A Hand of Spades

Chapter 14. Cori

"Car broke down a few miles outside of town."

"I'm sure one of the Spades can go pick it up"-

"Torched it." She mutters. "Better to switch cars anyways, keep Hoyt off my tail."

That explains why she looks like she crawled out of a burning house. 

"Do you want to shower?"

"Later, if that's okay." She reaches out to grip my arm suddenly. Her hands are covered in silver rings, one on nearly every finger. I hadn't noticed them until now. "Jane, what the fuck are you doing here, with the Spades?"

Cash has started back towards us, but I wave him off.

"I broke into their garage for a gun. Cash caught me and offered me their help in exchange for intel about Hoyt."

Her eyebrows flare upwards, almost impressed. "A gun. Were you going to kill him?"

I shake my head. Nothing that brave had occurred to me. "I was going to run."

She laughs darkly. "Running doesn't work, trust me. Hoyt tracked me to Dallas."

"That makes sense. His brother works out of the city."

"Damn. I should've gone North." She sighs. "Maybe Nebraska next." 

"Why did he come for you, Cori? Did you owe him money?"

She grins, features looking feline. "Not quite. I borrowed some of his."

"You stole from Hoyt?"

"He deserved it. Don't tell me he didn't." She twists the silver band on her ring finger. A simple one, like a wedding band almost. "When I saw the Spades were here, I knew I had to blow town. I took some money from the till and left that same morning."

"Shit. Hoyt would never let that insult go."

"I know that now." She rolls her eyes. "I didn't even take that much. It wasn't enough for him to get his panties in a twist."

"Why did you run after seeing Tex?"

"Ancient history." She waves a hand dismissively. "Nothing to do with you."

I almost laugh at her blasé attitude. She's been on the run from a criminal, she torched a car. In her position, I would be scared shitless.

"I went to your motel room." I say evenly. "To make sure someone hadn't killed you."

"So sweet of you to go to that trouble"-

"Cut the crap, Cori. If Hoyt knew you came to the Spades asking for help - I'm assuming that's why you're here, right? You need something?" She nods tightly. "If Hoyt finds out you and I are here, he's going to be furious. You're only looking out for you, so maybe you don't care, but he knows exactly where to hit me where it hurts."

"Your sister. Where is she?" At her mention of Blister, my mouth snaps shut, I fix her with a hard glare. "Okay, you don't trust me. So what do you want from me, Jane?"

"I want you to leave." I hear myself say. "I'm sure Cash will be willing to give you whatever you need to skip town. We'll take care of Hoyt."

"Perfect. That's all I want." She sniffs, dark eyes shifting to watch where Cash is pacing back and forth. "But if you want my advice, I wouldn't fall for their 'happy family' crap. Those boys break promises like it's their day job."

My blood stills at her words. How much truth is there to that?

Unphased, Cori stands, tugging her long black hair free of its ponytail. "I'd like to shower now. Tell Cash I want a car by the end of the afternoon. I'll be out of your life by nightfall.

I feel a little guilty, watching her saunter inside. All my worrying about Cori and here I am sending her running again. 

"What did she ask for?" Cash says, startling me from my thoughts. He's leaning against the porch railing. 

"A car."

"Is that all?"

"And a shower."

He nods. "Good. We can do that."

"Should we be making her go?"

"It's what she wants, isn't it?" He grumbles. "We're lucky she's asking first and not just taking."

I know it's safer not to have her here, especially if Hoyt is trying to hunt her down for stealing from him, but I feel bad for Cori. She seems well adapted to running, but what kind of life is that? How long will it take to catch up with her?

"Hey." I feel a tug on my t-shirt. Cash has the hem of it between his thumb and forefinger. He flashes me a quick smile. "I can hear your gears turning."

I let him pull me over to the railing. "I don't want her to get hurt."

"Don't worry about Cori, she's tough as nails."

"She doesn't seem particularly fond of you." I tease.

"She knows I'm real protective of the people I care about."

The way he's looking at me steals the air from my lungs.

A car door slams. Cash and I whip our heads to see Tex strolling up to the safehouse.

"Shit." Cash breathes. "Go inside and warn Cori that he's here."

"Warn her?" Hadn't she come looking for him in the first place?

"Go, Dallas. Questions later."

I scoot inside and rap on the bathroom door.

"What?"

"Tex is here."

"Shit." I hear shampoo bottles falling. The water shuts off. "Stall him."

What is going on?

"Stall him how?"

I don't have to wait for an answer because Cori bolts out of the bathroom wearing only a towel, dripping water onto the floor. There's a commotion from the porch and the front door flies open.

"You bastard." Tex snarls, trying to shove his way past Cash. "Why didn't you tell me she was here?"

"Tex"- I've never seen him like this. I glance at Cori, whose eyes have turned defiant as she clutches the towel to herself. "What the fuck is going on?"

"This isn't about you, Marshall. It's none of your concern." Cori hisses. I reel for a moment, so shocked to hear Tex's given name that I almost miss his retort.

"Everything about you is my goddamn concern, Cori." He seethes. "You're my wife."

///

AN: Sorry for the shorter chapter!