The silence in the truck’s cab was deafening. Krew was in the front passenger seat, and Regina was in the backseat, a scowl on her face as though it was a permanent fixture.
“Did anyone ever tell you that if you keep frowning like that your face will stay that way?”
“Did anyone ever tell you that you have a big, fat nose?” she countered with a middle finger to me. “Stop sticking it in my business.”
For a second, I was stunned at her retort, until Krew burst out laughing. “Good one.”
“Christ.” I had to hand it to her, she developed a quick wit, something she never had before. “You know where I’d like to stick it.”
Her cheeks flushed red as she turned away. “Where are you taking us?” Regina asked, completely ignoring my comment, her attention fixed out the window.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, briefly glancing at her through the rearview mirror.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Krew frowned. “You said you had this handled.”
“Apparently not,” Regina muttered with a light snort.
That brought a small smile to my face. It had been forever since I last heard her make that sound. Out of my periphery, Krew’s lips tipped up and he began to chuckle. The tight knot in my gut loosened and the ease that was once a part of our friendship, the ease her snort just revived, settled over us—and then vanished immediately when my phone rang.
The display read, Handler. I didn’t want the truck’s Bluetooth to pick it up since I wasn’t sure what type of news Sabrina had. I reached for my phone, but Krew laid a hand on my arm. Without having to say a word, I knew what he wanted me to do. Or not to do.
At this point, disagreeing with him would be moot, since this also involved him and Regina. And yet, I hadn’t told either of them that Maya and her boy toy were also marks.
I reluctantly tapped the phone screen and answered, “What do you have?” I glanced at Krew, then at Regina in the rearview mirror as she straightened in the seat.
“Do you want the bad news or worse news first?” Sabrina asked.
Fuck.
“Who is that?” Regina whispered over my shoulder. I shook my head, silently telling her to be quiet. She dropped back onto her seat in a huff.
“Who’s that?” Sabrina echoed, as the clicking sounds paused on the other end of the call.
“Who do you think?” I chided her. “Now what do you have?”
“Fine. First off, I looked into the other woman, and boy—that girl gets around town like STD at a retirement community. She had her hand on so many dicks at one point that I?—”
“Sabrina.” I growled, cutting her off. I caught sight of Regina’s crestfallen face. Thank fuck, she remained quiet.
“Fine,” Sabrina drawled. “Both marks are in the wind.”
“That’s the bad news?” Krew chimed in, but there was confusion lacing his voice.
“Hmm. Who’s that?” Sabrina purred.
“Sabrina,” I grated out. “Stick to the details.”
“Chill, bossman.”
“What did I say?”
“Alright,” she huffed. “I did some digging and laid out the timeline for the five contracts that were put out. Maxwell’s was first. And once that was completed, the other two popped up within an hour of the hit. Then in the last twenty-four hours the other two came through.”
“So the worst news is that you still don’t know who ordered the hits,” I said, glancing again at Regina in the rearview mirror.
“As of right now, no. From what I could tell, the three contracts—Maxwell’s and the two most recent ones are from the same source. I’m still digging into the original orders that have your friends’ names on them.”
“Just a FYI, we were blasted at the motel. Do me a favor and erase us from their surveillance and registration,” I explained as my eyes darted to Krew, whose jaw muscles clenched.
