“It is… my baby. Her name is Calliope. The name means ‘beautiful voice’ because boy, does she make a pretty noise when she explodes the fuck out of everything. The question is… do you want me to sweep you up into a bucket so your husband has something to bury or just kind of leave you scattered about?”
“It’s beautiful,” she whispers.
I gasp. “Isn’t she? Look at her sleekness. Her shimmer. I feel like we’re forgetting something.”
“My son.”
“Oh, right. So you’re trading me to Barlow for your son? Is that what I’m getting?”
“Pretty much. Can I have your grenade launcher when I do?”
“Absolutely not. This baby will be inherited by my son when he comes of age.”
“What’s he going to do with it?” she asks.
“What areyougoing to do with it?”
“Grab my son then blow up this fucking estate and everyone inside of it.”
“The issue with your plan is that I will be inside of it. What do they want me for?” I ask.
“I don’t know. To be frank… my feelings were a bit hurt when they decided they wanted you instead of me.”
“Did you tell them about me?” I ask, quite curious how they even became interested in me.
“No.”
“How did they find you?”
“I don’t know. I assumed it had something to do with you.”
I shake my head. “Well… it didn’t. If they wanted me instead of you, why did they grab Cam instead of Waylon?”
“I believe they tried to grab Waylon but failed. So they went after me. Cam is my entire world. I will give your son all my money if you just go inside and hand yourself to them so I can have my son back.”
“Waylon is already swimming in money.”
“He could swim in more,” she says.
“My husband would be very sad.”
“We don’t even know that they want to kill you. They could be wanting to use you.”
“Honestly, I assume that’s the case. I’ve never done them any wrong. But I’m also not overly fond of being used.”
“Understandably,” she says.
I debate my options. Jackson knows that this has become my plan. When I asked Jackson when we arrived if he trusted me, I could tell that Cassel had already told him what we were thinking, which is why he was reluctant to let me go. But I also know that Jackson’s not happy about it. He’d never be happy about me heading right into the lion’s den. However, I have no beef with these people, so I can’t fathom they’re bringing me in just to shoot me in the head. They want something from me, and I’m of little use dead.
“Well… let’s go,” I say, leaning Calliope against my shoulder and slinging her strap over my arm before I hurry toward the door that’s lit up by an exterior light. I think Sophia is a little surprised about my eagerness to charge ahead and she momentarily gets left behind.
“They’re probably going to kill me. If they do, please get my son out and back home,” she says.
“I’m glad you didn’t task me with keeping you alive. That would have cost you.”
Sophia eyes me. “I assumed that wasn’t an option after I drew you into this.”
“Yeah, but I at least wanted the option to tell you no to your face. Let’s role-play it, at least. Ask me so I can deny you in a spectacular manner.”
