"You owe me five hundred bucks," Kindle insisted.
"You don't have anything new," Simmons told him. "Go away. Just be glad I paid for your meal."
Kindle looked at me, but I huffed my best attempt at a laugh. "Simmons and I finally agree on something."
"You too," Paul told me.
"Nah, it doesn't work like that for me," I assured him. "I'm not scared of a fight. I don't care if you try to arrest me on some trumped-up charge or bribe the cops to make it stick."
"Because you got a politician in your pocket?" Simmons asked. "Please. So you got the charges against Luke and Ash dropped. Doesn't change anything."
Which meant they were gone - or would be any day now. That was good to know, but the simple fact that Simmons had been told before us bothered the hell out of me. This man was crooked in the worst way, but I had bigger problems right now.
"Rainbows are good for more than queers, you know." I stepped back, aware that Kindle was gathering his stuff as fast as he could. "Now, I'm gonna make sure this guy makes it outside in one piece. Don't come after me, because I got some FBI in my pocket too."
Grabbing the back of Kindle's shirt, I turned him toward the door and pushed him before me. Oddly, he didn't try to resist. In truth, I wanted a word with him before he was gone. I was pretty sure he owed me that at least. I also had a feeling a little cash might convince him to speak up.
"You should tell that woman to sell," Simmons called after me.
"Not gonna happen, Paul," I yelled at him. "There are two things in this world that woman cares about: power and her grandmother's memory. Southwind gives her both. Give up."
"So long as you stay inside those gates..." one of the cops taunted. "This ain't a place for sickos like you."
"Don't care," I told him, and then I pushed Kindle through the door and out to the parking lot.
"What were you thinking?" Kindle asked, jerking out of my grip.
"That I wanted to make sure you leave and don't come back." I nudged him toward his car, following behind. "What did you tell Simmons?"
"Just the truth," he snapped.
"Which version of it?"
He sighed, stopping just in front of his car to turn back to me. "He seemed interested in the bubba. Said he knew the guy wasn't right from the start. What are you doing, Cy? What the fuck was that in there?"
"They already know I'm queer," I told him. "They already want to kill me, but I know it, so I know to watch out for them. Trust me, Simmons would've outed you, because I'm sure you didn't think twice before saying I was your ex."
"Boyfriend," he muttered.
"Guess you learned a real hard lesson about cheating. Chalk it up to experience, call me a few names, and bitch about me to the next guy you fall for. Don't care. Just don't come back here."
"I can't go back," he groaned. "Cy, he didn't give me the cash. The hotel maxed out my credit card. I'm broke. I called Paul to see if he needed anything else because I'm..." He lifted both hands, palms up. "I got fired, I can't find a job, so I thought that I might as well start again here with you. I figured if you would just give me a chance..."
"Then you could sponge off me until you were on your feet, and then you'd find some new guy to fall into bed with, move in with, and not even feel bad about it." I nodded to show I understood. "Well..." I pulled out my wallet, realized I only had about twenty-three bucks in it, so moved for my phone. "I'll PayPal you five hundred. It'll get you home."
"And then?" he asked.
"Not my problem, Kindle. See, you just ruined a man's life."
A divot formed between his brows. "What?"
"Simmons wants to destroy Luke. Luke is trying to get custody of his daughter away from the woman who married a child molester. Good job. That cowboy's a good man, and Simmons is willing to tear him apart because he thinks it's the way to buy our land! God! You're a fucking prick. What the hell did I ever see in you?"
"Fuck you, Cy," Kindle snapped, turning back to march for the driver's side of his car. "You fucking used me too."
"Damned straight," I told him. "The difference is that I wanted it to be real. I was just wrong."
I turned the moment he opened his door, heading for Luke's truck. The last thing I needed was to be out here alone. I had a feeling someone would turn off the cameras this time, and I was not willing to test my luck. I also needed to figure out how to break the bad news to the rest.
