Rope Burn Read online

  Yael Navas stood and not a Hummel moved. How did she do that?

  "Thank you, Mr. Williams." He reached up from his place in the chair and she shook his hand. Her hand was warm and her handshake was strong. It compressed his puffy palm.

  "No problem."

  "One last question. What happened to the money Remy got from your mother?"

  "Stupid boy!" shouted his mother from the bed.

  Maurice winced. This was not going to be pretty. He hated when his mother woke up angry. He considered hoisting himself from the chair. It was either that or ride out the storm. Maybe she'd go back to sleep.

  "Don't say his name. It makes her crazy."

  "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Boy!" She was off to the races.

  "Where is the money, Mister Williams?"

  "I don't know. I guess he pissed it away."

  "Stupid, fucking, stupid, fucking stupid boy!" Maurice made shooing motions at Navas and she left. He settled himself in his chair and covered his ears. This was going to be a bad night.

  #

  Chuck McGowen pored over the insurance form in front of him, checking that all the boxes were filled. He didn't get paid when the paperwork was screwed up. A shadow crossed his desk. He looked up. Yael Navas stood before him, holding a long, shiny, knife.

  "Holy shit! Where did you come from?"

  "Hello, Mr. McGowen."

  McGowen saw that Navas held the knife easily, professionally. With her free hand, she reached into her black purse and pulled out an apple, one of those green ones. She used the knife to cut the apple. It slid through the apple's flesh with a sigh.

  McGowen gulped.

  "I have one question for you, Mr. McGowan." Navas inspected the knife, examining the edge.

  "What," he croaked through his dry throat.

  "Did Hugh Graxton refer Remy Williams to you?" She pointed the knife toward him as she talked. The blade was thin and glinted of apple juice. She waved the knife. McGowen watched the blade, transfixed. She crunched her piece of apple.

  "I can't tell you that. Hugh would kill me." He winced as he realized he had just told her.

  "If he asks, I will be sure to say that you refused to talk to me and that you were very brave."

  "Err … Thanks."

  "Though, I have to wonder how many people your insurance has killed."

  "Jesus, I didn't kill anybody."

  " Of course not. You only painted the target on their backs." Navas fiddled with the knife again and cut a piece of apple. She bit into it with her small, white, sharp teeth, and cocked her head, examining him the way a cat examines a mouse.

  "I would hate for our paths to cross again, Mr. McGowen."

  Navas took two silent steps backward and flicked her wrist. McGowen flinched, expecting the knife to fly across the room and embed itself in his eye. Instead, it flashed, folded and disappeared as Navas left.

  #

  Hugh Graxton slid his laptop aside and looked up at Yael Navas. He smiled. He felt that he could afford it. He knew she had nothing on him.

  "Do you often force people to buy life insurance?" she asked.

  Graxton's smile faltered, the right corner of his mouth twitching. How did she know?

  "What do you mean?"

  "Remy Williams bought a large sum of insurance. Had he died in an accident, his mother would have received quite a bit of unexpected money. I suspect that she would have also received a visit from you."

  "That is quite a clever theory."

  "If it were true, you would be an evil man who kills people to collect his gambling winnings."

  "What would be evil, hypothetically, about a family losing a ruinous compulsive gambler and coming away with a pile of cash? It would be a blessing to them."

  Navas leaned in, her hands on the table. She said, "I see. You would place a stumbling block in front of a blind man, kill him for tripping, then call yourself a saint for ridding the world of the clumsy."

  Graxton raised three fingers and counted them off. "First, Remy did not owe me money. Second, if he did owe me money, staging a suicide would not get me paid because insurance will not pay for suicides. Third, this is none of your Goddamn business."

  "Do not be profane, Mr. Graxton. It does not suit you."

  Yael Navas stood and walked out on Hugh Graxton for the second time that day.

  Graxton watched Navas go. He realized that she might, in fact, turn out to be trouble. True, he had never killed anyone to get the insurance money. The threat was always enough. Still, it bothered him that she had been at this for only a few hours and had already uncovered his hedging strategy.

  Navas could definitely be trouble. Hugh's thoughts went to Tony Sobriano, one of his new soldiers. Tony was standing in front of the Starbucks and needed something to do. This looked like some nice busywork. Hugh messaged Tony: ">>", which meant, "Follow her."

  #

  Tony puffed as he climbed the long flight of steps to the cabin. The woman he was following had just picked the lock and entered. He snuck up to the cabin door. Why did she come all the way out here? Graxton had said to follow her, but he didn't say why. Tony messaged Graxton : "she's at a cabin. what now?"

  #

  Hugh Graxton's screen blipped with a message from Tony. While Hugh was happy to see that Navas was back at the cabin, away from his business, he was not happy to see Tony's open message. He'd taught Tony the codes because sentences gave too much evidence. Tony needed to start using them. He messaged back: "