Page 31 of Live for Me

“Youcan’tbe killed,” Indy laughed. “Believe me on this. If you could’ve been, it would’ve happened by now with some of the shit we’ve had to do.”

“And we’ll both be here to tell you what to do every step of the way,” Memphis added without bothering to look up from her phone.

“That’s actually exactly what I’m worried about.”

“We can always send Memphis with you again,” Indy giggled. “Triss is still mad that she doesn’t have the story about those few days. Come to think of it, so am I.”

“These trips won’t be safe,” I said and rubbed my hands over my face.

“You’re ignoring the other part of that,” Indy insisted.

“Yep.”

“There’s nothing to tell,” Memphis said when she laid her phone back down on the counter. The way that she couldn’t even force herself to look in my direction with those words brought my smirk right to the surface while Indy looked back and forth between us.

“Okay, so, that’s a lie,” he laughed. “Are you guys sneaking into each other’s rooms every night here too?” He paused to look at me. “Maybe you’re not doing something right if she’s able to besoquiet that I haven’t heard anything yet.”

I watched Memphis turn pink while my smirk turned into a shit-eating grin. She shook her head and pulled the neck of her hoodie right up over her nose to hide part of her face.

“Can we just get back to this, please?” she asked through the fabric and shifted so that she was looking squarely at her computer screen again. “What if we start with Virginia and Austin?”

“Virginia?” I asked and laughed. “Wasn’t that the guy in the Mercedes?”

“What?” Memphis asked.

Indy laughed like a lunatic. “Yeah, I didn’t bother bringing that up.”

“I already kicked his ass once. He was the one after Trista’s bounty up by Michigan. We can’t start with him.”

Memphis ran her hands over her face that time. “Alright then. Montana and Richmond?”

“They’re still new,” Indy said. “It’d probably be a little easier to start with someone who isn’t set deep into this organization yet. Maybe a little less loyalty involved.”

“What brought Montana in?” I asked.

“He’s only twenty-three,” Memphis said. “Parents killed in a car accident. Hit and run. Kind of a rough kid before that anyway. In and out of juvenile detention centers through childhood. Got into fights all the time. The last straw seemed to be when he attacked the principal of his high school. Principal said he had drugs in his locker. Montana said the principal was the dealer and planted them there to remove the competition.”

“Hit and run deaths for the parents,” I said. “Nobody knows anything about the runaway driver?”

“I’ve got a pretty decent guess,” Memphis said. “It wasn’t just a car accident on the road. That would never guarantee the deaths of both parents. Someone ran them down while they were on a sidewalk, leaving dinner and headed back to their car. Big black SUV. Suburban or an Escalade. Emblems removed, no license plates.”

“Were the parents involved in sketchy shit, too?” I asked.

“Hard to say,” Indy chimed in. “I’m tempted to say yes, just because of how rough Montana seemed to be in his younger days anyway, but they were smart about it if they were involved in anything criminal. Nothing obvious from the regular searches.”

“But Jersey’s parents were good people. The honest kind who just had regular jobs their entire lives,” Memphis argued. “So, maybe not. The President just decides he wants somebody, and he makes it happen. Not much thought about what it costs to get it.”

“And the Judge?” I asked.

“Way harder to find information on them,” Indy said. “We all know what we’re doing. Even against each other. It’s why we get paid the big money.”

“The big money?” I asked. “You guys got paid more than we did?”

The way those two assholes looked at each other.

I watched Memphis’ bottom lip disappear between her teeth.

“Somebody better answer me.”

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