Weed Killer by Ben Rehder

Author:Ben Rehder [Rehder, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Texas, game warden, poachers, airtag, marijuana
Publisher: Ben Rehder
Published: 2023-02-21T16:00:00+00:00

As Red swung the door open, he realized he should’ve knocked first, just in case. What if somebody was inside? Not Syd, but somebody else? Like, say, some woman they’d picked up at a bar last night? Or some friend who lived nearby?

But it was too late now, because the door was open wide, and as far as Red could see, the room was empty.

Both beds were unmade. The light above the sink just outside the bathroom was on. The AC wasn’t running, but surely it would kick on again at any moment.

Red was standing motionless. Billy Don was behind him.

“Hello?” Red said.

There was no sound except the traffic behind them on 281. Red was wishing he was carrying his revolver, but the whole point was to enter an empty room. He shouldn’t need a gun. And if he did enter the room with a gun and somehow got caught, he would be charged with a much more serious crime. Now he regretted being soft enough to let the law influence him. This was Texas, by God. If there was ever a place he could carry a gun everywhere he went, this was it.

“Hello?” he said again.

“You going in or what?” Billy Don asked.

Something felt wrong. Why was the door unlocked? Sure, this was Blanco, not exactly a crime hotspot, especially during daylight hours, but if these guys were hoarding a suitcase filled with counterfeit bills, you’d think they’d lock the door. Was it simply because Mandy had rushed the guy named Nicky so much that he’d forgotten to lock the door? Maybe.

“I’m going in if you’re not,” Billy Don said.

Red turned halfway. “You know what? Go right ahead.”

“I will, if you don’t hurry up.”

“Then do it.”

“You’re not going?”

“Not if you’re so gung ho on going yourself.”

“I didn’t say that,” Billy Don said. “What I said was—”

“Now you’re changing your story,” Red said.

Billy Don let out a huff and stepped forward, shoving past Red and nearly knocking him down in the process. He walked right through the motel room door like he’d booked it for a year, and then he stopped and looked around. He seemed satisfied enough, until he began to turn around to talk to Red—but he stopped short, instead looking at the front corner of the room to the right of the door.

“What the fuck?” Billy Don said.

Somebody was in that corner.

“Who is it?” Red said.

“You’d better point that thing somewhere else real quick,” Billy Don said.

Which meant the person in the corner was armed.

Red wanted to run away. He really did. Or at least run back to the Ranchero and get his Anaconda. Maybe he should do that right now.

“The fuck are you doing in my room?” a voice said.

Red was pretty sure it was the one named Syd. Well, crap. That meant they’d been suckered. Nicky had lied to Mandy. It was all a set-up.

“Better put that thing away or I’m gonna shove it up your ass,” Billy Don said.

“Are you bulletproof?” Syd asked.

“Billy Don,” Red said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.