I hadn’t slept.
I’d paced.
If something happens to her . . . I winced at the thought, my chest on fire. God, I wanted to tear the world apart. I shouldn’t be here.
“We’re running out of time.” Repo stepped forward. “What Isaac is trying to say is, they—the FBI, the police—they also think Jenn is innocent, but they’re tired of waiting out Diane. They’re trying to drive her out of the house, to the station where she’ll either confess out of fear for Jenn or she’ll slip up and leave a print they can lift.”
“Again, like Cletus already asked, if they’re so desperate for her prints, why not arrest her already? They have motive and a crap alibi.” I had a feeling Jethro was speaking so I didn’t have to.
“It’s her lawyer. Genevieve Taylor is notorious, a shark,” Isaac said, and though he remained chill, I got the sense he admired the woman. “They know if they mess up Diane’s arrest and her prints aren’t a match, they’re screwed. They don’t care about messing up with Jenn, they have no plan to charge her. But no one wants to arrest Diane until the case is airtight. However, if they lift her prints—legally—they’ll tie her to the bloody print on the car, and then that’s it.”
“Then Diane is arrested and charged, and Repo is turning state’s evidence to knock her charge down to manslaughter,” I filled in. Just like dominoes.
“So what do you want from Cletus?” Jethro crossed his arms again, his shoulder bumping mine, his voice hard.
Repo turned his pleading eyes to my brother. “We need to get Diane out of the house, out of Green Valley, and I want to use the wedding shower to do it.”
“You want to go on the run?” My brother obviously found this difficult to believe. “With Ms. Donner?”
“That’s right,” Repo confirmed.
“You think she’d go with you?” Jethro pressed. “Her life is here.”
“I do. She’s scared. The blackmail has her terrified. Even if I hadn’t told her to stay put in the house, I don’t think she’d leave anyway. At least with me, she wouldn’t be alone, waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“But she’d be looking over her shoulder for the police, waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Jethro lifted his hands, his entire demeanor communicating, what the hell are you thinking?
“And you’d leave the Wraiths?” I asked, quieting my mind as best I could so I could read Repo’s reaction to the question.
He didn’t hesitate. “For Diane? In a heartbeat.”
I believed him. I looked to Isaac and saw he believed him too. Which begged the question, Where did Isaac’s loyalties truly lie? With his mother? Jenn? The Wraiths? Repo? Why had he inserted himself into these matters?
“I’d keep her safe.” Repo pointed to his chest with both hands. “I know how to do it. I know how to disappear. And it wouldn’t be forever. Just until y’all—you and Jenn—can clear her name. We need you to help.”
“Repo”—I shook my head because part of what he’d just said was nonsense—“you leave the Wraiths, you can never return. Maybe we clear Diane’s name, maybe she gets to come back. But you go with her, you’re never coming back.”
A moment stretched where the older man held my stare, his unwavering as though to communicate that these facts, as I’d spelled them out, did not bother him. “I know, Cletus. I know how it works. But I’m still going to do it. Diane is my priority.”
“Aren’t you worried?” Jethro examined the older man. “Leaving the Wraiths without a money man?”
“I have an apprentice.”
“Who?” I asked.
Repo lifted his chin. “Someone you think is smart.”
I didn’t get a chance to ponder his response other than to assess the veracity of it before Jethro tapped my arm. “But the wedding shower? When is—”
“Yes.” Repo cut in. “The shower. It’s the perfect cover. There will be a ton of people, confusion. We can—”
“No. No.” Now I cut in. “That won’t work.”
“Cletus, if she’s going to leave, the wedding shower gives her the best chance,” Repo beseeched. “I’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“No.” I shook my head adamantly. “They’ll be listening, watching. They’ll expect it. What would you have her do? Wear gloves? That won’t look suspicious. And besides, even if they weren’t expecting her to run, we need more time. We need days, not hours, before they figure it out.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Isaac asked, sounding like he really wanted to know, like maybe this was the real reason they’d asked us to come, and that gave me pause.
They want me to plan the escape, not just help execute it.
A new, simmering discontent burned like acid in my stomach. It was almost as though someone had informed them of my gift for helping folks escape untenable situations.
Burro is gonna pay for this. Later.
I pointed to Jenn’s brother. “Isaac.”
“Yes?”
“Isaac, you need to start visiting your momma this week.”
Repo narrowed his eyes on me. “Okay . . .?”
“He should come and go at odd times, always wearing his helmet until he’s inside the house, always leaving with the helmet on. Mother and son will talk about nothing important. He’ll become a regular but random visitor. After a time, they won’t mark him coming and going.”
“And how does that help us?” Isaac sounded interested, ready to put the plan into action.
“Because, after the wedding shower, Diane is still right where she’s supposed to be, at home and depressed. After the police knock on her door for some bullshit reason and see she’s home and that she didn’t make a run for it, that night or the very next day, Isaac will visit. Wearing his helmet. Diane will leave, dressed like Isaac, wearing his helmet.”
Repo and Isaac stared at me, then at each other.
Jethro chuckled. “That’s awesome.”
Isaac shook his head. “That’s crazy.”
“No, wait, this is a good idea.” Repo pointed at me, clearly seeing the genius in the plan.
“Cletus, my mother is five foot three. I am over six feet. It’ll never work.”
“It will work,” Jethro piped up, sounding cheerful, like maybe he missed his checkered past. Just a little.
“Jet is right, I’m right, it’ll work.” I sighed, tired, and checked my watch for what felt like the hundredth time. “They got cameras on the house from the road, not in the house.”
“How do you know whether they have cameras in the house?” Isaac growled.
“Need. To. Know.” It was just past noon. If they held Jenn for the full three days before releasing her, someone was going to pay dearly. I didn’t know who yet, but someone. “The law won’t notice how short or tall someone is with a camera that far away. We’ll get matching outfits, buy her a replica of his leather jacket, his cut, boots, everything. Make sure it looks like it fits the same from a distance. We’ll stuff it so she appears thick and muscled. All they’ll see is someone dressed like Isaac, leaving the house with a helmet on, just like Isaac always does.”