Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“What if he was already there?” I mumble to myself.
“Huh?” Trav calls out from the kitchen.
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
“They say that’s the first sign of madness.”
“No, my first sign was coming to you for help,” I yell back and then lower my voice. “This would be the second.”
His muffled laughter is the only response.
The footage doesn’t show much. It’s a mounted camera on either the building next to the warehouses or maybe a streetlamp, and it’s aimed at the entry to the parking lot where it all went down.
I rewind the video to before I arrive, thinking maybe Walker had been there watching me the whole time, but if that was the case, why didn’t he show himself when I arrived and make up some excuse for me to get out of there? That scenario makes no sense. Because if he had told me he was there on a job and I wasn’t needed, I would’ve left. He’s my boss. He could have ordered me to leave.
Then again, what if I didn’t and I saw everything anyway?
What if … what if he was setting me up to take the fall from the beginning?
None of those theories are totally viable, but I can’t come up with anything else right now. I need more answers before I can speculate.
“You look like you’re concentrating hard over there.” Trav’s voice makes me jump. He brings over two bowls of pasta and sits opposite me at the small, informal dining table. I saw earlier when we got home that he has a dining table that seats about twenty people in a fancier room, but I guess this one is for when he’s alone or there are only one or two guys here.
“I’m trying to figure out how we can both get what we want.” I know him well enough that I can see he’s itching to get out there and bring my boss down, but he’s refusing. To piss me off, to protect me, I don’t know, but I get the impression he’s here with me instead of out there running this op because he loves getting under my skin more than he loves adrenaline.
Trav eyes me while he shovels food into his mouth. The food isn’t anything special. It’s dried pasta with premade sauce from a jar, but Trav takes three mouthfuls one after the other. “What do we both want?”
“I want to go find Hale.”
He opens his mouth to talk again, but I cut him off.
“And you want me to stay here.”
He nods. “That sounds about right. Come up with any compromises yet?”
“Nope.”
“Kinda hard when they’re the complete opposite things. Maybe we could drive halfway back to LA and you could look for Hale in Moreno Valley.”
“Wow. That’s some sound and very logical compromising there.”
Trav grins. “Don’t say I never give you anything.”
“Have you heard anything else?”
“Nope.”
“Your reluctance to share information with me is doing wonders for my trust issues.”
“I promise I haven’t heard anything, but I can call them when we’re done eating. I’ll even put it on speaker for you and everything so you can hear them say there’s no new news.”
It’ll have to do. “Thank you.”
We fall into silence as I pick at my food, but I can feel him watching me the whole time.
“Are you okay?” he eventually asks when he’s finished.
“I’m fine. Just frustrated.”
“That’s fair. Are you finished eating? You’ve been playing with it since I put it down in front of you. I’ve heard eating works better if you put food in your mouth. Actually, I’ve heard putting things in your mouth works better for a lot of things.”
Color me shocked, I actually huff a small laugh at that. “Sorry. I’m done. Don’t have much of an appetite.”
“An uncertain future will do that to a guy.” Trav stands and rounds the table to stop next to me, and his hand covers mine.
It’s warm, and for a really quick second, I believe that he’ll get the job done to save my ass, but then he pulls away and picks up my plate.
“I’ll clean up if you want to go shower. You can borrow some more of my clothes.”
A shower and a change of clothes sound amazing, but I run my gaze over Trav and then me. I’m no slouch in the muscle department, but Trav is about five inches taller than me and twice the width. My muscles are healthy law enforcement officer size, thank you very much. Trav is the human equivalent of an army tank.
“I might be able to wear your shirts as dresses, but I’m ninety-nine percent sure none of your pants will fit me.”
“Or I could maybe find some clothes the other guys have left here over the years.”
“Other guys … Like hookups? No, thanks. I’d rather go naked.”
“Well, shit. I almost don’t want to tell you I meant the other Mike Bravo guys. You’d probably fit Iris’s or Zeus’s clothes, but I think we should revisit the naked idea.”