Page 42 of Take a Hike
Raven, unaware of the line she was treading, pulled out receipts from a folder she’d been carrying, laying them out one by one in a row on the desk in front of them. It was kind of obscene to see them so blatantly displayed.
Silas hadn’t appreciated how much money they’d lost catering to the old man and his family. For the first time since hearing Raven’s plans, he was grateful she’d pushed hard to come, even if the mission was ultimately doomed.
Seconds, maybe even minutes, passed before Mr. Crawley said, “Of course. Leave those there. My assistant will take care of it.”
Translation: none of those will be paid. But thanks for coming; don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
“Fantastic,” Raven said, giving herself or Mr. Crawley a little clap.
She thought he’d be sending out that check, and Silas would have to break the news later that there’d be no money coming.
“We appreciate you taking the time from your busy schedule,” Raven said, reaching over the desk to offer her hand. “And again, I do really love your house. It reminds me of one of my stepdad’s vacation homes.”
There it was, the lie she’d cast like a fishing rod.
Silas thought it was too heavy-handed to ring true. And didn’t rich people have some type of sonar signal that could detect when other rich people were in their vicinity?
He half expected Mr. Crawley to scream “Fraud!” and push a button that would plummet him and Raven into the dungeon rumored to exist in the basement.
But the old man’s blasé expression shifted slightly. A reassessment.
“Sorry, I didn’t ask before, but how did you come to own Mountaintop?” Mr. Crawley asked.
Yes, how did a supposed rich girl come to own a random tour business in a small town?
Raven had seemingly worked out that storyline too, and, without taking so much as a breath, she replied, “Charles left me Mountaintop because he dated my mother years ago before she got with my stepfather. And I thought it would be a cool way to prove to myself I can make my own way in the world.”
It sounded like a plot to a Lifetime flick, but Silas realized he could bolster her story by displaying some obvious bootlicking to press home the idea that Raven was someone to curry favor with. So he said, “And you’re doing an excellent job so far, ma’am.”
Raven turned to him, surprise registering briefly in her eyes before she caught on and said, “Thank you, Reynolds,” and followed it up with a patronizing pat to his forearm.
“Anyway, we’ve kept you long enough,” Raven said to Mr. Crawley. “We look forward to your future patronage.”
Silas was still unconvinced they’d ever see a cent, but at the very least, maybe it would dissuade the wealthy family from using the business as a personal concierge.
They’d almost reached the door when Mr. Crawley called out, “Hold on a second.”
In a sequence that Silas could barely believe, they returned to their seats and watched the old man pull out a slim book and make out a check to Mountaintop Adventures for an amount that totaled the unpaid invoices.
Raven had said they weren’t pulling off a heist, but as they left the mansion, check in tow, Silas felt adrenaline sweep through him as if it were.
When they entered the quiet confines of Raven’s car, Silas said, “Goddamn.”
She burst into laughter, and he did too. They found composure eventually, but there was a residual buoyancy.
“I can’t believe it worked,” he said.
“I told you to have a little faith,” she said, pressing her lips to the crystal pendant.
He shrugged. “I guess I was wrong.”
She pitched her ear closer to him. “Oh, say that last one again.”
“I. Was. Wrong,” he repeated, and when she turned to toss him a smug grin, a desire to lean over and kiss her surfaced so abruptly and without cause that he was left speechless.
He straightened in his seat and shook his head like it might erase the moment, but long after they’d driven away from the affluent premises, Silas couldn’t stop thinkingWhere the hell did that come from?
ChapterTwelve
