Love or Money (14 page)

Chapter Fourteen

When she hung up, Evan was pale, his fingers clutching the worn upholstery of the couch so hard Riel worried he’d tear holes in it.

“That was really good work,” Chris said, his eyebrows raised. “I don’t think he suspected a thing.”

“Isaias is a dipshit,” Riel said.

“Isaias is no dummy,” Norton said, “but every man has his weaknesses.” He was smirking, but she could see the deep respect behind it.

“We’ll make sure that everything is ready for you up north,” Chris said, closing his briefcase. He got to his feet, and so did Norton. Both of them shook her hand. “You ready? How you holding up?” Chris asked.

“I’m okay,” Riel said. “I’ll get this done.”

Chris nodded, and Officer Norton smiled.

“We’ll take care of a few things, then we’ll be back this evening before you catch your bus to Portland,” Norton said.

“Okay, thank you,” Riel said.

They left, closing the door and the iron security gate behind them.

Mishmash’s little rental house was plunged into sudden silence, and Riel was left facing a furious-looking Evan.

“How could you say that shit?” he asked. He pounded the couch cushions, then winced at the pain in his shoulder. “You’re going to fuck him, Riel? Is this little deal worth that?”

“I’m not going to fuck him.”

“How do you think you’re going to get out of it? He’s going to expect it, after what you said. If you refuse again, he’s going to get violent. And then what? Those agents won’t be close enough to help you.”

Riel stared at him, her fists unclenching as she saw the tears in his eyes. “Evan, don’t worry.”

“How can you expect me not to worry?” His voice broke. “I can’t stand the thought of you…and if he hits you again…” His nostrils flared. “I’ll kill that fucker, Riel, I really will. They’ll have me in jail because I’ll rip his fucking dick off and shove it so far down his throat he’ll choke to death.”

She scooted over and put her arms around him, feeling the cords of his tense muscles under his shirt. His lips were pressed together, but they relaxed as she kissed him. “I promise, I’ll handle it,” she murmured. “I won’t have to fuck him. I have a plan.”

“Riel…” He slid his good hand around her waist, his stiff posture loosening slightly.

“I’m smarter than Isaias.”

“I know you are, but—”

“I need to do this. It’s the only way we’ll be able to escape this business and be safe.”

“I could figure out another way if you’d just give me time.”

“Isaias would have us killed by then, or something else would happen. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I’d be stupid not to take it.”

“What if this goes wrong? What if you get hurt? I wouldn’t be able to go on living, knowing that I sat here safe, not doing anything.”

“What I’m doing now is safer than running drugs. I’ll have police backup. You heard them. And, Evan, you were just in the hospital for three days because you got frigging
shot.
You expect
me
to just sit here and not do anything, when there’s something I can do to make us safe?”

He scowled, his gaze dropping to his lap.

She brushed the curls from his pale forehead and kissed him lightly. “It’ll be okay,” she said.

But she couldn’t help but share his worries.

***

Officer Norton and Chris came back over that afternoon, going over the plan with her again and double-checking that her equipment was functioning correctly. Then they helped her load her luggage into a taxi. Neither of them went with her, nor did Evan; they were worried Isaias might have a lookout stationed there to make sure she arrived alone.

The lawmen shook her hand and patted her on the back, and Evan clung to her desperately as she stood at the open door to the cab. “Be careful, Riel,” he said. “Please.”

“I will,” she said.

Evan pulled away, his mouth twisted up against his grief. “I love you.”

A smile spread over her face. “I love you too, Evan.”

She kissed him one last time, wanting to preserve the memory of his lips on hers as a talisman against fear and bad luck. Then she climbed into the cab and shut the door, and before she knew it, they were driving away. She watched out the back window as Evan’s hunched form grew smaller in the driveway.

Riel tore her gaze away and faced the front, fighting down the lump in her throat. She wondered if she’d ever see him again.

“Bus station, right?” the driver said, and she nodded, wiping her eyes.

“Going on a trip?” he asked.

“You might say that.” Riel crossed her arms and gazed out the window. The driver took the hint and didn’t ask any more questions.

The bus ride was painfully long and boring. She was stuck all the way to Medford next to a woman who wouldn’t stop talking about how her boyfriend had kicked her out of the house. “He said I was a tweaker,” she said for the billionth time, sucking on her loose dentures. “I’m not a goddamn tweaker. I hate those motherfuckers with a purple passion. His sister is just telling him that bullshit because she’s a fucking bitch who can’t handle the fact that I won’t put up with her crap like everyone else does. I’m a blunt person, I don’t beat around the fucking bush, and when someone is being a goddamn cunt, I feel it’s my obligation to let them know about it.”

“Uh huh,” Riel said. She stared out the window at twilight falling over the oak-covered hills, wishing Isaias had enough class to buy her a plane ticket.

It was the afternoon of the next day when Riel finally emerged from the bus, sore and extremely grubby-feeling, to find Isaias waiting for her in the station.

“Hey, Riel,” he said.

His muscular arms were crossed over his chest, and he had a smug look as his eyes skimmed her body. Riel immediately went stiff under that gaze, and had a moment of panic.
I can’t do this. I can’t stand the sight of him. I can’t pretend to like him.
She stood there a moment, dizzy, but then she gathered up her courage.
I have to do this. For Evan. For Lizette.

Riel felt the smile rise to her lips as if she were wearing someone else’s face. “Hey,” she said.

He took her suitcase from her, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as they headed out the door to the parking lot. “SoCal made you all tan. You look hot.”

She had to keep herself from scowling as she hugged herself against the damp chill of the Portland spring. “I can’t look that good, I’ve been stuck on a bus for twenty-six hours.”

He grinned as he loaded her suitcase into the back of his SUV. “You’d definitely look better if you were cleaned up a bit, I won’t lie, but you’re still a spicy piece.”

They climbed into the cab, and he reached into the backseat and handed her a paper sack. “You hungry?”

She blinked at him, then opened the sack and was hit in the face by a burst of delicious steam. “Oh my god, you went to Bud’s?” She pulled out a carton and opened it. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, okra, and coleslaw.

“I know their fried chicken is your favorite, and I figured you wouldn’t have eaten much on your trip.”

“Fank you, Isaiaff,” Riel said, her mouth already full.

“And there’s some French silk pie in the back when you’re done with that.”

She swallowed. “You’re being really nice.”

He shrugged and put the SUV in reverse. “I’m nice when you’re nice to me.”

It was a testament to how truly hungry Riel was that the sick feeling she got didn’t stop her eating. She made herself smile at him. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

She bit into a piece of okra and wiped her hand on the back of her mouth. Her brow furrowed as she glanced around out the windows. “Where are we going?

“I have an open rental off of Burnside that you can stay in.”

“I’m not staying at your house?”

He gave her a surprised look. “No, I didn’t think Lizette should know about you being here. That might just complicate things.”

A chill went down her spine that had nothing to do with the temperature. She should have known, but seeing Lizette had been the one thing she’d been looking forward to in all of this. She set her food aside and hugged her knees. Isaias snorted.

“You’re not going to start playing me with the cold act again, are you? Come on, Riel.”

“Please don’t be mean about this, Isaias,” she said quietly, gritting her teeth. “You know how I feel. Do you think it’s easy for me?”

“Your sister is fine. She has her nice house and her kids. That’s all she ever wanted, anyway. There’s no passion in her at all. I thought there was, but it was just an act in the beginning.”

“She’s my sister.”

“Like I said, you’re doing her a favor. I’ve had something on the side most of the time, and it’s never bugged her.”

She fought back a powerful wave of anger, and kept herself from flinching away when Isaias pulled up to a stoplight and reached out to run his hand along her thigh. The effort caused beads of sweat to pop out on her neck, and she had another moment of panic, thinking she couldn’t possibly keep it up.
This is too hard
.
I can’t. I just can’t. Not after what he’s done
.

Then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She cleared her mind completely and became the act. Her life and her future depended on it. She slipped into an alternate skin, let herself feel feelings that weren’t hers. Under the circumstances, it was a relief.

She opened her eyes again, blinking away tears. The light turned green and Isaias took his hand from her leg and turned onto Burnside. “That’s not all that’s bugging me about this,” Riel said, her voice hoarse.

“What else?” he groaned. “What now?”

She clutched her elbows and stared out the side window at the damp sidewalks and storefronts. Daffodils were just starting to push their way out of the soil of the planters out front, cheerfully yellow in the watery sunlight. It was so much colder here than down south.

“It’s just…Isaias, I’ve never been with a man before,” she said. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and felt a pang of triumph at his shell-shocked look.

“What, you’re a virgin?” he said.

“I’m not a
virgin
, I’ve just never been with a
man
before.”

Riel watched as that sank in. A fascinated smirk grew on his face. “You’ve fooled around with women, is what you’re saying.”

She focused her attention out the window, willing herself to not break character. “Yeah, I had a girlfriend in prison.” She knew the FBI agents were listening to this conversation and wondered what they were thinking. Her earrings seemed suddenly heavy, and the phone in her pocket seemed to dig into her hip.

Isaias was silent for a moment. He pulled off into a narrow driveway between two three-story apartment buildings, and parked the SUV alongside an old Toyota covered in stickers. “You’ve really never had a cock in you? Shit, I don’t believe that. What about Evan?” He cut the engine and looked at her.

Riel made her face blank and shrugged. “He wanted to, but he’s a jerk, and I just don’t like him that way.” She met Isaias’ eyes shyly. “It’s always been you I wanted, even when I was little, when you and Lizette first got married.” She dropped her gaze, her cheeks burning; it was from embarrassment at the depth of her lie, but he grinned wide and she knew she’d hit her mark.

“Let me show you what a man can do for you, Riel.” He reached out and took her hand, stroking her fingers with his thumb. “I’ll make you feel good in ways a woman never could.”

“But Isaias, I…you know, I don’t just want to be something else on the side for you. I want it to mean something. I want my first time with you to be something special.”

He ran his fingers along her arm, her shoulder, brushed back her hair from her face. “You want the bed covered in rose petals or something? I can do that. Give me a minute to go to the store.”

“No, Isaias.” She brought her eyes to his. “I want it to be real. And I want to feel right about it.”

Her heart hammered. If he got mad, her whole plan would fall apart right here. But his eyes were glazed over with lust, not anger. “What do you want, babe?” he asked.

“Once this deal goes through, you’re going to have a buttload of money. I want you to set it up so that my sister and her kids are taken care of, otherwise I’m going to feel like total shit about this. Then I want us to run off together, get set up somewhere else, somewhere warmer. You don’t need Mama Maria anymore anyway. She’s just taking all the money and not doing anything except boss you around. It’s time for you to go it on your own.”

She watched his eyes as he considered this. He made a face that was half scowl, half smile. “You’re right about that, Riel.”