I didn’t answer.
“You remember how Garth said he could remember every single contact he had, just pull out their numbers from some kind of super storage in his head?” Heath smacked the journal and smiled. “Well, that was a load of crap.”
You don’t say? There was a lot of that oozing out of Garth, that this didn’t seem like much of a surprise.
Heath opened the journal again. “Every single name and number, in alphabetical order, and Garth didn’t even code the damn thing.” He looked up at me and smiled. “You know, I could take this and make it on my own without him, if I didn’t love the guy so much. Pretty stupid to leave it lying around where anyone could find it.”
“You seemed to be looking real hard for that,” I commented.
Heath laughed and plopped down on the couch. “Gotta watch my boy’s back, you know?” He continued scanning the journal. “I mean, we got a bunch of guys coming and going through here, some that can’t be trusted. This isn’t something you’d want them to get their hands on. There’s no telling what they could do with it.”
There’s your out!
“What are you going to do with it?” I asked.
“What do ya mean?”
I gestured to the journal. “You said everything’s in there,” I said. “What’s stopping you from walking out of here with it all?”
Heath looked at me for a few seconds before he smiled and shook a finger at me. “No, no, no,” he chuckled. “Bad ex-girlfriend. I see what you’re trying to do.”
“What am I trying to do?”
“You’re trying to tempt me into backstabbing my best friend,” Heath said. “Playing your little mind games, making me think I can have it all, right?”
I shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I mean, you’re a smart guy. It’s not like you really need him.”
“Alright, you know what?” he said, waving a dismissive hand at me. “Stop it. I like
d you better when you weren’t talking.”
“Seriously, Heath,” I pressed. “Come to think of it, all he really does is call people and bark orders. You do most of the heavy lifting.”
“Shut up, Jenni.” Heath’s tone took a more aggressive turn, and he glared at me angrily.
Twin lights broke through the window and briefly lit up the living room in a bright light before turning away. I looked over my shoulder and watched in horror as Alex’s car pulled up to the house across the street. I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach.
“That your lover boy?” Heath asked, getting up and rushing to the window. He clapped his hands together and smiled. “Looks like it’s all going down now.” He turned around and went back to the couch, picking up the journal again.
I tried to loosen my restraints again, wincing and clenching my teeth at the jolts of pain that shot out from where the skin had been rubbed raw. This was getting me nowhere, and I watched helplessly as Alex walked up the driveway and disappeared behind the house. He was carrying Samuel’s rifle.
“You know, now would be the perfect time,” I said, turning my attention back to Heath.
He looked up at me and frowned. “What?”
I gestured to the journal again. “Garth’s going to be a little preoccupied at the moment. I say take it and make a run for it. Drive out of town, far away from Kent. Make a few calls. Get a nice little setup going on before he even knows what hit him.”
“I told you to shut up.”
“Take me with you.”
Heath’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”
“Take me with you,” I repeated. “Come on, you don’t honestly think I want to stay in this hell hole forever do you?”
Heath frowned at me, the confusion etched on his face almost making me smile.
“Alex was just a means to an end,” I said. “This is all a show. Take out Alex, and Samuel would be too heartbroken to do anything but sell. He’d need the money to take care of Kelly.”