“Do you want to know what I’m going to do?”
“Nope,” Mama says. “I’m going to sip my nightcap and get some rest.”
She shuffles from the kitchen and I exit through the back door.
I light a cigarette and walk to my car.
She’s right about having backup.
I don’t have time to wait or waste though.
And what I’m about to do is dumb and risky.
But I do it anyway.
Like Mama said… love.
I send Les and Taz a text.
Back to the $ room just to see what’s up. Keep your phones on in case shit gets crazy.
I open the middle console of the car and look down at my gun.
Time to dig the hole a little bit deeper.
Getting into the house was as easy as the first time.
I took the same path and did the same damn thing.
You’d think for a couple of rich people, they’d be a little more cautious. Especially after what happened when Taz set off the alarm. Or the fact that I had already trashed Jeff’s room once before.
That just tells me Jeff knows he’s either fucked or he feels he’s protected against anything.
Either way I still have to be very careful.
A cornered man is a deadly man.
And a man who feels untouched is just as deadly.
As I walk through the massive upstairs of the house I start to wonder if they are even home at all.
Maybe Jolie’s parents went to a second home. Or a vacation home. Or a hotel under a different name so they could hide out.
Shit… imagine if the fuck up with the time of that meeting caused it to happen.
I swear, this just keeps unfolding and keeps getting worse by the minute.
I tell myself to just focus on the present.
And that’s getting into Jeff’s room again.
When I open the door, I pause and look around.
I’m looking for changes to the room.
Anything in a different spot. Cameras installed.
That kind of thing.
The room is normal.
All cleaned up like nothing happened.
And the smell is the exact same.
Rich douchebag asshole cologne.
I walk to the dresser and open one of the drawers.
I dig through and put all the fancy socks on the dresser itself.
The secret compartment is still there.
When I lift it and see the money, I let out a laugh.
So this guy… I trash his room as a message. He knows he owes money. And what does he do? He just cleans up the room like nothing happened. And he puts the cash right back where it was. Like nothing ever happened.
I open the next drawer and find more cash.
And the next drawer…
And the next drawer.
In the last drawer though, there’s no cash.
Just an envelope that’s not sealed.
I take it out and dump out the contents.
There’s a letter.
I slowly unfold it and see scribbled handwriting.
Tanya -
To my true love. It’s been a rough year or so. I promise, it’s almost over now. You deserve the stars, the sun, the moon, and the sky. I can’t give you that, but I’m going to give you the life you’ve dreamed of.
Do you remember the first night we spoke?
It was your first week cooking for us. You were outside, smoking a cigarette.
I smelled the smoke and approached you.
You were shy, beautiful, looking up to the stars.
You were so nervous that I was going to get mad at you about the cigarette smoke.
Do you remember what I did?
I smoked a cigarette with you.
That became our spot.
Our routine.
I craved those moments, Tanya. They were all I could think about. I knew my life had changed and would keep changing being near you.
We shared our first kiss in that spot too.
I can’t wait to have the smell of you in my bed all the time.
Not just on those forbidden nights in a hotel that would be cleaned of us the next day.
I promised you the world… and we’re going to travel it together.
The plane tickets are just the beginning.
I love you more than I love anything in this world.
Jeff
I fold the letter and look at myself in the mirror.
“Holy fuck,” I whisper.
Jolie’s father is fucking one of the chefs that cook all their food.
And he’s planning on running away with her.
I have to read the letter again to make sure my eyes aren’t messing with me.
They’re not.
Jolie’s father is tied into gambling, debt, money, and an affair.
And somehow Jolie ended up so innocent in the entire thing.
She just lived as normal as she could, going to law school… until she met me.
I look at the plane tickets next.
Two first class tickets to Hawaii.
And he’s leaving in two days.
I look at myself in the mirror again.
It makes sense.
He’s going to grab all the cash out of the drawers and fly off to Hawaii with his mistress. He’s going to go off the grid the best he can and just go around the world.
Willing to leave his wife behind.
Willing to leave knowing his daughter is missing.
What an asshole.
I fold the letter and put it back in the envelope.
The plane tickets are still on the dresser.
Then my eyes go to the drawers.
An idea comes to me.
I walk to the closet and open the door.
I find a small leather bag and I curl my lip when I get back to the dresser.
I fill the bag with the cash and then put the plane tickets on top.
After I zip the leather bag shut, I close the drawers and leave the bedroom.
I leave the house the way I came.
I’m as careful as I can be to not trip any lights or alarms.
I take the leather bag full of cash and go to my car.
What I just did… wasn’t part of the plan.
It’s risky and can cost me my life.
But I don’t care.
I just want Jolie to know the truth about everything.
10
JOLIE
I wake up and Mac is sitting in a chair in the middle of the room.
Smoking a cigarette.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything so sexy in my life.
And by sexy I mean… you know… wrong, bad, evil, that kind of thing.
I should jump out of the bed and run to the door and scream for help.
But it’s Mac and I can’t do that.
He’s sitting in the chair and there’s a bag on the floor between his feet.
On his left leg is a phone.
I rub my eyes and pull the covers with me as I move.
Not that I would mind if the covers fell and Mac came back to bed again with me.
“Mac…”
“It’s still too early to be awake, sweetie,” he says.
The sun has filled the room but that doesn’t mean it’s morning time for Mac and his crew.
I blink a few times and yawn. “What’s going on?”
Mac grabs the phone off his leg and stands up. “New phone. A real one, sweetie. Just don’t go crazy with it yet. You can get in touch with Violet if you want. As long as she keeps things under the radar.”