“Oh,” Lance said. “Look at this. A man of honor.”

“Fuck you.”

“If you have to die, he has to die,” Lance said. “You know that.”

“Why?” the driver said.

“You’re a witness, Einstein. Think about it. I’m not going to shoot him then drop you off like it’s the end of a prom date.”

“I’ll never say a word,” the driver said. “I swear to God I won’t.”

The ex looked at him.

“Fair-weather friends,” Lance said to the ex.

The ex scoffed.

“Besides,” Lance said to the ex. “Letting him off just doesn’t feel right, does it?”

The friend was about to mount another protest when Lance tapped him on the arm conspiratorially. “Tell me honestly,” he said. “You ever screw around with the girl?”

“What?” he said.

“You heard me.”

“Fuck this,” the ex said.

“Hold on,” Lance said. “I want an answer.”

The friend didn’t know what to say.

“I knew it,” Lance said. “You sly bastard. You just had to have a taste, didn’t you?”

Lance glanced at the ex. Weighed his reaction. Nothing.

“You’re not surprised,” Lance said. “The two of you together? You dirty motherfuckers.”

“Fuck this,” the ex said again.

“You dirty motherfuckers,” Lance said again. “She’s barely old enough to drink in a bar, you know that?”

The ex knew it was over. He was shaking his head.

“Tell me why I don’t put a bullet in each of your heads right now?” Lance said.

He asked the question and he meant it. He was looking for a reason not to kill them, and he was having a hard time finding one. Them dead made Sam safer. It made the world safer. And it had the added advantage of being convenient. There were a million places along the border he could throw the bodies. No one would come looking.

“That girl’s not as innocent as you think,” the ex said. “She asked for everything we gave her.”

“I never said she was innocent,” Lance said.

“Then why all this trouble?”

Lance raised his hands like he had no explanation. Like they were asking why he threw a bad pass in a football game.

“This is crazy,” the friend said.

“Look,” Lance said. “I’m going to tell you straight up why I’m here. That girl’s daddy took a bullet that was meant for me. The only thing he ever asked in return was that I look out for his kid.”

“Well keep her then,” the friend said. “Like we give a shit.”

“I don’t know,” Lance said. “I don’t want you guys saying something just because you think it’s what I want to hear.”

“We mean it,” the ex said. “You won’t hear from us again.”