Whirlwind

64

Near Lubbock, Texas

Mason ended his call with Garza.

From under the tree he glanced at the charcoal sky. The rain had stopped, but the worst was still to come.

Looks like a bad one’s gonna hit us. Well, bring it on. I don’t care. It’s all good for me. The deal’s sealed with Garza. I’m gonna pull this off.

Mason returned to the cabin and the kitchen for a beer.

He was still riding his blissful crack high.

He stood at the open rear door watching the clouds boil while drinking in his future and his sweet setup in Belize. Garza and his investors were going to buy a nightclub in Belize City near the harbor where the cruise ships docked.

Garza had it all set up with his ties to the crews. They’d use the club and the ships as transit and distribution points for drugs. The return on Mason’s investment would be huge. Along the way, Mason would create an identity and a whole new life. Given what had happened to Lamont and Arlen, it should be enough to keep DOA away.

All Mason had to do now was ensure the selling of Remy’s kid to Hedda. Then he’d take care of Remy. For good. The stupid bitch. Mason took pride in how he’d parlayed his painful relationship with that whack job into a hundred-thousand-dollar ticket to paradise. The other cons used to mock him when she’d visited Hightower, pregnant.

How big a fool are you, bro, letting someone bang your woman on the outside?

Mason grinned, shaking his head. Who’s laughin’ now, huh?

Remy was a piece of work, no doubt about that. She’d bought his BS about wanting to be a carpenter, have kids, be a daddy and live that white-picket dream. Well, he had plans for her. Garza had told him once about the unmarked graves at the edge of the property.

Ain’t nobody gonna find her there. End of story. Tomorrow Remy’s dream ends and mine begins. I’ll drink to that.

Mason guzzled the last of his beer, crushed the can and tossed it out back. Better go check on her. Make sure that she’s on board to hand over the baby tomorrow.

“Remy!”

She wasn’t in the living room. The place seemed quiet. Maybe she was sleeping with the kid? But she wasn’t in the big bedroom when he checked there, or any of the other rooms.

There was no sign of the baby.

What the hell?

“REMY!”

He rushed back to the big bedroom. Some of the bags were gone. He looked through the window. The pickup truck was still there. Did she just walk away? Maybe after all that’s happened she had one of her spells? Damn, that baby was his ticket.

Grabbing his keys Mason hurried to the front of the house, looking through the window, scanning the property. If she was walking, she couldn’t have gotten far. He’d get in the truck and look for her, talk sense into her like last time, he thought.

When he went through the kitchen to get to his pickup, he heard what sounded like something heavy knifing through the air as the blade of a shovel came at his face.