“All you would have done is talk me out of it.”
“Exactly. We could have made a plan.”
“It was the only way.”
“Except, it wasn’t. We’re both still walking around.”
“For now, anyway.”
“I’m going home, Mal. Don’t follow me.”
Margot turned to go. She was opening her car door when Mal stepped forward and put his hand on the door so she couldn’t open it.
“You need to move your arm, Mal.”
“I know and I will. You just need to listen to me for a second.”
“I think we’ve said all we need to say to each other.”
“Look out for the cowboy.”
“The cowboy?”
“Yeah, I don’t know his name, but he dresses like a cowboy—boots, hat, the whole thing. He’s the one who snatched me and told me I had to kill Stone to make all this go away. I don't think he’s the type who cares about who’s calling the shots as long as he gets to do his thing. The fact his boss doesn’t give a shit about us anymore won’t change the way he feels.”
“He’d cross his boss to get us?”
“Do you really think his boss gives a damn about us, one way or the other? Stone made a deal, so he doesn’t care. That works both ways. The new boss won’t come after us, but he won’t give a damn if someone else decides to do it on their own.”
Margot thought about that for a long second. He wasn’t wrong.
“So, keep an eye out for a Mexican in a cowboy hat?”
“Yeah, though he might not be Mexican. I never got a good look at him. The room was mostly dark and the only light was in my face. I saw the hat and I saw the boots. I could tell you he wasn’t short, but that’s about it. For all I know, you just had drinks and dinner with him.”
“That was a sheriff’s deputy,” Margot told him, adding, “So, if he decides not to wear the hat, we’ll never see him coming?”
“Yeah, but I think he’ll be wearing the hat.”
“Why?”
“Just a feeling. If someone’s coming for us, it’s going to be him,” Mal told her as he moved his hand away from the door.
“Okay. I’ll be careful,” Margot said as she opened the door and got inside.
Mal stood where he was like a statue as she started the car.
Margot lowered her window.
“Margot, I don’t want to be your enemy…”
Margot cut him off, saying, “I told the woman from the liquor store one of us would be buying something. Why don’t you do that, so you’re not tempted to follow me.”
Mal didn’t say anything as she lowered the window and left the parking lot.
Margot watched him in her mirror. He stayed where he was until she was too far away to see him.
Margot drove home thinking about the man who left Shaw’s office. She wondered if she should call Shaw and warn him.