Page 96 of Cold Hard Cash

Jimmy was glad he was sitting down because otherwise he would have fallen over. “Oh. That’s... uhm.”

“You want me to say I’m sorry, or, or that it was an accident? I can’t,” Rowena blubbered. “I’m not sorry at all. He was a prick. A ridiculous fuckin’ asshole prick. Who I shot a tiny bit.”

“You shot him?” Jimmy was stunned.

“Uhm, about exactly nineteen times.”

“Nineteen?” Jimmy squeaked quietly. “What did you shoot him with, a freakin’ machine gun?”

“No, my Glock,” Rowena clarified. She innocently took a small sip, adding, “I may have reloaded.”

“Oh, you reloaded. That’s, that’s good.”

“Roddy hated him sooo much,” Rowena went on. “Said he was just like Boris, told me I was being stupid. I didn’t see it. Until it was too late.”

Jimmy scooted closer, gently reaching for Rowena’s hand. “Did he... did he hurt you?”

“Yes.” Rowena’s beautiful face contorted with anguish, sniffling pitifully as an obviously painful memory washed over her.

“Oh, Rowena,” Jimmy said in sympathy, leaning close and putting his arm around her shoulders. “I am so, so very sorry.”

“Hey,” Rowena smiled weakly, “shit happens. You know... So. When he was done, I grabbed my gun. I wasn’t going to let him hurt me or anyone else ever again.”

“That could be considered a crime of passion, uhm, even self-defense under the right circumstances,” Jimmy said quickly. “There are ways—”

“Jimmy,” Rowena said dryly, “I stopped to reload. Twice. That shows all that cognitive thought shit, so crime of passion would have been hard to sell.”

“Well, maybe...”

“I unloaded two full clips into him, and then I shot him one more time right in the dick.”

“Oh.”

“And I tried to set him on fire.”

“Oh!” Jimmy tried not to show how horrified he was, patting Rowena’s hand as he stammered, “Well... uh. Jules would have... liked that.”

“That’s why they think it’s Roddy,” Rowena said sadly. “The cops found the body, saw the burns. They think Roddy offed him and Jules tried to hide the evidence.”

“Well, did Dickie have any criminal record? Violent history?”

“Squeaky clean,” Rowena grumbled. “Look, Jimmy, Roddy and I went through all of this, trying to find a way to sell it. I didn’t want Roddy to clean up my mess, but he did. Like he always does.”

“He really loves you,” Jimmy said quietly, offering Rowena some tissues.

“I know,” Rowena sniffed, gratefully accepting the tissues and loudly blowing her nose. “Ugh. It’s all such a mess. All of this? This shit. It’s my fault. It’s why the Luchesis came back.”

“Why? Because they thought Rod was going to get arrested?”

“Yup,” Rowena popped, rolling her eyes. “Have you met the Gentlemen? They’re all good guys, strong, whatever. But Roddy is the one that keeps them in line, keeps them going. Without him, they’d fall apart. So if he went to jail...”

“The Luchesis could make a move to take Strassen Springs back,” Jimmy finished with a frown.

“Roddy is always so careful, but the cops still found Dickie’s body. Everything keeps pointing back to him. All of this shit keeps going wrong, and it’s all because of me.”

“Is that why you’ve been... uhm...”

“Trying to pickle myself?” Rowena chirped with a swig from the bottle. “Mmm, definitely. Not feeling real super about my first kill, okay. Even if the prick fuckin’ deserved it.”