Chapter 4

The hold was stale and foul.

The smell of the drugs mixed together and made me dizzy.

I don't remember when I fell asleep. I only remember that I dreamed.

I dreamed about two years ago.

To help Lawson hide dirty money, I dragged a steel case through an abandoned factory by myself, and to protect that money of his I hid inside an empty oil drum, just to stay clear of the police.

For two full days, the fumes knocked me out more than once.

Once the coast was clear, I brought the cash to him and found him at a family dinner with Beth.

The family elders had them surrounded, joking that the two families should arrange a marriage.

They both laughed. Neither of them said no.

I stood far off with my wrists shaking.

Lawson never once looked my way.

Then I dreamed about a year ago, when Lawson wanted a win big enough to make him the front-runner for heir and went to Southeast Asia to negotiate an arms deal.

I went to my father ahead of time and had him dig into the arms dealer's background. I planned every detail of the negotiation, and paid for hired guns to guard him.

But Lawson went to Southeast Asia early on his own.

He only called after he landed to say he had changed his flight and forgotten to tell me.

That night Beth posted on social media. The picture showed the two of them landing in Southeast Asia.

The caption read: [The best partners.]

I remembered every one of those moments clearly. They were like a barbed splinter driven into my chest, sinking deeper and deeper, and I had no way to pull it out.

I don't know when I woke up.

The back door opened.

I finally got a breath of fresh air.

Beth went up on her toes and grabbed a bottle of water in a hurry. She didn't look at me once before she complained, "What did you keep calling me for? I'm driving. Do you know how dangerous it is to call over and over? Lawson's in the car too."

I pushed myself up slowly, legs shaking, and started to answer, but Beth had already gone back to the front.

I climbed down. My stomach had settled a little.

Up front, Lawson had taken something for the pain, and the color was coming back to his face.

Only then did Beth notice the wound on my forehead. She looked startled for a second. "How did you get hurt back there?"

Lawson's gaze was flat. "We don't have any medicine. How do you get injured just sitting in the back watching cargo?"

I said nothing and nodded. "I'll go buy something for it."

Then I walked toward the store.

Lawson closed his eyes slowly. "Be quick. There's a dinner tonight."

After I bought antiseptic and treated my forehead as best I could, I pushed open the store door.

The road was empty.

I stood there with the cold running through me, the plastic bottle crackling in my grip. Then my phone rang.

Lawson's voice came through, annoyed. "Why didn't you lock the back door? Do you not realize cargo fell out?"

My chest tightened. "I never got in the truck."

He let out a breath of frustration. "Why didn't you get in and watch the load? What if we lose it?"

His first question wasn't why I hadn't gotten in.

It was about the shipment.

I repeated it. "I never got in the truck."

Something seemed to register with him then. The line went quiet for a moment, and then Beth's voice came on.

"Why didn't you hurry up? I assumed you were in the truck. We've been driving for ages. If we turn back now we'll miss the dinner."

Lawson took the phone and cleared his throat. "Why didn't you get in the truck?"

"We're in a hurry for the celebration dinner tonight. We can't turn around."

"Stop making a scene. Figure it out yourself."

I stood where I was, the cold wind drying the sweat on my neck, my eyes burning. "You're not coming back for me?"

Impatience crept into Lawson's voice. "Didn't I already tell you?"

"We can't turn around right now."

"You can't think of anything?"

Beth joined in. "If something this small already takes up our time, how are you ever going to help us run the family later?"