“And if they demand, your current wife gives you a child?”
“I’ll get her pregnant if that’s what it takes.”
But even as I say it, I have my doubts. I almost died today. If Ernesto had set his wild dog on Bex instead of on me, she would be dead. All because of my family and its bickering.
I shouldn’t be asking her to stay. I should be getting rid of her while I still can. Pay her off, and send her back to civilian life.
Once I had Ernesto’s fake cop under control, I got my phone back on and called her, telling her to go collect Alicia. Only she couldn’t even do that. I had to get Toby to come away from watching Julia, and bring Alicia back home when the cop came to take me in. I can’t guard everyone at once, and my daughter has to take priority.
Toby takes a long swig of his beer. “Got to say, I can’t wait for all this to be over. It’s taking years off my life.”
“You did your job, and I’m grateful.”
“You want me to go back and carry on watching Julia?”
“No point. She and Ernesto will be heading off on their honeymoon. Take a look when they get back. See if she has any fresh bruises on her.”
“How long’s he away for?”
“A couple of days. I’ll have the commission onside by the time he comes back.
“I’ll cross my fingers for you. Don’t forget my pay raise when all this is over.”
“Right now, I’m thinking about having a word with Bex. She pulled up about half an hour from the nature reserve and sat there for ages. I don’t know what she was thinking, but I told her to get Alicia, and she decided to have a fucking nap or something.”
“That sounds like her now.”
I hear an engine noise coming around the house’s side, but it’s not the Jeep. I can tell.
I drain my beer. “Make sure that’s nothing but ash,” I tell Toby, pointing at the still-burning clothes. “Then go and see if that son of a bitch has woken up yet. See if you can get him to talk. Call me once he’s amenable to discussion.”
A taxi cab appears around the corner, stopping in front of the garage. Bex gets out and spots me. “Is there any chance of you paying?” she asks. “I’ve no money on me at all.”
This is how it starts, I think to myself. It was the same with Sofia. Can you pay for this? I’m a little short. Could you pick up the tab? All the while, she was building up debt with her dealer. I gave her five thousand, and it’s already gone?
“What happened to you?” she asks, seeing the cuts and swelling on my face.
“Am I not paying you enough?” I snap at her. “I left you five thousand this morning. Pay him out of that.” I turn away and walk into the house.
I stop dead as soon as I’m inside. She’s not Sofia. She’s not a junkie who hates me.
Yeah, but she didn’t do her job. She’s burned through that money in a day. She might not be there yet, but this is how it goes. How it always goes.
Maybe it’s me. I’m the reason.
The door behind me opens, and Bex stands there, looking furious at me. “Toby helped me out,” she says. “He paid for the cab out of his own money. Thanks a lot. I thought you were supposed to be rich.”
“So that means I have to bail you out when you decide to get cabs everywhere? Where’s the money I gave you this morning?”
“I… I spent it.”
“Course you did. What on?”
“Do I have to account for all my actions with you? Is that the condition for doing this thing? Want me to hire an accountant while I’m at it?”
“That’s what happened in that shitty movie of yours, isn’t it?”
“Brewster’s Millions is not a shitty movie; if you’d given it more than a few minutes, you might know that.”