PAYNE Avenue by M.T. Bartone

Author:M.T. Bartone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Psychological Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Suspense Thrillers, Domestic Thrillers, Crime Thrillers, Crime, Murder Thrillers, Murder, Thriller & Suspense Action Fiction, Women's Crime
Publisher: Modern Prose Press
Published: 2023-10-31T00:00:00+00:00

Forty-seven

Kate heard the car pull into the driveway and looked at the clock. Marco shuffled into the bedroom a few minutes later.

“It’s morning. Time for me to get up. What the hell, Marco?”

“Sorry, babe. I know. Things got crazy last night after I picked up Eddie.”

“It was supposed to be a quick pick-up, and you’d be back before I knew it, remember?”

He nodded as he stripped, threw on some sweats and climbed in next to her.

The early morning sun slipped through the blinds like stripes running down his tired face. He closed his eyes, as Kate lifted her elbow. She looked down at him.

“You okay?”

He nodded and touched her bare arm.

“What was so crazy? What happened?”

Marco turned onto his side and looked into Kate’s blue eyes.

“Don’t freak out, okay?”

Her eyes widened and she sat up quickly.

“Okay, now I am freaking out.”

“Let me tell you what happened, but just know that everything is fine. Everyone is fine. Okay?”

She frowned. “Okay. What happened?”

Marco told her the whole story about the drive-by shooting, his participation in a car chase and hostage situation, and holding a gun at one of the perpetrators.

“Oh my God, Marco. What the absolute hell?”

He sat up, too, smearing his hand down his face.

“I know, I know. It’s fucked up. This isn’t what I wanted. I was worried the whole time. Worried about the cops arresting me. Worried about you. Renzo. I kept thinking, this is not how we wanted to live.” He shook his head. “And Eddie? I mean, you should’ve seen him, Kate. His rage was somethin’ I haven’t seen in a long time, or ... maybe ever.”

“This is bad, Marco. You have to stop working for him.”

“I tried to tell him that that shit was more than I signed up for, Kate.”

“What did he say?”

Marco frowned and crawled out of bed. He grabbed his jeans from the chair and dug into the back pocket. He threw the wad of cash onto the bed next to Kate.

“He apologized and gave me this.” He pointed at the money. “Said it won’t happen again. He wouldn’t even listen to me.”

Kate picked up the bills and counted them.

When she finished, they both looked at each other, bug-eyed.

“Three thousand?” Kate whispered.

“Jesus,” Marco said.

“Where is he getting all of this money, Marco? Do you know?”

He started to pace. “Well, I know the restaurant’s doing pretty good.”

“Oh, come on, Marco. Don’t patronize me. This is drug money, isn’t it? Drug money—sitting right here—on our bed!”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure it is. He’s got that, and a bunch of other stuff with the two kids, and now this Sal guy—his cousin—he’s in the picture, too. They’ve really moved fast on infiltrating the neighborhood.”

“I’m getting scared, Marco. Between this cash and what happened tonight, it’s what we’ve been afraid of, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “It is.”

They stared at the cash.

“I think it’s time I get out, Kate.”

She nodded. “I think so, too.”

“But I’m worried that I know too much.”

Kate sucked in a breath. “God.”

Marco sat next to her.

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