The sun was just rising over the western mountains as we pulled off onto the side road outside Yellow Rose. Trigger hadn’t wanted to make the handoff in a public place. Maybe it was because he didn’t want anyone seeing, or because he was worried we might try and pull a fast one and get the cops involved.

 “When we get there, Elise,” Jake said, “I want you to do me a favor.”

“What’s that?”

“I want you to stay in the car.”

“You do realize that’s not going to happen, right? The last time you tried to get me to do that I ended up having to save you.”

I could almost hear him grinding his teeth in frustration. “This isn't the same thing, though.”

“It's not? This is just as dangerous as before. And, besides, I need to see this through. This is my family drama that you got pulled into, my family drama that needs to get sorted out, my family drama–”

“Okay, okay,” he said, cutting me off. “I get it, alright? You want to see the end of it just as badly as I do. Fair enough.”

“Besides, you'll be there with me, right? You'll protect me.”

He sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, I will.”

With our view around the next turn blocked by a heavy, snow-encrusted boulder, Jake took the turn slow and easy. Downshifting, he pumped the brakes as a black Lincoln Town Car came into view, its exhaust pluming out of the back like smoke from a dragon's mouth. He brought the pickup to a halt about twenty feet behind it, and flashed his lights on and off.

I swallowed hard, my mouth dry as the desert back home, and ran my tongue over my front teeth. My heart thumped hard in my chest, like I'd just finished a marathon. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for me to come along, after all.

“Ready?” Jake asked as he reached behind the bench seat and pulled out the white, plastic-wrapped brick of filthy loot we'd chased all over two states for.

“Yeah,” I said, my voice higher than I'd expected. I coughed, clearing my throat. “Yeah.” That was better.

“Well,” he said, opening his door, “let's get this over with, then.”

I climbed out the other side and met him around front, my arms wrapped around me.

We watched as Trigger got out of the black Town Car, still wearing all black like when we saw him at the little diner in Yellow Rose. He stood there like a blemish on the perfectly white and green landscape, a scar on the face of the earth.

“Nice weather we're having,” Trigger said, his breath pluming around him. “I think it warmed up a couple degrees since yesterday.”

“Oh, yeah?” Jake asked. “Been enjoying your stay in the mountains?”

Trigger looked around, taking in the landscape all around him. “Ain't bad,” he rasped. “Still prefer the city and all, and the cold hurts my throat a little, but it's pretty enough. Don't see Eve with you. Ever manage to find the slippery little lady, or did she sneak through your grasp?”

“We found her,” I said. “And she's safe. That's all I care about.”

“Ah, family,” Trigger said, smiling wide as he walked a few steps closer, his dress shoes crunching in a little bit of snow and pine needles that littered the ground. “Family makes you realize how much you can love someone, or hate someone. Am I right?”

Neither Jake nor I responded. Instead, I just shifted my weight from one foot to the other, my heart still racing, the anxiety from our little meeting still filling me. There was something just wrong about this. Wrong about how nonchalant Trigger was being, like we were in a movie where you kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Does this mean we're done with the small talk, then?” Trigger asked, stepping closer.

“Guess so,” Jake replied evenly.

“I presume that bundle in your hand is what belongs to me?”

“Sure is,” Jake said, holding up the package of drugs. “Before I toss it over to you, though, this means we’re done, right? The women are off the hook?”

Trigger nodded and held up his hands to catch. “As agreed.”

Jake tossed him the package. It sailed through the air like a fat, square snowball that was worth five figures. Trigger caught it.

“Seems a little heavy, you ask me.”

“Figured we could pay you back with interest,” I replied.

If Trigger was worried about it being the real deal or a fake, his face didn't betray it. With his eyes on us he opened the top of the package, wet the tip of his pinkie with his tongue, and dipped it in. He nodded as he dabbed a little of the white powder on his tongue. “Ain't the same stuff. You know that, right? Still good, probably better, but definitely isn't the same.”

“Had to make do,” Jake replied. “Figured it wouldn't be a problem.”

“Oh, no,” Trigger said in that colder than death raspy voice of his. “Exact opposite. We'd stepped on that shit we fronted to Kevin so many times it was probably worth half of what we were charging him. This, though, it's the real deal.”

Jake shifted a little, and I heard his knuckles pop. “You mean you killed the kid over barely nothing?”

I put a hand on Jake's arm. “Jake,” I mumbled. “We should just get out of here.”

“Hey, hey, Jake. He knew the deal. If he didn't like the details of it, he shouldn't have taken it. No one put a gun to his head.” Trigger paused, smiled. “At least not until after he came up empty-handed.”

“You're a real piece of shit, Trigger,” Jake said through clenched teeth. “You know that?”

The hitman gave another one of his mirthless smiles. “That was what the nuns told me. Did you all exchange letters?”

“Jake, just let it go. We're done. He got what he wants, we got what we want. We're free now.”

Jake's shoulders, which had been bunched up tight like he was ready to spring into action, began to relax. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Listen to the lady,” Trigger said. “She knows what she's talking about. Well, kind of.”

And just like that, the hitman reached into his coat and drew his pistol.