He nodded, not passing judgment. “Don’t forget your katana,” he joked, then his expression grew serious. “I can’t help but think this is a mistake. That is some dragon-shit stuff.”
You scared a drug lord, Peri, resounded through her, and she pushed the fear down. She tucked syringes in her bag, and the cool glass of the vial as it brushed against her fingertips felt like the devil’s smile itself. Newport was twelve hours away. She could be there by dusk if she didn’t stop to sleep. Sleep . . .
“You’re not weak, Reed, for needing it.”
Her breath caught as the remembered ache filled her. “You’re right. And this is a mistake. Every time I take it, it makes it harder to quit, but it’s all I’ve got.” Angry, she sat down to put on her boots.
LB watched. “What do you want me to tell him?”
She looked at the door, then thunked her heel into her boot. Her knee gave a twinge, easily ignored. “Tell him I’ll be back.”
“Yeah. That’s what my dad said.”
Her head snapped up. “I’m. Not. Leaving. Him.”
LB raised a hand. “Swell. You’re going to come back.”
Her face was warm, and she hated that it made her look as if she was lying. “If Silas is with me, Bill will use it against me. I can’t . . .” Her breath caught. “I’ll give Bill anything he wants if he threatens Silas. Keep him here, okay? Tell him you need his help with the Evocane substitute or something.”
Eyes empty of emotion, LB nodded. “That’s the truth, but he’s going to be pissed.”
Peri laughed bitterly. “Why do you think I’m leaving like this? I am such a coward.” She stood, wiggling her foot into her second boot. “Thank you. For everything.”
LB stood as well, his head bowed. “Thank you for showing me I’m not crazy.”
A smile spilled over her. Maybe she’d done one thing right. “We are, you know. Crazy?”
He chuckled, his hand falling to her shoulder as he escorted her to the open archway door and the night beyond. “I can get you off it, Reed, but not at once. Call me when you’re ready.”
She took a breath to tell him he hadn’t given her his number, spinning to look behind her when Silas’s muffled voice called her name with equal amounts of panic and anger. “Shit. He’s up.”
“Here.” LB pushed a hanging curtain of beads aside. A rough-hewn opening lay beyond, the light failing after only a few feet. “It goes to the surface, but it’s too tight for Lorenzo, so we never use it.”
“Lorenzo?” she questioned as she slipped past him, her bag pressed against her.
“Fat Man,” he said, digging into his pocket and handing her a wad of bills and a rail pass. “Be careful. They haven’t found Jack yet.” And then he was gone, the curtain swinging slowly to settle between them.
“Peri?” Silas called, and she shrank back, afraid to move in the dark. “Peri?” he called again, and then he swore softly. “She’s gone, isn’t she,” he said, anger thick in his voice. “And you let her walk out of here?”
“Yep.” The broken shadow of LB sat down in front of the TV with his beer. “I didn’t get to be king of this rodeo by being stupid.”
“Damn it, she shouldn’t be alone!” Silas exclaimed, and Peri froze. “Where are my shoes? Where are my blasted shoes? Did she hide them again?”
Again? she wondered, seeing a glimpse of their shared past.
“Slow down, Tex,” LB said as he clicked through the channels to settle on a nineties sitcom. “She has itchy feet is all, and an hour’s head start. She’s only got a day’s worth of Evocane, and she went looking for Jack. She’ll be back tomorrow.”
He lied for me? Peri thought, not liking how easy and convincingly it had come out of him.
“God bless it.” His hands in fists, Silas stared at the ceiling. He exhaled, abruptly losing his anger and collapsing on the couch beside LB, his head cradled in his hands. “I can’t believe I fell asleep,” he whispered, his gaze haunted as he lifted his head. “She took the accelerator with her. Don’t lie to me, Leon. I’m a psychologist. How much Evocane does she have?”
His real name is Leon?
LB sighed. “All five days,” he admitted, and Silas groaned. “Enough to take care of Bill. She’ll be back.”
Silas bowed his head, his fingertips pressing into his forehead hard. “If she remembers me,” he whispered.
Breath held, she carefully turned and headed for the surface. She’d be back, she vowed.
If I remember him.
CHAPTER
THIRTY
The screwdriver slipped from the panel’s cover, gouging the fatty part of Peri’s thumb. Hissing, she sucked on it, fighting the urge to throw the tool into the predawn dark as she crouched beside the security panel behind her coffeehouse. It didn’t help that she’d snuffed the safety light with a well-placed rock. It also didn’t help that her coffeehouse had originally been a satellite cop shop with thick walls, bullet-resistant windows, and a built-in security system like few others. She’d already disabled the alarm, but getting through the magnetic lock was proving difficult.
She needed money, her secondary ID, a vehicle, and the peace of mind a few armaments would provide. Her coffee shop held all that. Her key, long gone, was not the only way in. If she could get the panel open, she could hard-code her password in.
Squinting at her hand, she rubbed the blood away and wedged the screwdriver under the panel again. Jack usually did this, she thought out of nowhere, then quashed it.
“This is a first for me” came out of the dark, and she spun, rising to her feet, screwdriver held to gouge as she scanned the tiny private parking lot.
“Cam?” she questioned incredulously, recognizing his silhouette in the thin street light. “What are you doing here?”
“Breaking my rule about not chasing a woman.” He picked his way closer between the frozen rocks and weeds, his breath steaming. “Lose your key?”
Flustered, she shifted the angle of the screwdriver to something less agressive. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Don’t I know it,” he said faintly. Hands in the pockets of his short leather jacket, he halted on the small cement pad. His attitude shifted from a sour acceptance to a questioning scrutiny. “Are you okay?”
Peri licked her lips, feeling self-conscious in her tight black jeans and soft boots. She looked like a thief, but it was her store. “Seriously. Why are you here?”
Cam looked at the shop as if able to see the street beyond. “Your place is on my way to work. I saw the security light was out, and for some stupid reason, I felt responsible.”
Slumping, Peri turned back to the panel. “It’s five in the morning. You go to work at five in the morning?”
“I get more work done when I’m alone.”
“Me too,” she muttered, and the screwdriver slipped again.
Cam shifted from foot to foot, his expensive dress shoes looking wrong in the dirt and weeds. “So . . . you’re back?”
The hint of ulterior interest in his voice didn’t go unnoticed, and Peri glanced up. “No,” she said carefully. “I’m here to pick up a few things is all.” Cam’s brow furrowed, and blowing the hair out of her eyes, she added, “Thank you for watching my cat. He means the world to me.”
“He’s not been any trouble.”
Peri picked away at the panel, trying to figure out what she’d done to encourage him.
“I knew you were different, but this?” He gestured to her sleek form crouching in the dark trying to break in with a screwdriver. “Who are you? The good guy, or the bad guy?”
“Uh . . .” She looked up. A glint of light over his shoulder shocked through her. Standing, she yanked Cam behind her. Her hand slapped at her side, reaching for her nonexistent weapon, and Cam cried out, startled as his dress shoes ground against the grit and he caught his balance.
“She’s the good guy,” Silas said from the dark, and Peri’s adrenaline crashed, shifting to anger.
“Silas?”
she blurted out. “How . . .” Her voice trailed off as he stomped forward into the dim light looking betrayed, angry, and threatening even in his long wool coat that cost more than most people’s rent. I should’ve just knocked over a 7-Eleven, she thought. Cam edged out from behind her, and she sighed, looking for strength. “Silas, this is Cam. Cam, Silas.”
Neither man moved to shake hands, and in the awkward silence she realized how menacing Silas was. He only felt small in her mind because he was a big soft teddy bear. One who could bend iron rods and scare gang members. Damn LB anyway.
“You’re the man watching our cat?” Silas said, and Peri frowned.
“Carnac is not your cat. If he’s anyone’s, he’s mine and Jack’s,” she said, crouching back over the panel and wishing they’d both leave.
Cam inched away from her as Silas came forward. “I suppose I am, yes.”
“Think you can watch him for a few weeks more?” Silas said.
Peri sat back on her heels and stared up at them both. “You’re not coming with me.”
Silas hunched, losing every ounce of threat he ever had. “You need me. Admit it.”
Eyes on the panel, she angled the screwdriver a little higher and pushed. “I do. But you’re not coming. Bill will use you to hurt me, which means you will be dead.” The screwdriver slipped, narrowly missing her hand again. “Silas, I can’t deal with this right now!”
“You’re going to have to,” he said, taking a large step onto the cement pad. Cam backed up fast, and Peri did nothing as the bigger man took the screwdriver out of her hand and pushed her out of the way. “You’re not leaving me behind this time.”
Peri watched him wedge the screwdriver between the metal plates and twist, his extra muscle making it easy. “Yes, I am.”
The front of the panel box snapped off with a sharp ping. “Look, I’m a help already.”
“Peri, I told you if you need help, I have the means,” Cam said.
Silas straightened, giving Cam a tired look before handing her the screwdriver still warm from his fingers. “Manipulating Michael into taking care of Bill might have been a mistake. He knows you’re out for his head. His only chance is to bring this to his playground, and you’re going right along with it. I’m coming with you. You can’t stop me.”
“My God. It’s like a soap opera,” Cam said, clearly trying to be funny. “Can I get the earlier episodes on my phone?”
Peri breathed in the cold night, feeling it soak to her bones as she thought over what Bill was capable of, what Cam was hearing. This is not who I wanted to be. Frustrated, she looked at her coffeehouse, seeing it as the hopeful lie it was. She could never be what she wanted to be. As she turned, her gaze fell on Cam as he stood behind Silas, both dressed well, attractive, and smart. Another lie, another wish. Another mistake.
“I’m sorry, Peri,” Silas said, his regret so honest it hurt. “Bill is going to take everything you care about until you snap.”
“Which is exactly why I want you to stay here,” she said, eyeing Cam as he crouched beside the opened panel and used his phone as a flashlight.
“Wow, is this a Catch-Twenty-Two? If you tamper with this baby without the password, it explodes,” he said in envy.
Cold, Peri held her arms to herself. “That’s why I bought it.”
Silas cocked his head in thought. “Peri is the same way. How do you know what it is?”
Silent, Cam rose, obvious he thought he’d said too much. His phone went out, putting him back into darkness. “I’ve, ah, got one at home.”
“Cam’s net worth is eight million,” Peri said as Silas dropped down to take Cam’s place. “When the market is up, that is.”
“How—” Cam stammered, and Silas chuckled.
“My baby don’t hang with trash,” Silas muttered under his breath, and Peri frowned. My baby? Had he really said “My baby”?
“I looked you up,” she said. Then seeing Silas stiffen, she added, “Anyone who comes into my store more than once gets looked up. Don’t think it means I’m interested or anything.”
“You’re an espionage agent?” Cam guessed, and Silas snorted, his thick finger deftly wedging open the access panel behind a curtain of wires. “For who? CIA? FBI?”
“No,” she said flatly, and the lock beeped.
Silas made a low hum of discontent. “You change your password?” he questioned.
Peri’s attention shifted down. Things were getting out of control fast. “How would you know my password?”
“Because you always use the same one.” He hesitated, then sighed. “What is it?”
It bothered her he knew, but most drafters used the same password as a matter of convenience. “Twenty, five, one,” she said. “And now I have to kill you both.”
Silas gave Cam a disparaging glance when he laughed nervously. “That’s what I put in.”
Fidgeting, she leaned over to look. “Twenty. Enter. Five. Enter. And then one.”
Grunting, Silas tried again, and Cam whistled, his phone angled to light the maze of wires and circuits. “You sprung for the three-digit model? What are you afraid of, woman?”
“Just herself,” Silas said as the panel beeped, and with a solid click, the magnetic lock thunked open. “It’s a large part of her charm.”
“Thank you for that assessment, Doctor.” Peri reached for the door and yanked it open. She had been planning on catching a few winks before heading to Newport, but that wasn’t going to happen now.
“You’re a doctor?” Cam was asking as she strode in. “Doctor of what?”
Silas grumbled something back. She wished they’d stay out, but they followed her past the unused back offices and out to the remodeled front. She left the lights off, knowing the way and not wanting to advertise her presence. She felt safe in the dark. “No lights,” she said when one of them bumped into a chair, and she frowned at the thought of the dirty snowmelt they were tracking in.
“Peri, listen to me,” Silas said as he caught up. “I know you think you have this under control, but Bill is playing you. You’re doing everything he wants you to.”
There was a whisper-thin layer of dust on everything. Outside, the street was empty and silent, but in a few hours, it would be busy with life that never touched her, even when it walked in her door. Maybe it wasn’t a sanctuary, she thought as she looked at her knitting stuffed behind the register counter. Maybe it was a prison.
Opening a low drawer, she found the spare fob to her car. “Don’t touch anything,” she said as she slipped the thin metal plaque into a pocket. Her secondary passport and ID were right beside it, and she tucked them away as well.
Silas came up behind her, and she pushed his hand off the counter. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t go after him, but you’re going to need my help,” he said as she wiped his prints away.
Grabbing her knitting, she threw it in the trash.
“Hey,” he said, brow furrowed as he pulled the yarn back out and set it where it had been. “You need to slow down.”
“Don’t make me put you in the holding cell,” she threatened as she opened the register and took every last folding piece, shutting the drawer with a cheerful ting.
The familiar sound cut through her like a bullet. Throat tight, she pushed past Silas. The man wasn’t taking no for an answer. Cam, at least, had accepted the situation if his glum look and slumped shoulders were any indication.
“I’ll drive the car, then,” Silas insisted. “Give you a chance to sleep. Help you plan it out. Stay where you tell me. When you tell me. I’ll never even see Bill.”
Like that’s a promise he has any control over, she thought as she tugged the microwave out from its built-in cupboard. It was heavy, and Silas lurched forward to catch it, easily manhandling the heavy appliance to the counter.
“Sorry about the prints,” he said, using his coat to try to wipe them clean.
But she’d given up on leaving a pristine site, and she went on tiptoe to reach the three Gloc
ks and extra clips hidden behind the microwave. “When have you ever done anything I’ve ever told you?” she said as she put one in her boot and another in her pocket. The third she hesitated over until Silas put his hand out, and then she tucked it at the small of her back, hating how it felt.
“Huh,” Cam whispered, his shadowy self shifting from foot to foot. “Boy, do I feel silly. I keep my guns in a locked cabinet.”
Shit, Cam. He shouldn’t be seeing this, but she was fairly confident he wouldn’t say anything to the authorities.
Silas took her elbow and turned her away from Cam. “You need an anchor. I need to be there if something goes wrong.”
“Peri, are you sick?” Cam asked, his tone suddenly wary as he came a step closer.
“Yes.” Peri wedged Silas’s hand off her elbow and moved around him.
“No,” Silas shot back, his shoulders hunched. “There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s perfect. Don’t ask me to stay behind. I know I’m a lousy partner, but I can help.”
Standing in the middle of the room, Peri pushed her hair up off her forehead as she weighed the trouble of going upstairs to get a new set of clothes against them following her up there. “Silas, I need to know you’re safe. It’s easier for me to do what I have to do if I know you’re safe.” There to catch me if I fall.
Seeing her softening, Silas pressed close. “In two days, LB will have enough Evocane substitute for a few months,” he said softly, but it was obvious Cam heard. “By then, things should be settled and I can start getting you off the addictive stuff piece by piece.”
Cam’s expression shifted, losing the rich-boy besotted lightness and taking on a wary, walk-away-now look. Fine. It’s better that way.
“Please.” Silas touched her face, bringing her back to him. “I can’t keep up if you don’t let me, but if you walk away from me now, I’ll never find you again.”
Even in the dark she could see his love. Blinking fast, she looked over the empty tables to the hazy lights beyond as she remembered the peace she’d made here. It hadn’t been a lie, but even if she could settle with Bill and return, WEFT would hound her forever. There is no peace but what you make.