Page 71 of The Last Grift
The urge to argue that hewasn’tacting like a little kid would likely only reinforce Lundin’s belief that he, in fact,was. Hiding an eye roll, Gabriel snapped his mouth closed and watched while for the second time in ten days a wound of his was scrubbed with antiseptic—perhaps a little harder than was absolutely necessary—and then covered up with a thick bandage.
Quickly and efficiently, Lundin repacked the box and snapped the lid shut.
“Always prepared?”
For real, Gabriel?
They’d only just come to a mutual non-hatred agreement, and here he was antagonizing Ranger Man again. Casey could’ve just ignored the fact that Gabriel was bleeding out.
Drama again, Chance. You were not bleeding out. Face it, you like him.
“Always,” Lundin replied seriously. “Now, I need you to come with me.”
Gabe did not want to go anywhere. “Why?”
Was his tone belligerent? Maybe a bit like a nine-year-old’s? The probability was high. He was grouchy. Sleeping on theTicketwas not easy to adjust to. The heater worked but Gabe wasn’t used to the motion of the waves yet. That was his excuse, and he was sticking to it.
“Because,” Lundin said with false cheerful patience, “Elton sent me to retrieve you.”
Gabe narrowed his eyes. “That sounds ominous.”
Lundin shrugged. “I don’t know. Is it?”
Forgetting his injury for the moment, Gabriel shrugged into his jacket. What did Elton need? While the Gordon MacDonald drama unfolded, Gabriel had managed to push thePeter problem and the Colavitos to the back of his mind. Was Elton in danger because Gabe had been careless?
He fumbled with the stupid zipper. “Dammit.” Gabe was kind of ambidextrous, but the bandage was in the way and fastening his coat was proving difficult.
“Just come on already. You’re not going to freeze to death, and no one is going to care if your coat is zipped or not.”
“Who is no one?” He wasn’t moving an inch until he knew why Ranger Man had been sent to collect him.
“I don’t know. Elton didn’t say, just called me saying that he needed you back at his place ASAP.”
Maybe Gabe should consider actually activating the burner phone he’d bought along with the space heater and extension cord yesterday. “He didn’t seem worried or anything?”
Damn, he hated going into a situation blind.
“No.” Lundin had started toward the deck but turned back around to face Gabriel. “Should he be?”
If it was the Colavitos, he’d have to do some fast talking. So far, he’d managed not to be interviewed by any news types covering the Nolan story. Elton and Lundin had agreed to talk to the Westfort Journal, but Gabe had declined.
Gabriel shook his head. “Nope,” he lied. “Let’s go.”
Lundin drovewith Bowie in the back seat while Gabriel rode shotgun. Reflexively, he crossed his arms over his chest and hoped everything was okay. Dammit, he cared far too much for the old man.
Elton’s like that, Chance. He’s like moss, grows on you.
Yeah, well, Gabe wasn’t sure he could handle the easy affection Elton offered. Or rather, he could get too used to it.
It was only a few minutes’ drive before Gabriel spotted the rusty sculpture that marked the entrance to Elton’s propertyand Lundin was easing the Jeep into a spot next to Elton’s truck.
What Gabriel didn’t expect to see there was a white 1970s-era Cadillac Eldorado in mint condition parked on the other side of the pickup.
“What the hell? That thing belongs in a museum. Whose is it?”
“No idea.”
Casey turned the engine off and elbowed his door open. Gabriel did the same, sliding out of the Jeep to the frozen mud of the parking area.
