Page 12 of Double or Nothing
“What’s the plan? Or do you have one?”
“Vulcan suggested we bury him way out in the desert. He owns quite a bit of land, and no one ever visits him except us.”
“Did anyone see Ivan with you at the club?” I ask. “Was there anyone else walking through the parking lot?”
“Hell, I don’t remember,” he replies. “It all happened so fast. As soon as Ivan broke into your car, Vulcan was on him like a hurricane. It took me and Kit both to pull him off Ivan to keep from killing him right there on the pavement. Vulcan has an unusual physical strength when he’s out of control. We threw Ivan into the limo, which will need to be cleaned thoroughly. There’s blood everywhere.”
My mind is whirling, trying to take in everything. “Platinum has security cameras in the parking lot. The owner, Eva, will try to find out everything she can about Ivan and Igor. She’ll see the tapes of Vulcan, if they exist.”
“Then she’ll realize we took Ivan,” Seven says. “How much have you uncovered about her? Anything?”
“Not a damn thing,” I tell him. “But I will soon. I’ll make it my priority to investigate her. She’s very protective of Natasha, and I’m sure she’ll be relieved Ivan is dead.”
“Even if that’s the case, it doesn’t mean it’s safe for her to know we’re the ones responsible for his death,” he says. “She could hold it over us.”
“We’re all on the same page here regarding those fucking Russians,” I say. “If Eva sees anything on the tapes, I’m sure they’ll tell me. We’ll deal with it then. For now, we need to get to the RV and help with Ivan’s body.”
“We’re almost at Kit’s place,” Seven says. “I’ll hide your car in his garage, and it needs to stay there. Understood? Don’t take it back out under any circumstances. We’ll get you something else to drive. Any kind of car you want.”
“I understand and promise not to take it out again until we can switch the tags or something,” I say. “Ivan’s DNA is in here too, which means we’ll need to thoroughly wipe it down. There’s a lot to think about and we can’t miss anything.”
“We all have too much to lose to fuck this up,” he says.
I place my hand on Seven’s leg. “Thank you for everything you did tonight. If you hadn’t reacted as quickly as you did, things would’ve turned out differently. I’m grateful for that.”
He covers my hand with his. “No need to thank me. Vulcan is my brother in every sense of the word, except blood. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him or Kit. We’ll get through this together. You’re safe for now, and that’s all that matters.”
I shake my head. “No, it’s not all that matters. You all matter to me. I won’t let you down again, I promise. I’ll always have your backs the same as you have mine.”
He glances over at me. “Does this mean you won’t run away again?”
“That’s exactly what it means. I’ll never run from you again, I swear.”
“We’ll hold you to that.”
A few minutes later, we’ve tucked my car safely out of sight in Kit’s garage. I go inside the house to grab an extra change of clothes and shoes for everyone. If this job turns out to be as messy as I expect, we’ll need to burn the clothes we’re wearing when we’re finished.
“Does Leroy keep extra clothes here too?” I ask Seven when I return to the garage. He’s already carefully wiping down the interior of my car. “I grabbed a clothing change for everyone else and spare shoes.”
“Yeah, he usually keeps a sweatsuit or two in my closet,” he replies. “He doesn’t stay over here that often, but there should be something he can use. Go check. He texted to say he’s five minutes away with the limo.”
I dash back inside to grab Leroy a sweatsuit. Even after all this time, it’s still a little weird to me how the guys co-live at each other’s places. It works though, so who am I to question it? When I return, Leroy is parked outside the garage in the limo.
“Help me spread this plastic tarp down on the floorboard of the limo,” Leroy says to me. “There’s goddamn blood everywhere. Next time those assholes decide to let someone bleed out, they need to do in their own damn car instead of mine.”
The dark blood staining the carpet inside the limo contrasts sharply against the pristine exterior. It's a sickening sight that makes my stomach churn, the thick, metallic scent of blood overwhelming my senses. I can almost taste the coppery tang in my mouth, as if the blood were pooling around me.
Leroy tosses one end of a big blue plastic tarp to me, and we spread it out on the floor of the limo.
“What’s the purpose of this?” I ask. “The blood is still on the carpet. All we’re doing is covering it up.”
“There’s no reason to smear that DNA shit around anymore than necessary,” Leroy replies. “We should contain the mess until I can thoroughly clean the carpet.”
“What’s all this other stuff in here?” I ask. There’s a large assortment of shovels, bleach, a sharp hatchet, and even a chain saw piled on the limo’s leather seats.
“I watch a lot of crime shows on TV, so I knew what to buy,” Leroy replies. “Don’t worry, I’ve covered every angle.”
“Oh shit,” Seven says, peeking over my shoulder into the limo. “We’re in big ass trouble now. What if we get stopped by the police? What’s with the barrel in the front seat?”
