Page 95 of I Will Ruin You

“I could regroup when I got there, go someplace else.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Andrea said.

“You need a plan.”

“Maybe I have one. What makes you think I’m dumb enough to share it with you?”

Gerhard made a clicking noise with this tongue. “Fine.”

“I don’t need your protection.”

“Fine, okay. Forget I mentioned it.”

“Maybe I’ll just tell them it was you took the shit.” She smiled slyly.

“You got a fucked-up idea of what’s funny.”

“You think I’m being funny? Maybe a better idea would be for you to put on your big boy pants and find that fucking bag.”

“And what would you suggest we—”

Gerhard’s phone rang. He got it out of his pocket and raised his eyebrows when he saw the name on the screen.

BILLY.

He turned the phone so Andrea could see it before she even asked.

“Don’t answer it,” she said.

“Gotta.”

“Could be the cops. They’d have his phone. They’re going through the numbers.”

Gerhard’s cell continued to ring.

“If it is, they’ve already got my fucking number because they’re calling it. What if it’s the wife? What if she took his phone?”

Andrea let that sink in. “She wants to make a deal. She wants to sell it back to us. Answer the fucking thing.”

Gerhard tapped the screen, put it on speaker. “Yeah?”

“Hey,” said a male voice on the other end. “This who I think it is?”

Gerhard and Andrea exchanged glances. Definitely not the wife.

“I don’t know,” said Gerhard. “Who the fuck do you think it is?”

“You’re one of the ones Billy dealt with. That he held the stuff for.”

“Who is this?”

“Not important. What’s important is what I can do for you.”

“And what would that be?”

“I’m guessing you’re missing something.”

“What about it?”