“Raul,” Javier yelled. “Give the family their money.”
Raul came back out of the shop holding a small suitcase full of bills that he held open. Sophia, as ruined as she looked, as far away from Camden as she was standing, looked impressed. That was the fifty thousand dollars. That was the price on my head.
Camden whirled around, holding Ben to his side. “What is this?” he yelled.
Javier grinned. “It’s the money. For Ellie Watt.”
He brushed past me, toward the Denali. “Come on now, we have places to be.”
I stood there in the rock garden, knowing what I had to do, but unsure how I was going to force myself to do it.
Camden was staring at me from the porch, open-mouthed. “This is payment for you?”
“I’m sorry,” I told him, burying the hurt inside. “You deserve it. You and your family. To start over.”
He handed Ben to Sophie and started running down the stairs. The doors to the SUV flung open and two large men in suits stepped out. They went straight for Camden and held him back before he had a chance to get even close to me.
“What are you doing?” he cried out, trying to fight them and failing. He writhed and squirmed but he wasn’t going anywhere. “You don’t have to do this, Ellie!”
I smiled at him, everything vital breaking inside. “I do have to, Camden. I can’t run anymore. I’m through with screwing people over, even those who did the same to me. I need to start over too. I can’t let my past control me anymore.”
His face was pinched in agony as he tried to get loose. “You’re making a mistake. You said it doesn’t have to be this way. That you wouldn’t let him take you.”
I swallowed back the tears. “Yeah. Well, I lied.”
Then I turned away from him and walked toward the Denali, the black shiny beast against the pale desert floor. It was a high contrast world and I lived a high contrast life. I gave Jose a final look, knowing Javier would never take it back. It was never about the car. It was never about the money. It was about me. And now he had me.
I looked over my shoulder at Camden just as I was about to get in the back seat. He’d stopped fighting. But his eyes hadn’t. They were hitting me, punching me, slicing me to stay. For me to fight back. But I couldn’t. Not this time.
My eyes went over his shoulder, over the two thugs that were holding onto him, and to Sophia and Ben. She was clutching the briefcase with one arm, Ben in the other. She looked beautiful through her bruises but that wasn’t enough to make me trust her. I hoped she knew that if she broke Camden’s heart again, it would be my turn to kill somebody.
I took in a deep breath and stepped inside the vehicle. Javier was in the backseat with me and there was only a large, bald driver in the front. I closed the door, keeping my eyes inside the car. Javier grinned at me, so joyful, it was almost like old times.
“You’re here,” he said, almost breathless. He buckled in his seatbelt and hit the driver on the shoulder. “Go.”
The Denali roared off, Sins & Needles disappearing in its wake.
“You better get comfortable,” Javier said, patting the leather between us. “We have a long journey in front of us.”
“Where are we going?” I whispered.
“Why, to the past,” he said with a smile.
I sat back in the seat, watching Palm Valley fly past me. The town disappeared in a cloud of dust.
THE END
Look for On Every Street – An Artists Trilogy prequel coming this April and Shooting Scars #2 coming this summer
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’ve never been very good at the acknowledgements section. They say it takes a village to build a something or other and while writing is an extremely solitary profession, it does take many patient, kind and imaginative people to make a book. Especially one of my books – Lord knows I’m a nutcase at times, so even when my friends and family are just being supportive by listening to me rant and bitch and cry and moan, they’re doing a lot. I came up with the idea for Sins & Needles back in September 2012, so, believe me, they’ve been dealing with me talking about writing the book for a long time. I’m glad they finally convinced me to do it.