Beth's packed bag laid quietly in Ruby's car as the two made their way west. Beth cursed under her breath. It didn't help at all that she was the main target for her swear words. Despite the reservations that weighted down her choice, she had agreed to this. Grey buildings and colorful signs passed by too quickly as she sifted through these doubts to try and remind herself of the reasons she said yes.

If she would've taken a different choice that other night... Ugh, like she would've. She had refused to shoot. Not because she didn't want to fire the gun. She would've gladly, if recklessly, aimed at the floor to prove something to him. Prove that even if she wasn't able, yet, to upstage him she couldn't be messed with. Taking aim at Rio, even if the thought had crossed her mind briefly, madly, while she held his gun, wouldn't have been her intention. The sight of him sprawled on her chair, taunting her, it boiled her insides but she didn't want to do it let alone pull the trigger to hit him. If nothing else, it wouldn't have been practical. Might as well be a truly permanent loss of a sizable source of income. Sure, a part of her wanted to be king. It was no longer a seedling but stems had grown and they craved power, respect, and attention. But it wasn't going to be that night. Not if it meant shooting him.

Once she set the gun back on the edge of the table he soon disappeared. But not before picking it up and pulling her outside along with him, leaving Dean behind, telling him that if he wants him and his wife to stay alive, to stay put and not move.

He had walked right up to her, tilted his head towards the back door, and taken her by the arm. In those brief seconds she managed to nod at Dean to let him she was OK. She wasn't, but she was going to face Rio on her own. He came to see her. His battle wasn't with her husband.

He pulled back his hand as soon as they stepped on the grass in her empty back yard.

"This isn't over, sweetheart," He said. The bravado of detached coolness, even mischief, had vanished. Left behind in the dining room to keep Dean company. Rio's ire collided with hers as her terror eased just by a hair its hold on her body. What she saw in his eyes, the exhaustion, even hurt that peeked through the rage, she felt it too.

"We're even now," she found the courage to counter quickly, her tears dry on her cheeks. Her heart picked up. He wouldn't shoot her in her own back yard. Would he? "I shouldn't have done that. Turned you in. I'm sorry."

Apologizing dried her throat like she had swallowed a spider. At that point she hadn't yet had the days to reflect on what happened. As he faced her, his head slightly bent, all she could think about was that he was the one who made her think she was risking her freedom for what turned out to be a stupid test. How only yesterday he admonished her that it was over. Their business. The inescapable fact that him ending it also bothered her, on a personal level, one that she didn't want to understand, well, she hated that.

Her apology didn't go far in any case. Rio's face tightened and he shook his head.

"Don't go to Annie's or Ruby's." She pleaded, almost losing her composure and out of desperation reaching out her hand to touch him. "It was my idea."

He barked a laugh. "I don't give a damn which one of you it was. You sold me out. So you didn't kill me. That makes us even? I would've done time – because of you?" Loathing swept over his face.

Something inside her clicked oddly and she wasn't sure why.

"I thought-" She started, though she knew she was pushing him.

"Nothing," he said and closed his eyes briefly. "Nothing you thought was worth the cops showing up at my house."

An unwelcome flick of remorse picked at her conscience as she imagined what it would've felt like. Cops showing up at her door and hauling her away. Still, she reminded herself. She was certain he was going to kill her. Her sister. Her friend. Nothing in Rio's closed body language invited further discussion.

Rio fixed his shirt and his gun came into view before disappearing.

"If it's not over," Beth said, trying to stop her voice from shaking. "What's left?"

He took a step towards her and she bit her inner lip, ordering her feet not to move.

"Sit tight and don't do something stupid," he glanced at her house then back at her. "Or you'll find out real quick." Something dark passed behind his eyes.

"I won't go to the police."

"Good."

Her neck was tensing up from looking up at him at such close distance, from wanting to pull a bit away from him. She kept his gaze, feeling the tension between them coil and stretch until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Was the gun even loaded?" Although he had just threatened her she couldn't resist asking. What did he give her a gun for? What did he want?

"Even if it wasn't—" he shook his head and took a step back. "There's always a chance there's a bullet stuck inside." She could smell the geraniums when she replayed those words in the days that followed. Could smell the wind picking up around them.

"You trusted me not to shoot you?" Her eyes widened.

"Took a leap of faith." He raised his chin. "I'll see you. When I'm back to collect."

For a moment she thought he'd touch her. Like he'd done when he threatened her when she came to the living room to show off her necklace.

He didn't. His footsteps crushed stray leaves as he quickly departed, his clothes masking his figure in the darkness. She continued standing, half expecting him to return. Maybe hoping he'd reappear so she wouldn't have to wait to find out what he wanted. Her breathing slowed while a handful of fireflies gently swirled through the air. After soaking in a couple of peaceful minutes she made her way back to the house.

"I'll leave." Dean offered. After Rio left Beth had helped him clean up and started on the kids' lunches, needing to do something.

"I'll give you some space, but Bethie, that's the hardest thing I'll have to do."

"Not the hardest," She said as she prepared the kids' lunches, plates lined across the counter to get the job done quickly. "I'm sure suffering from fake cancer hurt more." She lifted her eyes not losing her concentration of each of her kids' tastes and preferences.

"We've been together for twenty years." Dean rubbed his hands together. "To compare that to what happened-"

He swallowed his words as Beth shot him a look, barely concealing her pain.

"Don't give up on us." He finished.

"Give up?" She shook her head. "I can't even look at you." She scooped avocado and started spreading it on Julia's slice. "Leave." Despite her conviction, it was easier to think than to say it.

She returned to her sandwiches and started putting them in each plastic bag.

"It's not my place." Dean took a tentative step towards her. "But that guy- he's not good news."

She held back a snicker. Too late for that. She had opened the door. It appeared tightly closed for now but it was an illusion. She expected a knock on the other side, or, more likely, for her guest to help himself inside. She'd figure out what she'd do then. Two sandwiches packed, three...

"Dean." She said impatiently when he continued to stand across the kitchen island.

He finally left. She put her head in her hands. The deafening silence wrapped around her. This was the easy part. She had run house on her own before. Dean was often at work or occasionally on conferences. But for him to be gone for more than a few days? The pain Beth felt couldn't be patched up quickly. Maybe not even – she didn't want to think about that. Saying goodbye wasn't the same as each day after. She wasn't completely sold that she could do it for more than a few days. "I have to," she thought, standing straight. She needed this space. If anything for this reason she was sure she'd figure it out.

Though she was shaken in the days that followed Rio's visit she didn't think he was going to kill her. He had come and gone with a gun. He had threatened her before leaving but it was for her not to go to the cops and she made sure Dean understood that as well. At one point she had the careless thought that Rio would surely not send his guys after her. It'd be him. That was only followed by the thought of what relief was to be found in that?

In those first days she had moments, late at night or during that day that she found herself nearly craving Dean's presence. Not so long ago she had considered his familiar voice to be safe. Even with issues they faced before everything blew up. She didn't go back on her request to ask him to leave. The thought of him returning was worse than the thought of him being away.

Life quietly resumed between kids' classes and extracurricular activities, Annie's stories about customers at Frugal and her making the most of her reduced time with Sadie. Beth often asked Ruby after Sara. While Sara continued to do well, overall, Beth was less certain about Ruby and Stan. Ruby didn't go into detail so Beth was left to put together the pieces her friend did share. In passing Ruby said Stan occasionally returned home very late and talked with her only the necessary bare minimum. It made for uncomfortable Dr. visits and family meals. The kids had to know something was going on. They tried to keep face in front of the kids but Ruby was fighting from coming apart from the tension.

"What matters is that Sara's doing well." She said the last time the topic of her and Stan came up. But her voice broke slightly and she swallowed like she was fighting tears.

"What you did—" Beth put her hand over Ruby's, "I would've done. No question." It wasn't the first time she had said this.

"I lied to him." Ruby blinked through tears. "He told me that if I had told him the truth-"

"He's a police officer. What would he have done with the truth? What could he have done? You needed to help Sara quickly."

Despite the tension and loaded sadness that Ruby shared Beth wanted to trust that she and Stan would work through their crisis. When Ruby's eyes brightened as she talked about her daughter socializing with friends outside of school, at her growing stamina, Beth thought that what they'd gone through with Rio had been worth if only for that.

She still didn't understand why Rio had urged her to shoot. She tossed his possible motives in her head. Death wish? Desire to tip her over to a kind of breakdown? No. No, to coax her like that he had to be confident that she wouldn't shoot him. Would she ever get to the point that she could shoot a man, she asked herself as she folded laundry. That she could shoot Rio? She didn't welcome the path these questions led her but they lingered. She felt something when she held that kind of power.

Soon after routine settled in she started to apply for jobs. It was humbling. A lot had changed since she last looked for work. Back when she faxed or dropped off her job application in person. Reading over her resume she wished she could fill a little of the blank space of the last twenty years with her money laundering stint. Putting down volunteer experience did well to lift her spirits. PTA meetings (a number of them she had led), bake sales, and putting together costumes not just for her kids but for Sadie, Ruby's kids, and occasionally even other friends' kids.

As she looked up synonyms for "organized" and "created" she imagined how she would've sold the duties she held under her previous surreptitious role. That is, if she was indeed so tempted to put down a sanitized version of it. How would she explain to a prospective employer that her former boss was no longer available for contact? She tried to imagine the same employer quizzing Rio about her and broke into a smile. It was a difficult to imagine.

A dozen job applications in she managed to get an interview for an entry level clerical work scanning documents. She didn't get the job. Even if she had gotten it, she consoled herself after reading the polite rejection email, the pay would've been a hard pill to swallow.

"Money wasn't the whole story though, was it?" She thought as she clicked through her bookmarks looking for new job ads. Feeding documents through a machine, where was the kick in that? Maybe if she pretended bills came out the other side. She brushed the thought away.

But even if the memory could be put aside the feeling was still vivid. The rush when Rio showed up. When she pulled off a return, bundles of bills in her purse as she drove home. Even though a bleeding man on her daughter's bed was begging for trouble. She chose the risk and she despised, despised, admitting it but she missed it. These thoughts weren't welcome but she had to accept it was not just the money that was holding her to him.

She eventually made sense of the strange feeling she got when Rio told her he didn't care who got him arrested. He lumped the three of them together but he wasn't telling the truth. He wasn't completely apathetic as to who was behind his arrest. It wasn't something he expressly gave away that night, only an uneasy twitch in her chest. She wasn't sure what to make of this and tucked it away. Bills arrived in a steady stream and she put them in a box, hidden away in a shelf in her bedroom closet. She prioritized them in an Excel sheet. Typing the companies' names and adding up figures helped her think she was taking action.

She needed to ace her next job interview and before that to cast her job search net wider. Money would only get tighter. Back when she was raking money she had sat down in front of a financial consultant with her second earnings. She ended up investing in both short and long-term portfolios. But she needed time to get results.

A sobering thought tapped her as she emailed prospective employers, drove the kids to school, as they had dinner, and they told her about their day, as she laid on her couch with her eyes closed at the end of the night. It wouldn't be a matter of waiting for him. Forget that. With growing dread she considered the unwelcome thought that she'd need to find him. Even if he wouldn't want to see her. It's not like she got the chance to make her own contacts in the brief time she worked for him.

Would it be worth it though, she asked herself, as she color coded her bills from highest to lowest priority. She'd usually return to a similar answer – no. Look at where it had gotten her. Why would it end up differently the second time? No, the right, the safe choice would be to find a legitimate path out of this financial slump.

Finally a job prospect came up that seemed promising. A sales position over the phone. Car insurance. the joke was certainly not lost on her. She shared the news with Annie and Ruby. Under the dimmed lights Beth found her courage. She gulped the last of her bourbon and shared what happened the night that Rio came by.

"And you'll tell him no when he gets back." Ruby said slowly. Beth looked into her glass. "Beth."

"Last time he came to my house with a gun." Beth folded her arms together.

"And he asked you to shoot him." Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose. "If he wanted to hurt you you wouldn't be sitting here." She leaned towards Beth. "We're finally out. We're safe."

"Selling insurance?" Beth sat back in her chair. "This – this is what I was meant to do?"

"You do that for a few months, you go for a supervisory position..." Ruby's voice trailed.

"I don't remember you applying after I told you about it."

"I'm this close." Ruby measured an inch with her fingers."Especially if I have to find a place of my own."

"That's what Stan wants?" Annie asked.

"I don't know what he wants. He's not talking to me again. Maybe it'll come to that." Ruby's eyes clouded and she sipped her tea.

"It's not. Would you forgive him, if he did that, if he did what he had to to save your child? With time, would you forgive him?" Beth asked.

"He's a cop," Ruby shook her head as a tear fell down her cheek. "You said it. He'd never-"

"It's his daughter. We don't know what we'd do until we face that choice. I don't blame you." Beth looked at Annie who nodded emphatically at Ruby.

"Would you forgive your husband?" Ruby asked Beth.

"Those two situations are completely different." Beth lowered her eyes.

"I mean, would you forgive him if he did what I, what we did?"

"Yes." Beth paused. "I'd be hurt. That I could've lost him because of what he'd done. But eventually I'd understand." She nodded.

"Let me take a look at that job ad," Ruby pointed at Beth's phone. "What about you? You have something to say?"

Annie made an incoherent sound with her mouth and looked between the two. "I think that you should hear him out."

Ruby took the phone from Beth. "Money blinds."

Annie threw out her arms. "What?" Annie asked. "A conversation. A public place. Totes safe."

"I'm sorry, were you not the one who fished one of these," Ruby gently shook the phone in the air, "under a splintered man?"

Beth's thoughts wandered as Ruby and Annie went back and forth. She'd thought about this all before. She got up to wash her cup deciding to cut herself off alcohol for the night. She'd have to wake up early tomorrow and the last time she drank a bit too much she had a headache that accompanied her all morning.

"Ruby," Beth turned around from the sink, trying to change the topic. "What do you think about the job?"

"You've done sales before, right?" Annie motioned at the phone, asking to see it.

Ruby shook her head before stopping. "Actually I did. Clothes store. I don't know what's better, that or serving cranky customers." Ruby cradled her head in her palm and passed Annie the phone.

"They're all cranky." Annie scrolled down the job ad. "But I'm sure you'll get all the ones who're loaded with the snazziest cars." She added quickly. "You know, the ones who work for Rio. Let me tell you about a cranky customer-" Annie started before launching into a long incident at Frugal.

It wasn't the easiest task to take on, but Beth tried to move forward each day away from the life she left behind. Despite the lure of money she hoped he'd not reach her. That he'd accept she was more trouble than she was worth. After all, wasn't she? She felt absolutely vindicated in throwing Rio's keys in his face at first but as weeks passed she felt some regret. That wasn't who she was. He had just pushed her over the edge. In between not thinking about him, in between not wanting to see him, she thought about what he'd want from her. What he was doing. When he'd come back.

A plate of baked bread between them, Beth chatted with Jenna, a vivacious mom friend she'd made over the last year. Jenna had three kids close in age to Beth's own four. Emma kept apart from the mayhem, sitting near the two women's' feet and playing with a tower of Lego.

"When can I watch TV?" Emma said as she added another level.

"We're watching a movie after dinner. Why don't you play with Mark and Julia?"

"They're boring!" Emma picked through her Lego pieces.

Beth and Jenna shared a smile.

"When's the interview?" Jenna drank from her mug.

Beth picked up her phone absentmindedly. "Thursday."

"We can practice if you want." Jenna set her mug on the counter and picked up the remainder of her pumpkin bread slice. Beth smiled.

"You've already prepped huh?" Jenna asked.

"I found this site, it gave you 30 of the most common interview questions-"

"No, you didn't." Jenna took a bite of the bread.

Beth nodded.

"I should've guessed… But how do you practice 30 questions?!"

"I didn't go through the whole list." Beth put her palm up and laughed. "I just want to be ready." Truth was that she was more excited to prepare for the interview than about the actual position.

"You can probably interview them yourself," Jenna set her hand on the empty plate. "All done?"

Beth's phone buzzed. "There's more in the fridge." She grabbed her phone and smoothly slid off the kitchen island chair.

On her way around it she glanced at the screen. She found a message from an unknown number that said: "Back yard in ten minutes." Her heart skipped a beat. She'd have to get that under check, she thought, knowing intuitively who was behind the message. It had been three weeks since she heard from him. She was OK, she thought. This would calm down once this thing with Rio was sorted out.

She set the phone down before opening the cabinet door, then closing it and opening the fridge, grabbing the bread pan and setting it near Johanna. She then turned around to grab a knife from the drawer.

"Everything OK?" Jenna asked, holding her hand out for the knife.

Beth passed it to her. "Yes."

"I've been getting bombarded with volunteering requests from my kids' school." Johanna said, cutting into the bread.

"You don't have time?" Beth asked with understanding.

"More no motivation than time. A lot of crafting projects."

"Those are fun."

Johanna made a face. "Once they get older and more into sports I'll be into that. Practice, I'll be there."

"I just remembered something." Beth took another glance at her phone's screen. "I got a delivery dropped off in the back again. I'm gonna go grab it. I'll be right back."

"No problem," Joanna smiled and sliced into the bread.

"Can I have some?" Emma piped up.

"You'll have some with dinner. Be careful with your Lego so we don't trip over it, OK?" Beth said, feeling a little breathless as she stepped by her daughter. In the past she wouldn't have let her daughter play like this in the dining room. The kids had their own play room. Ever since Dean moved out, even though it wasn't her fault, she couldn't help but try to make up for the commotion in her children's lives.

Rio had said ten minutes but she suddenly needed to get a bit of air anyway. Beth stopped at her reflection at the door. Her hand went to her hair and she fixed a few wayward red strands before she shook her head, chastising herself. She pushed the door open and shielded her eyes from the bright sun. Rio leaned against a tree, typing on his phone. He only looked up when she stood in front of him.

It was like a bird took flight in her chest. She was surprised and embarrassed at this response. Come on, she quickly justified her giddiness, why wouldn't she feel her spirits lifted at seeing him? He may have been a legitimate intimidating and threatening figure, but through him she got financial security that brought her life back from crisis. She felt something else too, something vague without shape that she felt when she last saw him, but she didn't left it, wishing it to diffuse in the air between them. She forced the smile she felt down.

He pocketed his phone and pushed himself off the tree and focused his eyes on hers. She found no warmth in his face.

"I'm here to collect." He said matter-of-factly.

It flooded back like it hadn't taken a break. The tension that, despite the nearly tangible distance she felt from him at this moment, drew them closer. The underlining tug and pull that she always preferred didn't exist thickened the air around them. It hit her so hard it nearly made her nauseous.

"How did you know I'd be here?" She tried to return his grimace.

"It's three thirty on Saturday. Where else are you gonna be?"

"Out with my kids," she said.

"On your new budget? Figured your finances may have dried up lately."

He didn't seem to take pleasure in saying it but they felt like a dig nonetheless.

"What do you want?" She squinted against the sun, preferring not to look at him. Preferring the discomfort.

He stepped to his left, blocking the blinding rays.

"I gotta run an errand." He looked away and back at her. "I need a cover." He pointed his chin at her, talking in a tone that made it sound like it was all a nuisance.

"What do I need to do?" She asked, already anticipating that drawing details from him would be like squeezing water out of a stone.

"It's not gonna be hard, sweetheart. Just help me look legit." He tried to hide it but his lips nearly curled upwards. Her shoulders loosened a little.

She couldn't resist asking. "Why me?"

"You want back in?"

"Yes." She said too fast, already the image of herself digging through cereal boxes for clean bills flashing in front of her eyes. And like that, she felt her steadfast reluctance crumble.

Rio's earlier comment about her tattered finances – maybe he was counting on it when he came over. She had talked to him a few times about how she needed the money, like during the shutdown. His eyes brightened a little at her answer but she barely saw it.

"Then you'll do it." He said.

"Why aren't you taking someone else?" She crossed her arms. Asking him what she really wanted to know – if this situation was unsafe, how unsafe it was, would likely bring unclear answers if any at all.

"Cause no one else owes me like you do. And you're probably not gonna get as much attention as someone else would."

What did that mean?

"Someone like me can always use someone like you." He added.

She shook her head at him, still bewildered.

"Lilly Mrs. Beaver-" he spelled it out, "and you and I go back if someone asks – tracks less attention while I handle my business."

She nodded in understanding though she was now confused for a different reason. Was she the only suitable candidate for what he had planned?

Rio seemed to have a different conversation going on in his head as he looked over her body, her light peach blouse and form hugging jeans. She almost didn't catch it, lost in the reluctant acknowledgment that she wouldn't say out loud. That the danger she may have been taking in doing this didn't do enough to detract from the allure of Rio's offer.

"It's gonna be an overnight trip so you might want to shack up your kids somewhere."

She shook her head quickly. "Overnight?"

"A few nights."

"I can't tell my husband- I can't just tell him a few nights."

That wasn't completely true. She could. Dean owed her. But she needed to know for her own sake. Rio scratched his chin like her question bothered him. Like he wasn't used to being asked that many questions. As if he hadn't dealt with her before.

"Three nights." He rolled his shoulders.

Beth tilted her head. "This is a big favor." She said with little a doubt in her mind that she was already resigned to agree to this.

"It's a big debt." He gave her his wide eyed, raised eye browed mock harmless expression.

"What if – what if I don't do it?" She asked, bracing herself to him snapping back at her.

He smiled, looked down, then behind her. "It's a sweet house you got. Be something to stay here. Your neighbors probably wouldn't like it-"

"You'd take my house?"

He shook his head. "Nah. You'll get another job. But you'll be out for good after."

She thought of her kids. Annie and Ruby.

"I'm saying, you'll probably be straight after you sell your house." He said. "At least for a bit."

She didn't respond and Rio started to back away from her.

"Wait," she said.

He stopped and she walked towards him.

"Where's this place? That you're running your errand?"

He gave her an address and made her repeat it back to him.

"Bring something nice too, yeah?" He said. "May have to dress up one night."

His advice half registered as she processed the address. The street name rang a bell. Was it-

"Kean's Marina. We're going sailing?" She asked.

"Not exactly."

It took everything not to roll her eyes at his tight lipped routine. She shook her head.

"It's not far." He said and this time it actually sounded like he tried to reassure her. "You can leave your passport behind. Your phone will still work to check on the kids you won't stop talking about. Be there on Thursday at 2 in the afternoon, yeah?"

"This Thursday?"

"That a problem?"

Only that her job interview was on Friday morning. She had already needed to reschedule it once before. It had taken so many applications, cover letters, and resumes to get there. Ruby was right. If she'd get it maybe she could climb up the chain. So far regular life had faithfully waited on the sidelines. Go ahead, she could almost hear it say as it glanced at its watch. Go ahead, but I can't hang around here forever.

Oh, but the comfort of counting out dozens and dozens of washed bills. Granted Rio wasn't promising her any money for this job nor guaranteeing her to get her foot back in. But if this did work out she could take out all the bills stuffed in her shoe box. Keep the roof over her children's head and provide for them. She was running out of time. If it didn't work out and she wouldn't be able to work for Rio again… Well, what were another few days before regular programming resumed? Not to mention she'd still owe him one with no chance of getting anything back.

"I'll be there." She nodded, painting the address he gave her to memory.

Appearing pleased he was done, Rio made his departure. She took in his swagger. It was hard not to envy the confidence he seemed to carry with him that she'd say yes. He really had no doubt?

It'd be the first time she'd be away from the kids for so long. She'd need to try to reschedule her interview as soon as possible. Her dad had traveled occasionally. She just didn't imagine him leaving for whatever it was she was going to do. She hugged her arms as a chilly breeze swept through the back yard. She hoped she didn't make a mistake.

A/N 12/18/2018 - Light editing for grammar and flow