Chapter 84: Chapter 84

"So what do you propose that we do now?" Charlotte asked her remaining bodyguard, who was sitting in front of her and glaring at her with barely concealed hatred, but there was nothing he could do to her and he knew it as well as she did.

"I don't have a clue, ma'am."

"Well, you should. After all what exactly am I paying you for if you can't even give me solid advice?"

"You're paying me to guard you, not provide advice, ma'am. But then, of recent, you've not even been paying me for the service of guarding you, so I don't know why you're bugging me for more." He replied, his voice tight.

Charlotte eyed him slowly. This guy was becoming a big nuisance and she was at the end of her patience with him. Ever since that fateful day when his partner had been killed while shooting at that bitch Jessica and Sebastian, he had developed this streak of rebelliousness. Charlotte would have preferred it a lot if he was the one who had been killed in place of the other man, but one could not always get everything in life. Glaring right back at him, she sighed and said,

"You know that I don't have enough money, for now, what with all the traveling and expenses that I've incurred in the past few weeks or even months. But then, you've been with me since the beginning of this thing and you know that I'm going to be a really big girl once all of this is over and done with. I assure you that you'll want to stick with me until the end. The rewards that await you are numerous. In fact, you will be able to retire from the money that I'll pay you when I'm done with my plan." She finished, eyeing him and seeing that he did not believe a single word of what she was saying. Too bad. He would have to go, then, after all, he knew all of her secrets, and she could not let him get away with them. If he did not want to be a part of her team again, then so be it. She would simply find someone else.

"What plan? I ask you, what fucking plan? You're fucking crazy, you know that? I can't even believe that you've come this far with your impulsiveness and lack of a solid plan. Your stupidity got Patrick killed. I would be damned if I let it kill me too." He yelled at her, looking like he was on the verge of crying. Charlotte watched him impassively, knowing that his end was near.

"Are you insulting me, Victor?"

"You're darn right, I am. What are you going to do about it? Look at you. You don't even know what to do next. You just sit there from day to day as though everything is perfect. It's only a matter of time before we are caught and I, for one, have no plans of being caught."

"So what are you saying?"

"What I'm saying? I'm saying that I'm getting the fuck out of here right this minute. You have my account details. Send me what you owe me when you have it. For old time's sake, I will give you some time to get your shit together and send me my fucking money. If I don't see it and my patience wears thin, then you can bet your skinny ass that I'll come after you to get what is mine." He spat and went into the room that he and the other guy had shared. He picked up the moderate-sized, tattered-looking bag that contained the belongings of him and his late partner, and began to walk out the door, not even sparing a glance at the quiet and impassive Charlotte, who was still sitting where he had left her to go into the room. As he passed her and got to the door, Charlotte said softly,

"Bye, Victor."

He turned towards her and began to say something, but whatever he was going to say froze on his lips because Charlotte effortlessly put a bullet straight into his chest from where she was sitting, instantly silencing him forever. His huge body slid almost gracefully to the floor, so that he was halfway inside the small house, and halfway outside it. Charlotte sighed. If only her wimp of a brother had actual balls and was on her side, then this would be so much easier. As it was, all he cared about was poking sick people with needles and loading them up with drugs. A doctor! Instead of fighting with her to get what was rightfully theirs, he was content with working his ass off, working hours upon hours at his stupid job. Sometimes, Charlotte wondered if they were really siblings, not to talk of twins. They shared practically no interests at all. Well, it was Charles's loss. Since she was fighting this battle all alone, she would reap the profits and benefits too all alone. He could continue slaving at his stupid job until one day, he slumped to death from a heart attack or something.

"Damn. Now, I have to clean up this mess." She thought to herself, eyeing Charles's body with distaste while lighting a cigarette. She took a deep inhale and blew puffs of smoke in rings towards the ceiling, lost in thought. Luckily enough, it was almost evening and the ocean was not too far from here. It would take some work, but she would discard his body in the ocean, and in no time, he would be food for fishes and sharks, together with whatever other sea animal cared to have a human meal, never to be seen again, which was just perfect.

A few hours later, Charlotte began to drag Charles's stiffening body away from the small house, silently cursing him and the incompetence of the other one as she struggled with dragging the body. It was a good thing that she had had the foresight to rent this cabin that was hidden away in the bushes and was also considerably close to the ocean, for she would not have known how to dispose of this buffoon. Even though the ocean was not too far away, the whole thing took over an hour, and by the time Charlotte stumbled back to the cabin, she was beyond exhausted. She took some time to catch her breath, after which she headed back to the hotel where she was staying. She had overstayed here, and it was high time that she took the next line of action. One thing was sure though, and that was the fact that going forward, she would work alone. She could not afford to have buffoons who would keep making costly mistakes, or who would suddenly turn on her by her side. It was time to head out of here and head over to Napa.

Already, she had given the directive for Carol's sister to be killed, and she had paid the guy that had killed her off. The girl knew too much and had seen Jessica's face, plus since Jessica was still alive, if the two of them met, there was bound to be some problems. Charlotte did not know if Jessica had told anybody anything, but her guess was that she hadn't, after all, Carol had her number and would sure as hell be bombarding her with calls or would have reported to the police if the girl had said anything. So Charlotte believed that she was still safe, at least for now, and as the saying went, it is better to strike the anvil while the rod is hot. So, she was all alone now, which she now realized that she actually preferred. It was time to go strike the anvil.