I don't care if he had a change of heart. Right now, he's my only link to Chad and your only hope of staying out of jail.”