Love Money

by Jami Wagner

  I’m looking at a lose-lose situation here, and I’m not fully convinced I’m doing the right thing. That’s why it’s selfish. I’m doing it because I want to. I want to show them what I can do. I want a promotion, and this is the only way to prove myself.

  The bell chimes over Dipsey’s Diner’s door—this place is as clichéd a diner as they get. The women are wearing light blue uniforms with white tips on their sleeves. The booths have rips and tears on them. There is even a waitress behind the counter convincing her sole, elderly customer that he should have a slice of the apple pie. The best part, I’m here to meet a felon who has a plan to steal his money back. Anyone could name three movies, minimum, with a scene similar to this one. I’m thinking of a lot of Jason Statham movies right now.

  Jimmy struts in, no hat, no sunglasses, or anything to hint he’s hiding his appearance. He flops down into the seat across from me and leans back to the side, one arm on the table and one on the back of the booth.

  “I’m about to give you the biggest responsibility of my plan,” he says. I think the glare he’s giving me is supposed to intimidate me.

  It doesn’t.

  “And what’s that? Grabbing the money?” I ask. If that’s his plan, this whole “turn him in and get the money” plan I have going on is going to work out much better than I thought. I’ll just call the team and let them know where Jimmy will be waiting for me to bring him the money. Simple.

  “Nah, I’ll be the only one to touch the money,” he explains, and his eyes narrow even more. “Comments like that make me think I’d be better off shooting you in the back of the head than recruiting you.”

  “The choice is yours,” I tell him.

  “Such confidence.” He starts and points at me as he shakes his head. “I can’t decide if I like it or not.”

  “Then don’t hire me,” I snap and begin to scoot out. “My time is just as valuable as yours.”

  “Stop,” he says in a low growl. “Don’t get your fucking knickers in a twist. Sit your ass back down.”

  I breathe deep. My patience is tested every day on the job. Yet, still, I sit.

  I mimic his position and wait.

  “When my idiot of a partner stole what should have been my half of the job, he gave it to his girlfriend for safekeeping.”

  “Yeah, you already said someone took your money.” Why is he repeating it?

  “Be patient,” he says with a deep voice. “What you don’t know is that the girlfriend gave it to her kid sister. They really didn’t want me to find it.”

  Clearly.

  “I’m no idiot though, and I knew exactly where he put it,” he goes on.

  The idiot part is questionable.

  “So, you want to find the kid sister?” I ask.

  A slow, wicked grin reveals his yellowing teeth.

  “I’ve already found her,” he says. “That’s where you come in.”

  I lean forward on the table.

  “I need you to follow her. Find out her routine. Once you have it, report back to me after a couple of days. I’m going to need it later. In the meantime, when you’re with her, search her apartment, break everything you have to, and tear down anything that looks like a good hiding spot. Find my money. If you can’t find it, do whatever you need to get her to tell you where it is. The limits of how you do that are endless. Physical pain, I’ve learned, gets you answers pretty damn quick.”

  What the fuck?

  “How is a routine going to help you get your money?” I ask, attempting to ignore where he basically said to beat a woman if necessary.

  “You leave that part of the plan to me,” he says.

  “Wouldn’t you want a plan that gets you the money a lot sooner?” I lean back. “I mean, following someone to get their routine could take weeks.”

  That, and I don’t really feel like becoming a fucking babysitter.

  “Goddamn it. You’ll do as I say,” he says. His hand balls into a fist on the tabletop. “Besides, it should be easy to get the answer I want. She’ll know you’re following her.”

  “What?”

  “She should be here any moment. I’ll make it clear that you are to go everywhere she goes. She won’t refuse. She’s too smart for that.”

  The fuck. I’m about to become some crazy stalker to some random woman.

  “Charlotte Campbell was always smarter than her sister,” he adds.

  I freeze.

  Campbell. As in Kenzie Campbell? The woman who was killed during my first assignment? Jimmy worked with Drew? I put Drew away for life after he killed Kenzie, but still, Drew wasn’t clever enough to move money like this.

  I don’t know how long I sit here before I shake the thought from my head. There is no way Kenzie could be the girlfriend of his old partner. There has to be a mix-up. But, this does sound like something Drew would do. Take something that wasn’t his.

  Hold up. Charlie is a nickname for Charlotte, right?

  Shit.

  No.

  The next few moments happen so quickly.

  The diner door chimes again.

  She walks in.

  She looks at me.

  She looks at Jimmy.

  Her lips part.

  I draw in a breath.

  Charlie.

  Charlie

  Jett.

  No. No. No. This can’t be happening.

  I grip the back of the nearest booth as I focus on my breath.

  I blink once, then again. Jett is still sitting across from Jimmy and they’re both looking right at me.

  Jimmy glares at me and points to the seat next to him.

  Back when my sister was dating Drew, I’d gone with her a few times. I never wanted to, but Drew would insist she bring me and Kenzie never wanted to disappoint him. The first time I went with her, Jimmy was there. It was a night I’ll never forget. It was the night I saw my first gun, saw heroin for the first time, and the first time I ever saw Drew hit my sister. Jimmy had been the source of it all. He gave a command and people did as told. Kenzie had defended me. That’s why she was smacked across the face. I remember wanting to scream and beg her to let us leave, but she’d looked at me and mouthed don’t cry.

  With heavy feet, I move.

  Jimmy sighs when I sit. “Thank fuck you’re going to be watching her because I don’t have time for her bullshit games.”

  I don’t say anything. Neither does Jett. We just stare at each other.

  Tears threaten like a dam ready to burst, but I hold firm. Weakness in front of these type of people is like a death sentence. They see fear and they see red and with that, they see betrayal.

  I wish my sister would never have met Drew.

  “Charlotte, meet my buddy Jay. He’s your new best friend and you’ll do as my friend here says, won’t you?” Jimmy asks, playing with a strand of my hair. I start to nod when something hard presses against my hip. “Won’t you?” he asks again, this time he sounds angry.

  “Yes,” I say because who wouldn’t agree to anything he wants when there is a gun pointing at them.

  Jimmy turns his focus to Jett.

  “Jay here, he’s new to this kind of thing. Think of this as a game. One of you steps out of line, you both die, you both step out of line, you both die. Do as I want and you might live. Don’t do what I want and … I think you get the idea.”

  Well, those are awesome chances.

  “You can count on me. I’ll keep her in line,” Jett says. The grin that once made me crave his touch makes my blood boil.

  Who the hell does he think he is?

  “Good. Now go wait outside. I need to talk to Charlotte alone,” Jimmy says.

  For a moment I think I see worry flash across Jett’s eyes, but just as quickly as I thought I saw it, it’s gone and so is he.

  Jimmy leans in until I feel his breath against my ear. My eyes are pressed closed when he starts to speak. “That money you think belongs to you, belongs to me. I want it back and you’re going to make that happe
n. Killing a woman isn’t my favorite thing to do, but I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again if I have to.”

  “I don’t think anything belongs to me.” I hope he understood me, given the way my voice is shaking.

  “Oh yeah? Why did you keep it all these years, huh? Did you spend it? Is that why you claim you can’t get it for me?”

  I shake my head, and the gun presses harder into my hip.

  “It might take me a bit to get you the money,” I say, because telling him I don’t have it … well, I don’t feel like dying today.

  “That isn’t my problem, now is it?”

  My breathing picks up at both the situation and the way his eyes scan over my body.

  “If you need more time, I might have to look into other more guaranteed ways to get it.”

  It’s been three weeks since Clint came to me that first day. I’ve searched as much as I can for it and I still don’t have a plan. I can’t make this happen. I can’t. I don’t know what to do.

  “I’ll get you your money,” I say.

  “Good. Now move. I’ve been out for too long. I could be seen.”

  That’s right. He’s in hiding. If someone sees him, he’ll be arrested and this whole situation will go away.

  That’s it!

  I slide out and keep my smile at bay. I know exactly how to get rid of Jimmy.

  “Are you coming? Your new best friend is waiting.” Jimmy nods toward the spot where Jett is watching us through the window.

  My eyes meet Jett’s once again. He thinks he’s mad. Just wait till I get my turn to have a say.

  “I better have that money in my hands in one week,” Jimmy says to Jett and then pulls his hoodie up, heading away from the diner.

  “We need to talk,” Jett says so quietly no one can hear it but me.

  “I think we’re done talking,” I say and walk off. I don’t need him. I don’t need anyone. I just need to get Jimmy somewhere public and I’m a free girl. It might be easier said than done, but I won’t stop trying till he’s back in jail.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jett

  The side of my fist is going to bruise at this point.

  “Come on, Charlie, let me in,” I plead once more against her door.

  “Go away,” she says. I’m starting to think she recorded herself saying this and left it by the door.

  “You heard Jimmy. I can’t leave.”

  “I don’t care. You’re a lying asshole. Go away.”

  “Please trust me and let me in.”

  “No.”

  Fuck. This is a waste of time. I need to get in there and find out what she knows. If Jimmy is telling the truth, Charlie has the money. I need to get it before Jimmy does. How I’m going to do that without having to tell Charlie everything, I have no idea.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Whit asks, taking the last step and standing in front of her door.

  “Um,” I point with my thumb to Charlie’s door. “Just picking her up for a date.”

  “No, he isn’t! He’s a lying asshole.”

  “Can’t you come up with another name!” I shout back. I’ve been called a lying asshole at least thirty times in the last hour.

  “Bastard!” she shouts. Touché.

  “What did you do?” Whit asks, hands on her hips.

  “Nothing.”

  Whit opens her mouth to say something, but Charlie beats her to it.

  “Liar!”

  “Okay, let’s go inside my place, shall we?” Whit’s death stare doesn’t give me much of a choice, but still, I take my chances and hold my ground. If Charlie tries to slip out, I need to be here to go with her.

  “I’ll just stay right here, thanks,” I say and raise my hand to knock once more, but Whit steps in front of the door.

  “Get inside my apartment, or so help me, Jett, I will go full Mom on your ass.” She points over my shoulder and I groan.

  My eyes narrow, accepting this challenge. I don’t last long, although I only budge because having my girlfriend and my sister hate me at the same time isn’t the best idea.

  Whit’s door slams behind us.

  “What’s going on? Don’t lie to me,” she says.

  I shake my head and keep my mouth shut.

  “Okay, you’re starting to piss me off,” Whit says. “What’s going on?” The rise of anger in her voice is clear.

  No matter how much I shake my head, the outcome is still the same.

  “Things are so fucking messed up right now,” I tell her, gripping the back of my neck and pacing between the living room and kitchen. “So, so fucked up.” I open her front door to peek in the hall.

  “Jett, talk to me. There isn’t anything—”

  “She’s her sister!” I whisper yell, pointing to Charlie’s door as I close my sister’s. Whit flinches.

  “Who is whose sister?” she asks, holding up her hands like she’s just been caught touching something she shouldn’t.

  I take a seat on the couch, then stand, then sit again.

  “Jett, I can’t help you if you don’t give me more details.”

  “Charlie is Charlotte.”

  “So, Charlie is a nickname.”

  “Charlotte as in, she just so happens to be the younger sister of Kenzie Campbell, the woman who is dead because of me.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Yeah.”

  I finally take a seat on the arm of the couch.

  Whit rushes to my side, her arms around me and rubbing my shoulder. “Jett, you are not the reason she died. It was not your fault. You can’t go back to thinking this way.”

  “If I would have never approached Kenzie, she’d still be here.”

  “She agreed to help you, Jett. You didn’t force her. It’s not your fault.”

  I drop my head into my hands as I shake it to disagree with her.

  “I still took her away from her. I’m the reason she has no sister.”

  “Jett, you have got to stop blaming yourself. I can only tell you so many times. Charlie won’t see it the way you do.”

  I sit up straight and look at my sister with wide eyes.

  Holy fuck.

  “How am I going to tell her? She’s not going to ever want to speak to me again or even see me once I tell her.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Fuck. Telling her this would ruin her.”

  Maybe I don’t have to tell her. No. Even I’m not that stupid. I have to tell her.

  “You can’t not tell her, Jett.”

  “She won’t listen to me. I know she won’t. She’ll never forgive me, Whit.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  I nod. But I do. That woman has a heart bigger than most out there. If I tell her I’m the reason her sister is gone, it won’t matter her heart’s size, that’s it for us. I also know that not telling her is the worst thing I could ever do. That, and now I’m supposed to watch her and she’s involved, and shit, my emotions are tangled in this mess. Fuck. Not to mention the fact that I wanted to protect her from getting spun into my job and now she’s smack dab in the middle. There is no way I’m letting those guys near her. I’ve got to find a way to fix this, keep her safe, and not get killed in the end.

  “How did you figure this out, anyway?” Whit asks.

  I don’t even have time to talk myself out of the glare I hit her with.

  “Does this have anything to do with your job?”

  I shrug her hand off my shoulder and move away from her.

  “Whit, I can’t talk to you about that, and you already know this.”

  “Jett,” she snaps. “You are in way over your head.” Her voice is firm as she stands in front of me with her hand on her hips.

  “You don’t think I know that?” I snap back.

  “I’m sure you do, but now you really have to talk to Charlie, and you need to tell her everything.”

  A car door slams outside, causing me to spring from my seat to the window.

  It’s not h
er.

  “I can’t,” I say and move for the front door.

  “She deserves better than this, Jett. Either you tell her or I will.”

  My hand freezes on the doorknob as I turn around. Did I hear her right?

  She nods quickly. “I swear I’ll do it. You may want to ruin your life by keeping secrets, but you don’t get to make that choice for her.”

  I’m not making a choice for her. I’m trying to keep her safe!

  I want to scream those exact words, but I can’t. I can’t bring anyone else into this shit.

  “I have to talk to her,” I say ignoring my sister’s warning.

  “I’m serious, Jett!” are the last words I hear before I close the door behind me.

  She doesn’t understand. No one understands, and the only woman who could can’t find out the truth. Not yet. Not until I know she is safe.

  Charlie

  The next time he knocks on my door, I’m throwing my shoe at it, and the time after that, I’m opening the door and throwing the other shoe at his face. I won’t stop until he’s gone.

  How could I think I could trust him? Anyone. How did I think I could actually meet a guy who wasn’t up to some sort of scandal? It’s in our family’s DNA, I swear.

  He knocks.

  I toss my brown ankle boot.

  “Charlie, please,” he says against the door.

  “Just leave, Jett.”

  “We need to talk about this.”

  Clearly talking through the door isn’t helping. I yank it open and he falls inside my entryway, barely catching his footing before he falls to his knees.

  “There is nothing to talk about Jett. You betrayed me.”

  “I betrayed you?” he asks, rising. He closes my door and I turn for the living room in a huff.

  “How do you think I felt when you walked through that door?” he asks.

  “Oh, like you didn’t know it’d be me.”

  “I didn’t, but I’d love to know how the hell you know a guy like Jimmy.”