Page 33 of Her Brother's Keeper

“Hey Angel, good timing, I have about two more minutes before my next client shows.” I felt my shoulders slump. “How was school?” he asked.

“It would be better if I hadn’t left my lights on… my car is dead,” I told him sheepishly.

“Ooo!” I heard him suck in a breath between his teeth, “I can’t come, I have a client, uh – hold that thought. I’ll call you or text you right back. It’ll be okay.”

I jumped and yelped, a glass bottle shattering at my feet. Lucas, leaning out the passenger side of his best friend’s car as they zoomed by, shouted, “I’m going to make you suck my dick, you murdering whore!” The boys laughed and peeled out and I pressed a hand to my chest, waiting for my heart to calm down.

There were several heartbeats of silence on the other end of the line and Nox asked calmly, “Maren, who was that?”

“No one,” I said. “It was nothing.”

“Right, I’m going to go and call in a favor, you get in your car and lock your doors. I’ll call you right back.”

“Okay.”

“And Maren?”

“Yes?”

“We’ll talk about why you just lied to me a little while later, alright?”

I shut my car door and locked it, “Yes, alright,” I said quietly; guiltily.

“Be right back,” he promised and ended the call. I watched the minutes tick by, all three of them, and my phone lit up with Nox calling again. I answered immediately.

“Hello?”

“My brother is leaving the garage now, he’ll be there in a few to give you a jump. Okay?”

“Okay, thank you. I’m so sorry for being an inconvenience, Nox –”

“Hey, no, none of that, Baby. Okay? Everything is going to be fine, it’s what I signed up for, remember?”

“Okay,” I murmured.

“I’ve got to go, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Right, um, I’m supposed to have a talk with Sage, maybe tonight isn’t the best. As it is, I need to call him.”

“We’ll talk about it when I get off work.”

“Okay.”

“Hi Jennifer, I’ll be right with you, two seconds I promise,” I heard him say, his voice a little distant as he pulled the phone away from his mouth.

“I’ll talk to you later, you’d better go,” I said before he could say anything.

“Later, I promise.”

He ended the call and I huddled in my dad’s old car, one of the many things I inherited and tried to keep warm. It was the reason I’d stepped out. It was cold outside, but the sun was shining and when I stood in it, it was at least marginally warmer. I waited for Rush to get here and when I heard the rumble of a motorcycle, I looked up and this way and that.

He pulled up next to my car, but it wasn’t Rush on the bike. I got out and Archer pulled the thick scarf off from around his face and the sunglasses off from over his eyes. He took the time to take off his helmet, eyeing me suspiciously.

“I forgot to turn off my headlights this morning,” I said sheepishly, “I was running late.”

“Should have left earlier,” Archer grunted, swinging a leg over his bike and standing. He went to the back of his bike and one of the saddle bags, unbuckling it.

“It was my brother, he missed the bus and was dragging his feet,” I explained.

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