Cut and Run(66)

When he raised the hammer again, Garnet shook his head, his gaze on the blunt end. “You were right to go to Jack Crow. I gave it to him.”

“What was it?”

“Recordings. I wore a wire when I met with my clients. I needed to prove I wasn’t ever in this alone.”

“Crow never said he had tapes.”

“He wouldn’t. That’s why I gave them to him. Crow kept his word.”

He paced back and forth, considering what he’d just learned. “Now the question is, If the tapes weren’t in Crow’s trailer, where did he put them?”

“He never told me what he did with them,” Garnet said. “I told him to hide the package of tapes real well.”

“And that is what Jack Crow did. He hid them so well there’ll be no finding them.” He gently tapped the hammer in the palm of his own hand. “Why did you return to the ranch?” he asked Garnet.

Garnet blinked and drew in a breath to fight unbearable pain. “What?”

“Don’t lie. I know you were out there. I know about Delany and the land held in his name. Why did you go back there?”

Shit. How could he have been so stupid? As he considered an answer that sounded right, the hammer rose. Garnet sucked in a breath, braced as he shouted, “Okay, okay. I’m selling another baby.” Sweat poured off his forehead, and he was pretty sure he’d pissed his pants. “When the money was cut off, I needed to make up the cash somehow. There was a girl. And I locked her in the same room that we used years ago.”

“The cops didn’t find her out there.”

“I moved her after Macy came by. She said she was a teacher, but she had the look of a cop.”

“She is a cop. FBI special agent.”

“I knew she’d be trouble.”

“She won’t be trouble again. I took care of that.” Without warning, he brought the hammer down on Garnet’s left index finger. His scream echoed in the basement room. “I’m hoping we can be friends. And friends help each other, don’t they? Are you my friend, Garnet?”

“Best fucking friend,” he said.

“Exactly. I want to know where you’ve stashed your latest little baby maker.”

Garnet looked up through bloodshot eyes. He was screwed every which way to Sunday. If he’d just kept his damn mouth shut, he could have gone to a new town. Heather and he could have found themselves another baby mama.

“Where did you get this one?” he asked.

Garnet shifted, wincing at the slightest move. “She came into the bar after she had a fight with her parents. I saw an opportunity, and I took it.”

“How long have you been holding her?”

“Since early May.”

He smiled as he scratched his chin. “Garnet, you’re quite the businessman. How much do babies go for?” he asked.

“What?”

The man glanced at the hammer and then at Garnet. “How much for a baby?”

“A hundred grand if I do it right.”

“Really? That’s a hell of a lot of money. Do you have a buyer?”

“Yeah. In Arizona.”

“A hundred grand from a client in Arizona? You really think you’re getting that much money for a baby?”

Sweat stained his shirt, and Garnet realized he was losing consciousness. “Yeah.”

“How much were you paid for the other ones?” he asked.

“I thought you knew,” Garnet said.

“My client only gives me the bare-bones details. But I find it’s to my advantage to fill in all the missing pieces.”

Garnet stared at the guy, shaking his head. The client would do anything to keep the secret.

“Garnet, tell me how much you got for the babies. And remember, we’re best friends and don’t hold anything back from each other.”

“Twenty-five grand for each of the first two and fifty grand for the last.”

“Why did you get more for the last one?”

Garnet’s entire body throbbed with pain and agony each time he tried to move a muscle. “It was a boy.”

“But you didn’t sell Macy? You said she was sick?”

“The mother had a bad delivery. I knew she was in trouble, and that’s why I called Crow. He wouldn’t ask questions. He barely had time to wash his hands before the first baby arrived. He laid the baby in its mother’s arms, but then the mother started screaming again. And there was so much blood. He saw the second baby, who came out feet first. She was blue and barely responsive. Much smaller than the first.”

“And the mother?”

“She bled out right there. There was nothing Crow could do to stop it. Crow took pity on that little baby. He didn’t have to. He was always too soft for his own good.”

“So you left with baby number one?”

“Yeah. Crow said he’d bury the mother and child.”

“And the rest is history.”

Garnet watched as the man pulled first a lighter and then a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. The man inhaled deeply a few times and then held the filter to Garnet’s lips. Garnet drew in a lungful of air but found it impossible to hold the smoke in when his body hurt so much.

“Confession is good for the soul, isn’t it, Garnet?”