Page 9 of Little Fury

Money??

New passports??

New names??

Guns??

25 books ??

Explosives??

I pause for a moment, questioning if I truly need explosives. I would rather have them, just in case.

Once the truck is filled, I pat myself on the back for having such well-planned“go bags.” This is one of four units I have in North America. All are equipped the same way: with a new vehicle, money, IDs, etc. Matt and Caden used to make fun of me for it. But yet again, I was right, and they were assholes.

I hop in and drive it outside, transfer my bags into it, then pull the car into the unit. Taking one last look around to see if there’s anything else I should bring with me. Satisfied I seenothing else I need, I close the door, get in the truck, and return to the highway.

I’m back on the road for about 20 minutes when my phone rings. I see Ben’s name pop up.“Hey,”I say as I answer.

“Hey, Boss,”Ben replies.“I’m assuming you've made it out of LA, with you answering the phone.”

“That would be a correct assumption there, Ben. I’ll never understand why Caden says you always state the obvious?”I tease him.

“Ha, you’re so fucking funny!”he grumbles at me.

“I am funny. You know it; I know Caden and Matt know it as well. So, there you go again, stating the obvious thing you’re so fond of doing.”

I can hear his sigh of frustration at my teasing, but I also hear the smile beneath it.

“What’s up, Ben?”

“Just checking in to make sure we are all still alive. I spoke to the others a few minutes ago. Everyone is on their assigned path home.”

“Good,”I say my tone tinged with relief.

“You know what I always wondered about?”Ben asks with genuine curiosity sounding in his voice.

“What’s that?”I ask, curious because Ben is not much of a question-asker. He’s my computer guy, and he usually finds answers to any questions himself.

“Why LA? I never understood why you and Marcus set up shop in Topanga.”

“Ahh,”I say, wondering how long he had thought about this.“Why not LA?”I ask him back. I wonder what he thinks our reasons were.

“Because Marcus was from New York, LA is a different world, and it has Hollywood and mega-rich folks who are into enough crooked and shady shit all on their own. So, italways seemed odd to me that you guys set up in LA.”Ben tells me.

“Montana killed winter for me. I told Marcus I wasn’t doing winter anymore. Once we left the ranch, I wanted sun and surf, oceans and sand. We were able to make it work because of the Russians. The Sokolov’s wanted to be in America. Yuri wanted to be near his grandson. The last bit of his daughter that he could still touch. So, when we took out Enzo, we handed the day-to-day to the Sokolov’s. And we moved to LA. I could take jobs from anywhere. And Marcus, well, we all know where he excels, so it all just kinda fell into place,”I explain.

“Gotta say, Boss, you demanding no winter ever again and setting up in L.A. is very on brand for you.”

“Hey! I know my worth, asshole. And I also really don't take orders very well, so it was decided before we even left the ranch. Marcus knew me well enough to know I would have walked away after a while over it. He also wasn’t mad about not living in New York—too many memories for him.”

“You sure you're ok, boss?”Ben asks with genuine concern in his voice.

“Better than I should be, but yeah, why?”

“Well, I've worked for you for five years, and I think you just told me more about yourself and your life than you have over the entirety of my employment with you,”Ben tells me with a laugh. It’s not true, but I understand his sentiment. I’m not huge on sharing.

I laugh out loud.“Well, Ben, let’s do a little recap, shall we? The man I grew up with, considered to be my best friend, tried to kill me. I was shot twice, lost a fair amount of blood, found out Harrison was killed, had to say goodbye to someone I hoped to have in my life for a very, very long time, and had to implode my life. So, I think a bit of an overshareon my part should just be overlooked and never mentioned again. Yeah?”

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