The Carrier Read Online Free Page B

year. You’re going to make that in one
road trip.”
    That was more than all the money he’d
made in his entire life. It would mean he could pay off all of
Saida’s tuition and debt, and then they could live pretty highball
for as long as he could see into the future. He was going, and she
would come around when he had money in hand, wouldn’t
she?

CHAPTER 6
     
    Willow had two choices: either she
could get rough with Cyril, or she could put a few cards on the
table. But she didn’t know how to get rough other than by shooting
him in the leg, and that couldn’t be done quietly. She decided to
march him back to the motel room and open up a bit.
    “ A little while ago, I
started dating Tony Braxton,” she said.
    “ Okay, well that’s really
your business. I mean, the age difference and—”
    “ See, here’s how I know
you’re lying: you don’t think I’m crazy. You pretend you don’t know
anything about money or Tony Braxton, but here you are, treating me
like a rational player. If you really didn’t know what was going on
you’d be freaking out— this sexy girl
pulled a gun on me and said she was dating some old R&B
singer .”
    “ You don’t think I’m
freaking out?”
    “ No. And I will shoot you if
I have to—probably in the leg.”
    Willow lifted the gun and aimed at his
left knee—so much for conversation.
    “ I’m going to count down
from ten, but I might shoot at any moment. Ten. Nine. Eight.
Seven—”
    Cyril was not quite brave enough to
call her bluff.
    “ Okay,” he said. “Okay. Just
calm down.”
    There was a subtle shift in tone; he’d
put aside playing the innocent.
    “ So where’s the
money?”
    “ There is no money. I don’t
carry money. Who told you I did?”
    “ Tony.”
    “ You’re dating
him?”
    “ Whatever you want to call
it. I can’t say I’m fucking him, because I’m not. He’s not into
that.”
    “ What is he
into?”
    “ He’s got these army men,
little plastic toys. What he does is first he gets naked,
then—”
    “ Okay, I get it.”
    “ You get it, really? So tell
me what happens next?”
    “ I mean that I don’t need to
know the details.”
    “ So you were on board with
the army men? It’s only when he gets naked that you can’t take
it?”
    “ Pretty much. What did he
tell you?”
    “ He said you were carrying
money out west.”
    “ Okay. Willow. I don’t have
any money.”
    “ He said you did. He also
said you were the best courier by far.”
    Cyril looked annoyed at the
compliment.
    “ Why is he talking about me
to anyone?”
    “ So you are carrying?”
    “ No. I have nothing with me.
If I did I wouldn’t be stopping for drinks and making new
friends.”
    “ So what are you
doing?”
    “ I have to make a
pickup—product.”
    “ Then you must have money.
Whichever way things are moving—drugs go one way, money goes the
other.”
    “ They’ve got special bank
transfers or something, better ways of moving money than putting it
out on the highway.”
    “ So why does Tony say you’re
carrying cash?”
    “ Because he’s an
idiot.”
    “ You think?”
    “ You’ve met him.”
    Her stomach was starting to turn on
her—this was supposed to be easy.
    “ Tomorrow I’m going to pick
up dope. Okay? I’m out here to do that. Right now I have nothing.
Would I have been so lax about letting someone follow me, or go to
a bar and leave the money unattended, or pick up a girl with a gun?
Would I have done any of those things if I had anything with me?”
    “ Maybe. Maybe you’re
sloppy.”
    “ Tony Braxton said I was the
best, right?”
    “ He’s an idiot.”
    “ Okay. There you go. Thank
you. Do you see how this is all a misunderstanding based on the
fact that Tony is an idiot?”
    Had she come all this way on Tony’s
useless story? Was it possible that a deviant addict who called
himself Tony Braxton was capable of passing on bad
information?
     
    ***
     
    Cyril had been such a good
courier for three years. He even