Marsh slit my throat in a fit of paranoid rage. “You treat me right or I’m out. Your sister’s hot, but she’s not that hot.”
The man burst out laughing.
“You’re a good guy, Coop,” he said. “You call it like it is, and you aren’t pussy-whipped. Talia’s my baby girl and I love her, but business is business. Let’s make a deal.”
Standing, he walked over and lifted a faded velvet painting of an American eagle off the wall. Behind it was a safe. Marsh opened it, then came back with a stack of bills in a rubber band, handing it over. I flipped through the money, doing a quick count.
“I’ll give you this now and another just like it once you finish the deliveries,” he said.
“And what’s to keep me from taking the money and running?” I asked, quirking a brow. Marsh laughed again.
“Talia says you’re fond of your landlady,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Got her panties in a twist about it, and I understand why. Bitch is hot. I’d love to give her a test ride, and if you don’t come back on time, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
The muscles in my legs stiffened, but I managed to keep the friendly smile on my face.
“Just ’cause I’m horny for some bitch doesn’t mean I care about her.”
“Yeah, but you probably care about your kids,” he said. “So if you’re planning to make a run for it, you might want to stop off and pick them up along the way. Otherwise, I’ll find them and eat their little hearts for breakfast. We clear?”
“Crystal,” I said, my voice hardening. My fingers twitched, itching to kill the bastard. Lucky for Marsh the kids weren’t real—otherwise the fucker’d be dead already.
“Perfect. How soon can you get on the road?”
“Tomorrow morning,” I said. “Got some shit to clear up around the apartment building. Otherwise it’ll look suspicious. Oh, and Marsh?”
“Yeah?”
“Your sister. She tried to fuck with my living situation, and I’m over it. We had words. That gonna be a problem?”
Marsh laughed and shook his head.
“The only man she really cares about is me,” he said. “She’d be bored of you already if she hadn’t caught you fuckin’ around.”
“We got an understanding, then?”
“Yeah, we got an understanding. You take care of the cargo, I’ll take care of Talia. We all do our jobs, everyone lives happily ever after. Easy. Now let’s finish the game.”
• • •
Took a couple hours to extract myself from the clubhouse that night. Helped that Talia had gotten herself wasted while I was talkin’ to Marsh, which meant she and her girls would be partying until the early hours. Seeing as I had a job to do the next day, I’d managed to escape following a quick fuck in the bathroom.
Had to say, all those years managing the strip club and I never fully appreciated what the girls went through in the VIP rooms.
Now? Yeah, let’s just say I was developing some empathy.
Grabbing a beer out of the fridge, I cracked open a new phone I’d picked up a few days ago in Omak. Still wasn’t sure whether Marsh had decided to trust me, or if it was a setup, but either way, Picnic needed an update.
He answered on the third ring.
“Aw, sugar,” he said. “Three calls in one day? You really love me, don’t you?”
“Fuck off,” I countered. “Got an update for you.”
“What’s that?”
“Playing the hard line worked. I shut Talia down and Marsh doesn’t seem to have a problem with it—all he cares about is money. Get the impression her tantrum is more about hurt pride than anything else. He wants me to run a load up to Vancouver, then bring another load back down through Oroville. Delivery to the Tri-Cities.”
“Think it’s a setup?”
“Possibly,” I said, considering the question. “But my gut tells me no. He’s not like us—he’s sloppy. No fuckin’ way a man in my position should be brought in this early, but he’s got prospects that barely know how to ride their bikes. He’s stretched thin as hell and it’s showing.”
“Guess it’s decision time, then. You up for moving forward?”
I considered the question. It was a legitimate concern—for all we knew, Marsh wanted me out of the picture. That didn’t feel right, though, and I’d learned to trust my gut over the years. “Yeah, I think it’s worth the risk. I’ll leave tomorrow. You give the boys in Bellingham a heads-up—they can help me go through the load, see what kind of intel we find.