into the glove compartment. Then I started the engine and turned on the heat.
My hands were shaking from the adrenaline, and I squeezed them together tight. I could feel the tension racing through me, and I slammed my fist against the steering wheel again and again, trying to let it out.
It didn’t work.
Every bad thing I knew about Jay had shown itself. I’d hoped he was different since coming out of prison. But he wasn’t, and now it was up to me to do damage control.
If there was a way to fix the situation, I couldn’t see it, and the more I thought about it, the worse it all seemed. I couldn’t take the woman home, and I couldn’t walk away and leave her with Roach and Jay.
I was stuck.
I knew I had to make sure she was safe, and that meant everything from here on had to go as planned. The only way out that I could see was to keep moving forward.
I had to make the call.
But first, I needed to calm down.
I leaned back in the seat and counted each breath, trying to clear my head. Outside, there was a long line of cottonwood trees stretching along the road leading down to the river. Their branches were stripped bare by the season, and they stood, black and cold, silhouetted against the white sky like deep cracks in the surface of the world.
I stared at them for a long time.
Eventually I felt my muscles begin to relax, and soon the world slipped back into focus.
I took the phone from my pocket and looked down at the number on the back of the business card. I knew I had to call, but I didn’t know what I was going to say.
Jay had put everything together. He had a location for the drop all set to go. It was a seldom-used bus stop on Fourteenth and Carmine. It seemed like a risky spot to me, but he’d insisted. He said he’d checked it out several times, and it was perfect.
I felt like a fool for trusting his opinion after all that had happened, but we were in too deep now.
Besides, I didn’t have a better idea.
I opened the phone and dialed the number. I paused at the end and took a deep breath, trying again to steady myself. Then I hit the Call button.
The phone rang twice.
The man who answered didn’t say anything at first. He just breathed into the phone, slow and steady.
Then he said, “Has she been harmed?”
It was an obvious question, but for some reason it stopped me cold. He had a faint accent that I couldn’t quite place, and I wondered if this was really the same old man Jay and I had watched on TV that night in the bar.
“Not yet,” I said. “But that depends on you.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s safe, but if you want her back, you need to do exactly what I say.”
Silence.
“Put five hundred thousand dollars in a bag and take it to the bus stop on the corner of Fourteenth and Carmine in one hour. Put the bag under the bench and wait for the number eleven bus. When it arrives, leave the bag and get on.”
I asked if he understood, but the only sound I heard was his breathing.
“I don’t think I have to tell you to come alone,” I said. “Or what will happen to her if the police become involved.”
The breathing stopped.
“I do not involve the police in my personal affairs.”
“That’s good,” I said. “If you do exactly what I’ve asked you to do, I’ll call again in a couple hours and let you know where you can pick up your wife.”
“I won’t be the one coming,” he said. “Someone else will be there in my place.”
“As long as they bring the money, I don’t care.”
The man hesitated, then said, “One hour.”
The line went dead.
the light6s out of I lowered the phone and flipped it shut and stared at the snow swirling outside the window. After a while, I started to imagine what the old man was thinking, the pain he must be feeling, what he was going through.
All because of me.
I tried my best to push these thoughts away, but it was too late. I couldn’t do it. My chest felt tight, and my mouth was dry and tasted bitter. I swallowed
My hands were shaking from the adrenaline, and I squeezed them together tight. I could feel the tension racing through me, and I slammed my fist against the steering wheel again and again, trying to let it out.
It didn’t work.
Every bad thing I knew about Jay had shown itself. I’d hoped he was different since coming out of prison. But he wasn’t, and now it was up to me to do damage control.
If there was a way to fix the situation, I couldn’t see it, and the more I thought about it, the worse it all seemed. I couldn’t take the woman home, and I couldn’t walk away and leave her with Roach and Jay.
I was stuck.
I knew I had to make sure she was safe, and that meant everything from here on had to go as planned. The only way out that I could see was to keep moving forward.
I had to make the call.
But first, I needed to calm down.
I leaned back in the seat and counted each breath, trying to clear my head. Outside, there was a long line of cottonwood trees stretching along the road leading down to the river. Their branches were stripped bare by the season, and they stood, black and cold, silhouetted against the white sky like deep cracks in the surface of the world.
I stared at them for a long time.
Eventually I felt my muscles begin to relax, and soon the world slipped back into focus.
I took the phone from my pocket and looked down at the number on the back of the business card. I knew I had to call, but I didn’t know what I was going to say.
Jay had put everything together. He had a location for the drop all set to go. It was a seldom-used bus stop on Fourteenth and Carmine. It seemed like a risky spot to me, but he’d insisted. He said he’d checked it out several times, and it was perfect.
I felt like a fool for trusting his opinion after all that had happened, but we were in too deep now.
Besides, I didn’t have a better idea.
I opened the phone and dialed the number. I paused at the end and took a deep breath, trying again to steady myself. Then I hit the Call button.
The phone rang twice.
The man who answered didn’t say anything at first. He just breathed into the phone, slow and steady.
Then he said, “Has she been harmed?”
It was an obvious question, but for some reason it stopped me cold. He had a faint accent that I couldn’t quite place, and I wondered if this was really the same old man Jay and I had watched on TV that night in the bar.
“Not yet,” I said. “But that depends on you.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s safe, but if you want her back, you need to do exactly what I say.”
Silence.
“Put five hundred thousand dollars in a bag and take it to the bus stop on the corner of Fourteenth and Carmine in one hour. Put the bag under the bench and wait for the number eleven bus. When it arrives, leave the bag and get on.”
I asked if he understood, but the only sound I heard was his breathing.
“I don’t think I have to tell you to come alone,” I said. “Or what will happen to her if the police become involved.”
The breathing stopped.
“I do not involve the police in my personal affairs.”
“That’s good,” I said. “If you do exactly what I’ve asked you to do, I’ll call again in a couple hours and let you know where you can pick up your wife.”
“I won’t be the one coming,” he said. “Someone else will be there in my place.”
“As long as they bring the money, I don’t care.”
The man hesitated, then said, “One hour.”
The line went dead.
the light6s out of I lowered the phone and flipped it shut and stared at the snow swirling outside the window. After a while, I started to imagine what the old man was thinking, the pain he must be feeling, what he was going through.
All because of me.
I tried my best to push these thoughts away, but it was too late. I couldn’t do it. My chest felt tight, and my mouth was dry and tasted bitter. I swallowed
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