Page 43 of Captive of Outlaws

“And if there is?” he says. “You probably want us to know where you are if you’re in trouble, Maren. The quicker, the better.”

A shiver runs down my spine. He’s not wrong. Still, I can’t help but feel like the kids in Hansel and Gretel being fattened up by the witch. There’s got to be some ulterior motive to him keeping me safe, no matter what he says.

People don’t just take care of others like that, no more than they rescue cars to give them to deserving owners.

Life just doesn’t work that way.

I set my jaw, stare at the phone, and take it out of his hand.

“Fine,” I say. “I’ll keep it, but if you’ve wiretapped this thing to...I don’t know, spy on me in the bathroom or something...”

Will bursts out laughing, and Rob shakes his head. “I wouldn’t even know how to do that. I’m an outdoorsman, not a computer nerd.”

I blow out a breath. That much I believe.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” Will says. “I’ve got things to attend to.”

“Same here,” Rob says. “Anything else you need, Maren?”

I rake my fingers through my hair, thinking.

“A hair tie?” I ask.

They both laugh. Rob whips out his phone.

“I’ll order some for you. Do you want scrunchies or just elastics?”

“I... I wasn’t being serious,” I say.

“Too late. Both kinds on their way, delivery by 8 pm,” Rob says, flashing a grin. “Seriously, anything else? If you get hungry, wander into the house. Tuck’ll whip you something up, or else you can raid the fridge.”

“Great,” I say, scanning around the garage. Everything I need is here, and I’m sure I can find my way around just fine. I certainly did the last time I was in here, and that reminds me...

“Is LJ around here? I’m not going to be disturbing him in his apartment if I work here, right?” I bite my lip.

“Oh no,” Rob says. “Don’t worry about that. We’ve made it clear that he’s not allowed to complain. You’re doing everyone a favor by doing this work.”

It’s not exactly the answer to the question that I want, but it’ll have to do. The thought of LJ’s piercing, cutting stare, especially while I’m trying to work, makes my skin prickle.

“Okay,” I say. “I’ll get to work.”

AFTER A LONG, GREASY, sweaty afternoon of work, I’m absolutely parched when I stumble back into the house. I didn’t even realize it had gotten so late if I hadn’t seen the time flash on my new smartphone screen and realized that the sky outside had turned a flaming pink and orange. I wander in through the foyer, threading my way to the kitchen, my footsteps echoing in the emptiness of the mansion. “Hello,” I call out tentatively. “Is anybody there?” Presumably, they could be far enough away in the house not to hear me. It really is that cavernous. My stomach growls, and I decide that I’m going totake them up on their offer to raid the fridge in the kitchen. I pull open the cool brushed steel door to reveal an absolute plethora of food: salads, snacks, cheese, fruit, all kinds of fancy bubbly water, and a variety of cold cuts. I’m almost too hungry to think straight, but I slap together a sandwich with whatever I find: ham, cheese, pickles, mustard, mayonnaise, lettuce, and some fancy smoked salt I grabbed from a container. I grab a peach fizzy water and settle at the counter. I’m about to take an embarrassingly large bite when I hear my name.

“Maren?”

It’s Tuck. I blush and go to put the sandwich down, but he urges me on.

“Oh, don’t let me interrupt you.” He grins. “I know a good sandwich when I see one.”

I laugh a little. “That’s a big compliment coming from you.” I take a bite, although slightly smaller than the face stuffing I was going to do before he got here. “Where did you learn to cook, anyway?”

Tuck shrugs, taking a stool across the counter from me. “Just self-taught, really? YouTube, the internet, a couple of good cookbooks. It felt like something useful to learn if I was going to be living on my own.”

“On your own,” I say, swallowing. I crack open my bubbly water and take a swig. It’s delicious—cool but a little bit zingy with flavor.

“Yeah, I’ve kind of been on my own for a while. Before I was living with these guys, I was doing the whole bachelor living thing.” He lets out a short laugh. “Kind of pathetic. This is definitely an upgrade.”

“So, how long have you known these guys?” I ask. I’m desperately curious, but I don’t want to press too hard andscare him off the line of questioning.

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