Shooting Scars: The Artists Trilogy 2 by Karina Halle Read Free Book Online

noncommittal. “Not long.”
    I squinted at her. “Not long? You’re packing up your whole life, Sophia.”
    I was getting the impression that the severity of what we were taking on wasn’t sinking in. I leaned forward, elbows on knees and tried to rein her in. “I know this isn’t easy. I know this doesn’t even feel real. But, Sophia, you know what your brothers did to you. What makes you think they wouldn’t do it again? What makes you think you’d ever be safe if you kept going on like you are? What about Ben?”
    I know I reached her. A pain expression flashed across her eyes, then it was gone. She smiled politely. “I know what I have to do, Camden, and I will do it. Whether I’m calm about it or freaking out, it doesn’t matter, because it must be done. I’d rather do it now and worry about it later. Give me until 11AM. I’ll be ready to go.”
    It was a specific time, but I liked that about her. After our coffees were done, the sun was up, trying aimlessly to cut through the Los Angeles fog that covered the city like parchment paper. I helped Sophia gather most of the important stuff – clothes, books, documents – while Ben slept. She was trying to keep his distress to a minimum, she said. I wondered how well a three and a half year old can adjust to a new life. If he was anything like his father, I figured pretty well.
    After he’d had his breakfast of banana Cheerios, as Sophia was trying to clean him up, I asked her where the briefcase was.
    “Why?” she asked, sounding strangely cagey.
    “Well I don’t think it’s very safe to have fifty thousand dollars just sitting around in a briefcase, do you? I’m going to deposit some of it at the bank.”
    She shook her head and patted Ben on the butt. “Ben, go to your room and get your Bubby.”
    Ben nodded and ran off to his bedroom. I looked back at her. She was tugging at her hair.
    “Look, you can come with me,” I told her. “It’s smart if we deposit it.”
    “You can’t. We can’t. We’ll set an alarm off if we deposit more than ten thousand,” she said.
    I chewed on my lip for a second, watching her. “I know that. We aren’t going to get dinged. The money technically isn’t dirty anyway. I can deposit nine thousand in my bank account and nine in yours. That gives us eighteen grand that we know will be safe. We can repeat this tomorrow. And then the next day.”
    “No …” She kept shaking her head.
    “Sophia, what is wrong with you?”
    I watched her throat move as she swallowed hard. “You can’t do that.”
    I threw up my hands. “What’s the fucking difference? Look, we don’t have time to squabble over money here. As much as I hate it, the money is ours. We need it.”
    “Don’t you have the money that you and Ellie stole?”
    I cocked my head. “What makes you say that?”
    She shrugged, trying to be casual and totally failing. “You and Ellie stole my brothers’ money. You have that money in your bank account already, don’t you?”
    “No,” I said slowly. “It’s …” The money we laundered. The checks from the casinos. Ellie had them. Either they were still on her or they were in the car somewhere. With the trauma of the last day, I’d forgotten all about it.
    “Well, where is it?” she shrieked. “You can’t hold out on me, Camden.”
    I raised my hands. “Whoa, calm down, okay? There’s a lot going on. There are the checks that we got from the casinos. I think they’re on Ellie.”
    “You’re lying to me,” she said, walking toward me. “They’re in the car somewhere, aren’t they?” She yelled the last bit. “You have them!”
    “Maybe, I’ll look,” I said, trying to placate her.
    “I’m coming with you,” she said. “And if they’re there, we’re depositing it in your account, today.”
    “Oh, so now there’s a rush?”
    She smiled quickly. “Now it’s legit. These kinds of transactions won’t make the bank suspicious. It’s just casino winnings, right? We can