Texas Hold 'Em

by A Parker

  Headlights.

  There were headlights coming down the road.

  At some point in the night, my training had kicked in and I was able to do what needed to be done. The fake blood hadn’t bothered me the way I thought it would, and neither had seeing Tex lying in it. Yes, I’d felt a bit weak in the knees, but having a task to do helped get me through the minutes.

  But as soon as I had to come out here alone and watch for Caroline to arrive, all the courage I’d mustered slipped away. I’d shivered even though it wasn’t cold as I’d stared down the empty dark road, and as soon as those headlights came into view, I thought I might pass out.

  I leaned against the wall as I peered out into the night. Soon the vehicle was close enough that I could tell it was a white SUV.

  Caroline’s Rover.

  “Shit,” I breathed.

  With that, I ran back down the hall to Tex’s apartment. I burst through the door and called out that they were coming as I ran across the living room. I gripped the doorframe of the bedroom to swing myself into the room and came up short at the sight of Brody setting up the defibrillator and leaning over Tex, the paddles held inches over his chest.

  “Alright,” Brody muttered, “we have to do this quickly. Any last words before things go dark for four minutes, brother?”

  Tex smiled, and for the first time, I saw his nerves.

  “Wait!” I cried.

  Tex peered down at me without lifting his head from the pillow.

  “We can’t wait,” Brody hissed.

  I rushed forward, squeezed between them, and planted a kiss on Tex’s lips. When we parted, I brushed my fingers through his hair. “Don’t die. Okay? I need you to come back.”

  Tex’s nerves seemed to leave him as he gazed up at me. “See you in a few.”

  “We have to do this now.” Brody’s voice was pulled tight under the pressure.

  I stepped back.

  Brody raised the paddles again.

  Tex closed his eyes.

  The room swam in and out of focus and the floor seemed to roll under my feet like a wave in open water as the defibrillator charged. The static hum rang in my ears.

  “Do it,” Tex said.

  “Godspeed,” Brody muttered.

  I wanted to look away but couldn’t as Brody pressed the paddles to Tex’s chest. They went off. Tex’s entire body jolted.

  And then he swore.

  “Son of a fucking whore,” Tex hissed.

  I clutched at my chest like I’d just been the one shocked. “What the hell is happening? Why didn’t it work? Brody?”

  Brody stared at the machine in his hands. “Fuck.”

  I grabbed his shirt and turned him to face me. “Fuck? Fuck what? What’s going on? We have minutes here Brody. Caroline is going to be banging on the front door any minute.”

  “It’s not going to work,” Brody muttered. “How didn’t I think of this? Why… shit. Shit. Shit! The new machines detect regular heartbeats. It’s not going to work on someone who isn’t experiencing irregular heartbeats.”

  My mouth fell open. “Are you fucking serious right now? You’re a fucking doctor and it didn’t occur to you that the one thing our entire plan was hinged on wouldn’t work?”

  Tex propped himself up on his elbows. “You need a bigger shock.”

  Brody nodded.

  “How much bigger?” I asked.

  Brody looked around the room for something he could use. “I just assumed… I don’t know what I was thinking. The old machines…” He shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “They’re going to check my pulse,” Tex said. “And we can’t afford for this to go wrong. I need to be dead.”

  The men shared a look that made my skin crawl.

  “Whatever you’re thinking,” I said, “stop thinking it.”

  Tex’s jaw flexed. “The only way we’re going to create a powerful enough shock to actually kill me is with water and a large appliance, and we just don’t have that kind of time. This is bigger than me. You both know that. And we all knew there was a chance things could go wrong. I have to be dead when they walk through that door.”

  Brody began shaking his head.

  Tex looked at me. “Carrie, go meet Caroline. We’ll handle what needs to be done here.”

  “No,” I said.

  “I’m sick and tired of this shit,” Tex hissed. “I’m done being questioned. Get the fuck out there and do your part. We’ll do ours. With a little luck, I’ll see you soon.”

  “And without luck?” I whispered.

  Tex settled back down on the pillow. “Then I’m sorry.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Carrie,” he said softly this time. “Go.”

  Somehow, I managed to walk out of that room. I didn’t know what I was turning my back on. I didn’t know what they were planning to do in there. All I knew was Brody’s job just got a hell of a lot worse, and he probably wouldn’t have time to hide out in his truck. He was going to have to stay somewhere in the apartment, and I wouldn’t know where he was hiding.

  I left the apartment and moved down the hall to the front door where, when I was about ten feet away, Caroline stepped inside. She didn’t see me right away as she looked from side to side down the corridor running the opposite direction. She frowned at the rather dingy lights and sniffed at the air like an unimpressed cat.

  Then she spotted me covered in blood.

  Her icy blue stare raked up the length of my body. “It would have been preferable if you kept things clean.”

  I stared at her. “Well, too bad.”

  She stared back.

  My tongue felt like it had become glued to the roof of my mouth, and I waited for the whole ruse to fall apart.

  Caroline moved forward and the enforcer, Moss, followed her into the depths of the hall. They strode toward me.

  Caroline cocked her head to the side. “You look absolutely fucking terrible.” She pulled a soft kerchief from her purse, wrapped it around her thumb, and wiped blood from my chin. “Better. Lead the way, Hart. I don’t want to breathe this air any longer than I have to.”

  How long had I given Brody and Tex? Would it be enough time?

  I walked slowly down the hall. My pulse thundered in my ears, a steady drumbeat as we walked toward what I was now certain would be the end of us all.

  “What a shithole,” Caroline muttered as she followed.

  Moss chuckled. “It suits a dog like the Devils.”

  I gritted my teeth and stepped into the apartment. They followed. I closed the door and approached the bedroom, wrapping my arms around myself and beginning to rub at the blood on my skin. I nodded up ahead through the bedroom door. “He’s in there.”

  Caroline gave me a curious look. “Don’t tell me you feel bad for putting the bastard down?”

  I swallowed. “It… it didn’t go as planned. I had to improvise. I just… I didn’t expect all the blood. Is there usually this much blood?” I looked down at my hands and rubbed at my palms like Brody had told me to do.

  Caroline huffed and threw her kerchief at me. “Clean yourself up.”

  I muttered a weak thank you before Caroline pushed forward into the bedroom. I half expected her to walk into Brody or to find the bed empty. I waited for her to storm out with her gun raised and accuse me of being a liar.

  That didn’t happen.

  Instead, Moss followed her in, and the two of them spoke quietly to each other before calling out to me.

  Feeling like I existed outside of my own body, I moved into the bedroom. I looked everywhere but at the bed, where I could see Tex lying out of my peripheral. He didn’t move. The room felt still, the air heavy. It felt altogether wrong.

  “Well done, Hart,” Caroline said. She had two fingers pressed to Tex’s throat. She straightened with an approving smile. “One down. Seven to go.”

  I looked down at him. Shit.

  I shouldn’t have looked. A sleeping man and a de
ad man were two different things, and Tex was definitely dead. His eyes were half open, his lips parted, his arm hanging limp over the side of the bed.

  My stomach lurched.

  Caroline held out her hand to Moss, who passed her another kerchief which seemed to materialize out of nowhere. She used it to wipe the two fingers she’d checked Tex’s pulse with while she watched me with amusement. “Did he see it coming?”

  I shook my head.

  “How long did it take?” Caroline asked.

  “How long?” I asked weakly.

  “For him to bleed out.”

  What the fuck was wrong with her? Why did she want to know that? “I don’t know. I didn’t fucking time it.”

  Caroline moved away from the bed. I tried not to sigh with relief. As she passed him, she bumped Tex’s dangling hand with her knee and recoiled. She kicked the mattress and spat a curse at his lifeless body, and the way he just lay there broke me.

  I couldn’t take it.

  I surged out of the room, down the hall, and into the bathroom, where I barely made it to the toilet before throwing up violently. I couldn’t breathe. The world spun. Clinging to the toilet was the only thing that kept me upright. More nausea broke over me and I was sick again, and again, and again, until there was nothing left in my stomach.

  I collapsed back and slumped against the wall as Caroline appeared in the doorway and looked down the length of her nose at me.

  “You’ve killed before,” she said. “Why is this one worth your tears?”

  I hadn’t even noticed I was crying. “I’ve killed in self-defense, but I’ve never murdered anyone in cold blood.”

  Caroline crouched down and gave me what almost looked like an empathetic smile, but it couldn’t be. “Darling, you had a rough night. I can see that. But you did good work. My father is going to be pleased and dare I say impressed. You’re going to go home. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?”

  I nodded weakly.

  “That’s the spirit,” she said, straightening and pulling on a pair of gloves from her purse. “Keep the burner phone close. My father will be in touch about tomorrow night.”

  I heard a loud thump from the bedroom and sat up straighter. “What was that?”

  “Moss is going to put the body in the car and bring him to my father.”

  “What?” I scrambled to my feet. “No, he can’t.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “Can’t? Who are you to give me orders?”

  Keep your head on straight, Carrie. There’s still a way out of this. Tex hasn’t been down for four minutes yet. You have time to bring him back if you can get them out now.

  “I need him,” I said.

  “Ew, for what? He’s dead.”

  “Leverage,” I said.

  I heard a dragging sound and knew Moss was taking Tex from the bedroom.

  Caroline put a hand on her hip. “Leverage? Sweetheart, your part of the job is over. You don’t need to worry about leverage. My father wants the body, so he’s going to get the body.”

  “No,” I said again, more firmly this time. “I need to keep him here. There’s no way I’m going to be able to get the rest of the MC to the landfill tomorrow. They’re not going to trust me. It’s only a matter of time before they find out what I’ve done, and I’m going to tell them they can have Tex to bury him properly if they meet me at the landfill. Burials matter to them, Caroline. If you take him with you, I won’t have a shot in hell of getting them to the landfill and this will all have been for nothing.”

  Caroline remained completely expressionless. Her red lips rubbed together as she considered my words. She turned to Moss, who was just coming out of the bedroom, dragging Tex from under his arms. I didn’t look down.

  “What do you think, Moss? Does she have a point?”

  Moss, the buzzcut asshole who’d beaten the living daylights out of Mason about a month ago, shrugged one shoulder. “Doesn’t mean shit to me. Your father cares that he’s dead. Does it really matter where the body goes?”

  Caroline considered.

  “You can have his body tomorrow night,” I added. “It won’t matter then because they’re all going to be dead.”

  She nodded. “Fair enough. Leave him here, Moss. We can go.”

  Moss let Tex fall to the hardwood floor with a heavy thump.

  I winced.

  Caroline smirked. “I thought you had a harder stomach than that, darling. We’re not all made for this life. No shame in that. Here.” She pulled something wrapped up in packing paper from her purse and pressed it into my hands. “For your trouble. And your flight home.”

  With that, she snapped her fingers. Moss stepped over Tex’s body and followed her out the door. She called over her shoulder that she would see me tomorrow night, and I watched them leave out the front door at the end of the hall. Seconds later, the headlights of the Rover lit up the hallway as they swung the car around, and all I could see were their taillights as they drove away.

  I stared at Tex’s body lying in the doorway of the bedroom.

  How many minutes had passed? Did we even have enough time to revive him? How had he and Brody pulled it off anyway?

  Shit. Brody.

  I called his name but didn’t have the stomach to step over Tex and go into the bedroom. To my relief, Brody appeared at Tex’s feet looking grim.

  I pressed a hand to my chest. “Thank God. What do we do? How do we help him?”

  Brody had already dropped to his hands and knees over Tex. I watched, horrified, as he began CPR.

  “This is the play?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer me.

  “Brody! He’s been down for several minutes! Is CPR even going to work?”

  He pressed the heels of both hands down on Tex’s sternum and pressed down hard in rapid succession. Tex jostled. Brody hissed out short breaths in rhythm to the beats he made with his hands. His face turned red.

  Something cracked. I dropped to my knees at Tex’s head. Had Brody just broken one of his ribs?

  I leaned over him and held his face in my hands, running my thumbs over the stubble on his jaw. “Please come back,” I begged. “Please.”

  Chapter 31

  Jameson

  Air rushed into my lungs. Everything burned. A white-hot poker ran through my chest and made it impossible to exhale. Someone slapped my cheek. Hard.

  “Jameson!”

  Somehow, I was cold and hot all at once. Everything hurt. It was so fucking dark. Where the hell was I?

  “Tex!” A woman’s voice. “We’re here. We’ve got you. You’re all right.”

  All right?

  Fuck.

  I sure as shit didn’t feel all right.

  I groaned.

  Gentle hands on my face moved up into my hair as the struggle between hot and cold ended and cold won out.

  Finally, I managed to open my eyes and found myself blinking up at a beautiful face and blue eyes. She smiled at me as tears rolled down her cheeks, where there was a red splatter of blood. Was that my blood? It couldn’t be hers, could it? I reached for her. She caught my hand in hers and held it fiercely as my memories started sliding back into place.

  “Sorry, brother,” a familiar male voice muttered from somewhere close by. “You didn’t make this easy on us. I think I cracked a rib while I was working on you.”

  Cracked a rib? That was all? It felt like he’d broken my entire ribcage. And my skull. My head was killing me.

  “Can you speak?” she asked.

  Carrie. Brody. All the puzzle pieces of pain assembled themselves in my mind. We’d failed with the defibrillator but still pulled it off. I hadn’t expected to come back.

  And yet there I was, blinking up at the woman I loved.

  “That sucked,” I managed to say.

  Carrie laughed with relief and leaned over me to press wet kisses to my lips.

  Brody sat back on his heels and wiped sweat from his brow while Carrie helped me sit up. She wrapped her arms
around my neck and held my head to her chest for a fierce hug, not realizing she was practically smothering me. Brody chuckled and she took off into the kitchen, saying she was going to get me some water.

  “She cares about you,” Brody said. “She was a rock star tonight. And a good actress. Although I think her genuine fear is what made the whole thing so convincing. Caroline bought it hook, line, and sinker. We’re on for tomorrow night.”

  I rubbed at my throat and tried to sound more enthusiastic than I felt. The last thing I wanted was another fight. “Great.”

  “You should consider sitting it out. Tonight… tonight was fucked up,” Brody said.

  “I’ll have plenty of time to sit around after Bates is dead.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Carrie returned with a glass of water and both Brody and I fell quiet. She knelt beside me and rubbed her hands on her thighs. “So how did you guys pull it off?”

  Neither Brody nor I looked at each other.

  She frowned. “Guys? Are you seriously not going to tell me?”

  Brody pushed to his feet. “I’m going to crash on the couch in case you need me tonight, Tex. We should wrap those ribs of yours first and then you should rest.”

  Carrie looked back and forth between us as he helped me to my feet. I was unsteady but only for a few short seconds until I got my bearings and the dizziness passed. My cracked rib hurt like hell, but the pain in my head already seemed to be getting better.

  Brody announced that he was going to grab his first-aid kit from his truck, and when he left, I had Carrie help me out into the kitchen, where she opened the door to the pit and watched me skeptically while I lit a cigarette.

  “You have a serious problem,” she said. “You just died. Like, literally, you were dead, and now you’re going to fill your lungs with that shit?”

  I blew smoke. “Yep.”

  “Tex.”

  “Carrie.”

  The corner of her mouth twitched and her eyes sparkled. She was hiding a smile. “You’re impossible.”

  “And here I thought opposites were supposed to attract.”

  “I’m not nearly as stubborn as you are.”

  I took a drag. “If you say so.”

  She smiled in earnest and stepped in close, letting me drape an arm over her shoulders. I no longer needed to lean on her. My head was on straight and the pain in my ribs was tolerable.