HADRIAN
Behind Soren standsa woman I only recognize from her photographs, and the most recent one I could find was still a few years old. I’m still not sure Nina and Loretta Ponderosa are their real names since the trail there eventually goes cold too, but it’s certainly closer to the truth than Liliana and Purity Davenport.
“Take your fucking hands off my daughter, or he dies,” she says.
So this really is her mom.
Soren holds up his hands but doesn’t say anything. I’m not sure what I expect of him at this moment, but maybe a hint of care that he’s in danger. Instead, he wears the faintest smile on his face, like he’s been hoping someone would do him a favor and blow his head off for a while. The image of him walking up the stairs, claiming he was going to jump out the window, compounds the issue.
“Don’t shoot,” I say. “I’m taking my hands off her.” I let go of Nina’s neck grudgingly, but if I’ve learned anything in the past few weeks, it’s that I care about Soren’s well-being much more than I thought I did. I can’t let him get shot in the head. She coughs and rubs her neck, the spot my hand squeezed red andbruising in the shape of my fingers. She deserved that at least for her hand in the bucket incident.
Annie Oakley over here has darker hair than her daughter, the same pale blue eyes, and a few more lines on her face than she did the last time she was behind a camera. She wears an impressive mix of fierce and calm, absolutely ready to blow Soren’s head off, and maybe even more excited about the prospect than I was about killing Nina a minute before.
“Mama, don’t be too jumpy. I have a plan, and it will only work if both of them keep their pretty faces.” Nina’s words shock me, and I turn back to her. I thought this wasmyplan. I had my hands around her neck about a minute ago, and she didn’t seem too in control then.
“What kind of plan?” she asks, mirroring my thoughts, but not lowering the gun a fraction of an inch. Her eyes move between Soren and me, calculating. His pupils are so dilated I’m surprised he can see straight, and he just stands there like nothing in particular is happening.
“Not a plan,theplan,” she clarifies, holding up her hands too. It’s clear she’s not begging for her life like I am for Soren’s, just for her mom to listen to her. “We’ll never have to work again.”
“When did you ever work?” I ask her, knowing damn well she’s been playing the rich socialite for years. The gun cocks, then points at me. I swallow hard, but manage not to piss myself.
“Are you suggesting something, pretty boy?”
Nina rolls her eyes. “He’s the musician, Mama, not the pretty boy.” She shoots a dirty look at me. “Plus, convincing old money morons like you that you belong is a full-time job.”
“Morons?”
“You’ve got a gun pointed at you, and you’re arguing whether you’re smart or not, genius.”
She has a point, and I do keep my mouth shut after that.
“I don’t trust them,” her mother says. “I think we should feed them to the pigs.”
“Well, isn’t that a sunny way to go,” Soren comments dryly, and I wish I could throttle him when she points the gun at the back of his head again. If she pulls the trigger in here, we’re all going to be wearing my old best friend’s brains.
“This isn’t a debate, Mama. Put the gun down. I’m going to show them what they want, and whether or not we find Sable, we’re disappearing after.”
“Forget Sable,” her mother says with an animosity I don’t expect. “Every goddamn thing isn’t about Sable Briarwick.” She spits on the ground like her name itself is cursed, and while I know a lot of people who believe that, they’re usually scared, not angry. Her intensity takes me by surprise and leaves me filled with questions and my own anger. Every part of me screams to defend her, but I’m not in a position to tell her she’s full of shit with a gun to Soren’s head.
“What do you think you’re going to get out of this?” I ask Nina, suddenly not so sure I want to bring her with me.
“The one thing you boys won’t miss at all.”
“And what’s that?” I ask.
“Money,” Soren answers to my surprise, eyes pointed at Nina. I should have known. That was obvious.
“Fine. If we find Sable, we’ll pay you,” I say, thinking that’s a very reasonable compromise. “And if you shoot us, you’ll have one hell of a mess to clean up. Seems like everyone will do better this way.”
She laughs. “I’m getting paid whether you find Sable or not. Don’t sweat it, though, boys. You won’t have to worry about a thing.”
“Are you sure?” her mother asks her. Their eyes meet, and a conversation so intense passes between them that my chest pangs with a pain I didn’t expect: jealousy. I have never fora minute been close enough to my mother to discuss anything without words. I would never have thought this criminal living in this tiny house would have something I didn’t have, something I wanted, but here we are.
“Let’s go,” Nina says to us both. Her mother doesn’t drop the gun, but she holds it off to the side rather than aiming it directly at us.
“Anything happens to my daughter, and I will happily blow both your brains out.”
“Understood,” I say.
