Page 130 of Sinners Reunion

“Haven’t had a chance to try it out yet. Are you so inclined? I have several rods at the house. You and Quinn are welcome to stay for as long as you’d like after the trip.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” he says.

I look back at Josie on the stage as she turns around and jingles the key ring. “Oh, I won’t be there.”

Or maybe I will be. Maybe Aven will use my warm entrails as bait after he and Bennett have dismembered me.

“That’s a shame,” he says, and when I look back at him, I see that his face has fallen. “I was kind of hoping we could go together. Kind of connect one-on-one. I’m better there than in a group setting.”

He gets that from me.

“After all, if you want to be my stand-in da, you gotta take your boy fishing.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it, pal. It was a child’s idea.”

“No. It’s a great idea, and I’d love to. Perhaps we can throw out the line a few times before the final event where you meet your real father. Who knows? You might not want to take me fishing after that.”

“I’ll take you up on it,” he says, “but no worries about what’ll happen when I meet Carter. I’ll get my retribution and finally move on.”

He sits back again, looking a little happier this time. Meanwhile, I feel like I just ate concrete and washed it down with sulfuric acid. The weight in my guts pulls me down.

Everyone lets out a little cheer, and I focus on the stage again. Josie climbs the stairs beside the water tank and holds the keys over the top of the tube. The water is up to the Cattle’s chin now, with no signs of stopping. In less than a minute, he’ll be fully submerged and without oxygen. Josie holds his salvation in her delicate hand.

He yells something up at her, but we can’t hear what he says. The thick glass catches his voice and holds it close. Josie hears him, though, and she smiles and shakes her head.

Jim looks out at us, ever the showman. “He’s pleading for Josie to drop the keys. He says he’s very sorry and won’t do it again.”

Josie says something, and Jim laughs.

“She said that we’ll make sure he won’t.” Jim laughs again, throwing his head back this time, and the small audience of Sinners echoes his joy.

The water rises, and the Cattle tips his head back to keep his nose and mouth within reach of precious oxygen. Josie dangles the keys, then drops them onto his face. They slide off his cheek and drift to the bottom of the tank.

“Whoops! I think her fingers slipped,” Jim says.

The Cattle pulls himself lower in the water, his cuffed hands scrabbling for those keys. I’m disappointed when he finds them almost immediately and begins trying the lock. If he makes it out of there, Jim will honor his promise and let him live as one of our staff members for the rest of his days, but he doesn’t deserve it.

Josie strolls down from the stairs and stands in front of the tank. The Cattle spares her a glance, then goes back to trying the keys.

She steps off to the side so that we can see, and the panic on his face is glorious. He’s so determined, but he realizes his chances are slim. He’s only a quarter through the keyring, and bubbles are already pouring out of his mouth.

With an exaggerated movement of her arm, Josie knocks on the tube. The Cattle glances at her, then goes back to the keys, but something causes him to look at her again. She’s holding something up to the glass now, and he and the audience realize what it is at the same time.

The Cattle drops the keyring and starts pulling on the chain. Aven punches me in the arm and lets out a laugh.

“She’s a heartless one, that girl. She kept the fecking key!”

Josie turns to us with a giggle and holds the key up for us to see. She drops it to the stage and kicks it into the wings with her strappy stiletto, never to be seen again.

We watch for the next few minutes as the man struggles to hold his breath. He eventually loses the battle, as they always do. The breath-hold reflex fails in the most spectacular way, and the asshole sucks in water. Unconsciousness follows shortly after, and the tank is covered and wheeled away as the next trick is rolled onto the stage.

“Let’s hear it for my lovely assistant,” Jim says, and everyone applauds as Josie takes a bow.

I rise from my seat and hurry to help her down from the stage. “You were brilliant,” I say as her hand slides into mine. “Almost as charming as I would have been.”

“I didn’t see you volunteering.”

“You didn’t give anyone else the chance.” We slide into our seats as Jim sets up for the next big thing. “Besides, I hate offering myself as the audience-participation sacrifice. It’s always so awkward to have everyone watching and waiting for you to bungle something.”

She rolls her eyes and straightens the hem of her dress over her thighs. “You’re no fun sometimes, you know that?”