Virgo's Vice Read Online Free PDF Page B

handled the daily beatings or public rape. All she had to do here was deal with the elements. With this money she would be able to buy her mom a nice house in the suburbs. Her mom wasn’t strong. She needed to live in a warm place or her lungs weren’t going to last much longer. Maybe she would even stop coughing altogether in a new house.
    “I’ll help as soon as my ankle is bound,” Rodriguez said. “I’m a contractor. So if it were up to me, I would head over there right now and check out those saplings.” He pointed. “When we get an axe, which I’m assuming is packed with the cargo; we’ll be able to start cutting them.”
    “Here’s another suggestion,” the nurse, Maria Lopez, said. “We will need water before the night comes, and fire to boil it.”
    Nobody spoke for a few moments.
    “Right,” said Lela. “We need to find the water.” She turned around in a three-sixty circle. “Down there could be a creek or water hole.” She pointed at a low area among the gently rolling hills.
    “That’s pretty smart,” the redhead with the cocktail dress and no shoes said. Was her name Kelli? “The rain water must drain that way.”
    “So what are you gonna carry the water in?” the shoeless nerd, Jared said.
    There was another short pause. “We could at least scout it,” said the executive-type woman, Faith. She didn’t appear to be tough enough to be in this game. She was thin and pale.
    “Let’s do it,” the trucker woman responded. “Who’s coming?”
    “Wait,” the exec said. “I mean, shouldn’t we wait for them?” She pointed toward the path the other guys had taken to search for the bags, and that hill.
    “We’re just gonna do a reconnaissance,” the trucker woman sneered.
    “I’ll go with you.” But I hope there are no wild animals . Lela kept the thought to herself.

Chapter 5
    “There must be another one some place,” Mark says when he and I reach Billy Murphy, who is standing over one of the canvas bags, loosening the cords from its parachute.
    “I’ll take this one back to the others,” Billy says.
    “I’ll go back with him,” I say.
    “I’ll keep hunting,” Andy, the attorney, says. He points to the rocky hill they’ve been using as a marker. “If I don’t locate it, I’ll climb that hill and see if I can spot it from up there.”
    “That’s further away than you might think,” Billy says. “I wouldn’t be walking that far without water.” He hefts the cumbersome bag onto his shoulders and starts back toward where we left the others.
    “Can I help carry that?” I ask him.
    “Nah. I can do it,” he says. “You could bring the chute.”
    “Sure.” I lift the chute and pull all the cords together so they don’t drag on the ground and hook on things. Jake stays close to me.
    “That dog sure likes you. How’s your knee?” Billy asks.
    “It’s okay. It’s not stinging anymore.”
    “Maybe there’ll be something in here we can use to clean it up better.”
    We keep trudging along. It’s hot and I’m starting to get tired. He’s probably tired too. I can see the bag’s heavy.
    We finally make it back to the trees, and Billy hefts it off his shoulder and sets it on the ground. I drop the parachute with the others on the pile someone has made.
    Everyone crowds around and Billy sits on his heels beside the bag and stares up at me. I find myself staring at him again and I notice how long and dark his lashes are over those bright green eyes.
    “Should I open it?” he asks.
    I shrug. I wish they wouldn’t ask me stuff. I’m not in charge here and I don’t like them all to stare at me. “Sure,” I say, crouching down beside him to get a closer view.
    “What happened to the others?” Billy says.
    “Gone to see if they can find water,” Rodriguez, the guy with the twisted ankle, replies from his seat on a small boulder.
    Billy grins. “Okay, here goes. Pandora’s bag. There’s no going back once I’ve opened it.” Everyone is quiet