Page 82 of Jackass

When Samantha stood, I walked toward the door. I strolled across the parking lot and climbed back into my SUV. Samantha and Carrie exchanged a few more heated words in the parking lot before Samantha got back in her car and left.

I followed her back toward Diamond Creek, calling Jack on the way.

“What’s happened?” Jack asked as soon as the call connected.

“Sorry, brother.”

“Tell me. You’re on speaker,” he said.

He sounded defeated.

“She left work early. She walked out the back with a trash bag. No one would have questioned that. Then she got in her car and drove to Scottsbluff. There, she met up with Carrie. Theconversation they had threw red flags all over the fucking room. I have it recorded. We can go over it when I get back.”

“What was your impression, Jingles?” That was King.

“Prez, this woman is fucking nuts. She is unraveling. Something is off.”

“Where is Sammy now?” Jack asked.

“On her way back. Not sure if she’ll head back to work or the clubhouse, but I’ll stay with her,” I assured him.

“Thanks, brother.” The call disconnected.

I followed Samantha back to Diamond Creek. When she didn’t go back to The Diner, I assumed she was going back to the clubhouse. She didn’t go there either. Instead, she pulled into the parking lot of The Queen’s Diamond, the bar in town.

I parked on the road across the street.

She slammed her door closed. She didn’t move toward the door. Instead, she turned and walked right to me.

I sat there in my expensive SUV with my expensive suit and shades.

Samantha knocked on my window, and when I rolled it down, I received the shock of my life when she said,

“How about a beer to wash down that coffee, Jingles?”

Chapter Twenty

Samantha

It was Thursday.

Today, I was supposed to leave work early, lose my tail, and meet Carrie an hour away.

This was stupid.

I wasn’t, though. I knew Jack would be furious when he found out. I didn’t have a choice. I needed to talk to Carrie with no one around. I needed her to tell me everything.

Carrie had been my best friend for six years. The one person who always had my back. The one person I could count on.

Something had changed, though.

Ever since Jack found out about Charlie, Carrie had been erratic. I understood some of it was fear on Carrie’s part. I knew she was worried about losing Charlie and me.

She shouldn’t have been concerned about that. I never would have cut her out of our lives. Especially after everything she had done for us.

Now, I felt like I was doing damage control to keep my world from imploding. I needed to combine my two families. Because Carrie was family.

Looking at the clock on the wall, I knew it was time. I had only told one person what I was doing. I hoped he was trustworthy.