Chapter 21: The Carbon Slip

Rhona's POV

I woke to the smell of burnt toast and the sound of a man trying very hard not to make noise.

Rhett stood at the stove in his jeans with his ribs taped, scraping black bread into the sink.

"Don't," I said from the doorway.

"I wanted to bring you breakfast."

"You wanted to bring me a fire."

He put the knife down and turned.

His face stopped me.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Sit," he said.

I sat at the table with my ankle on a chair.

He put his phone down in front of me.

I read Mae's message, and then the one above it, the one he had sent to five numbers.

"You set a trap," I said.

"I should have told you."

"You baited four of your own men while I was asleep."

"Yes."

"Who got it?"

"Mae, the treasurer, the road captain, and Morton," Rhett said. "And the fifth number was Dahlia's old phone, which I don't count."

"So whoever came to that apartment is one of four people."

"Mae was in the alley, so it isn't her."

"Then three."

"Yes."

"And Mae saw a gray pickup."

His mouth tightened.

"Say it, Rhett."

"There are fifty gray pickups in this county."

"One of them is parked in your yard."

"Rhona."

"Say his name."

"I can't," he said.

He said it quietly, and it was the most honest thing I'd ever heard from him.

"Morton has been at my side since I was thirteen," Rhett said. "He sat with my father when he was dying."

He rubbed his face.

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