Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
I took one last look around and was feeling pretty good about the job we’d done, so I turned to Hop and said, “I’d say that’s a wrap.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” He motioned his head over to Tripp as he asked, “You want us to start loading up?”
“Yeah, that’d be good. There’s an extra sprayer in the foyer. Be sure to grab that, and I’ll let Antonio know we’re done.”
“You got it.”
As soon as Hop turned to leave, I headed over to one of Antonio’s guards and told him we were done. He made a call to Antonio, and it wasn’t long before he was rushing down the stairs.
Antonio knelt down and studied one of the areas that we’d cleaned in the house, and after several moments, a satisfied smile crept across his face. “Damn. Grinder wasn’t blowing smoke. You really are good at this shit.”
“I do my best.”
“I appreciate a man who takes his work seriously.” He reached into his coat pocket, then pulled out a thick envelope and offered it to me. “Until next time.”
“Until next time.”
I took the envelope, then headed out to the van to join Hopper and Tripp. I got in, and moments later, we were on our way to my place. As soon as we pulled up, I got out and walked over to the basement door. I put in the security code, and once the door slid open, I headed inside and turned on the incinerator, giving it time to preheat while we got unloaded.
The flames had just started rolling good when Tripp came up behind me and announced, “Hey, boss. We got a problem.”
“Oh, yeah?” With his military background, Tripp wasn’t one to get rattled easily, so it concerned me that he looked like he’d seen a ghost. “What kind of problem?”
“A bad one... You need to come see this.”
Without saying anything more, he turned and started back out to the van. I followed, and when I made it to the back doors, Tripp motioned his hand inside and said, “The girl.”
“What about her?”
“She’s still alive.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Clearly, it is. Hell, look at her,” he urged. “The chick’s still breathing.”
I leaned in closer, and at first, I saw no signs of life. I thought Tripp’s mind was playing tricks on him until I heard a slight moan vibrate from her chest. Her breaths were low and shallow, but Tripp was right. She was still alive. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“I know! What the fuck are we going to do?”
“I don’t know.” I took a step back and ran my hand down my face. “I’m gonna need a minute.”
In all the years I’d been cleaning, I’d never run into a situation like this, and I didn’t have a clue what to do about it. I could’ve just finished her off. It certainly would’ve made things easier, but I was no murderer—neither were Hop or Tripp. That didn’t leave us many options. Hop must’ve been thinking along the same lines when he suggested, “We could always put her in the med room? Just let nature take its course.”
“You mean just let her die?” Tripp gasped. “We’re not gonna help her?”
“No, we’re not,” Hop answered flatly. “Saving her isn’t part of the job.”
“But she’s gonna die if we don’t do something.”
“Exactly.” Hop stepped over to Tripp as he told him, “If we help this girl and she ends up surviving this, then what? We just gonna let her go and hope she doesn’t tell the cops about us? Fuck no. We can’t take a chance like that.”
“He’s right,” I agreed. “We don’t need that kind of trouble on our hands.”
Tripp shook his head and sighed. “Damn, this is all kinds of fucked up.”
“It is what it is.” Hop stepped forward and reached for the women’s feet. “Let’s get her moved and finish up with the others.”
I hesitated for just a moment, then reached inside the van and helped Hop carry the young woman to the med room. We laid her down on the gurney, then covered her with a thin cotton blanket and left the room. My guilt gnawed at me as I followed Hop back out to the van. It just didn’t seem right to not do more for the poor girl, but like it or not, Hop was right. Helping her would only cause us problems.
None of us spoke as we went back out to the van and started unloading the others. There was a heaviness that had fallen over us, but we each did our best to ignore it as we continued with our duties. It wasn’t long before we had the van wiped clean and the last of the remains in the incinerator. Knowing Hop and Tripp were eager to call it a night, I went over and gave them both their cut for the night.