Page 17 of Cast in Shadow
“Good.” Charley provided the address of a safe house several states away and told him to call again when they were twenty-four hours out.
By the time Robin Hood emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of herbal-scented steam, the food was waiting, and the door had been secured for the night. No one was getting in or out without him knowing about it.
Her eyes lit up when she saw the vegetable stir-fry he’d selected—the closest thing to healthy he’d found among nearby places that delivered. The purple-and-black shadows around her eyes and neck were deepening, but the swelling had gone down considerably, and some of the color had returned to her face. He made a mental note to pick up a pair of sunglasses if she didn’t already have some.
He handed her the bag of ice he’d filled from the vending machine and the first aid kit he carried with him, then took his turn in the bathroom, secure in the knowledge that if she did try to flee, she wouldn’t be able to get far.
Thankfully, it didn’t appear that she had. When he emerged, she was propped up on the bed, laptop across her legs, with the television on a national news channel and a half-eaten plate beside her. She’d already wrapped her ankle, and she had it elevated, which he found slightly disappointing. He wouldn’t have minded doing that for her, then shook off that unhelpful thought. Their time together would end the minute he got her to the safe house. The less reliant on him she was, the better.
Her eyes swung over to him, widening slightly as she checked out his chest and then, when he turned, the intricate tats that adorned his torso and back. That lifted his spirits somewhat.
He pulled on a T-shirt, hiding a smile at her obvious disappointment, then approached her bed and curled his fingers in a silent request to hand over her laptop. “Not smart.”
She twisted, pulling the laptop out of his reach. “It’s secure.”
“Yeah? Then, how did those guys find you?”
“I don’t know, but I can tell you, it’s not because of this.” When he continued to look skeptical, she said, “That’s not how you found me, is it?”
“Technically, it is,” he countered.
She waved her hand dismissively. “Because you found the GPS locator I put on it in case it got stolen. What made you go to my apartment in the first place? You said you were looking for me. Why?”
He sat down on the other queen, the one closest to the door, and grabbed a covered plate. He took several bites, ignoring her penetrating stare. She was tough and cute, but she needed to understand that he did not answer to her and that any information he provided would be at his discretion, not her demand.
“You said you’d answer my questions when we were in a safe place,” she reminded him. “This is a safe place. So, start talking.”
He took his time and another few bites, then downed a bottle of water and wiped his mouth. Only once he was finished eating did he deign a response.
“I was hired to find you.”
“By whom?”
“A woman named Charley.”
Her face scrunched up. “I don’t know any woman named Charley.”
“Well, she knows you.”
“Got a last name?”
“Just Charley, and I doubt that’s her real name. I’ve never met her. We’ve only spoken on the phone.”
She considered this for a moment. “Her name is Charley, and you’ve only spoken on the phone. Your last name isn’t Bosley by any chance, is it?”
He felt his lips quirk. “No. And in the interest of accuracy, that Charley was a man.”
“We don’t know that. Voices can be easily simulated,” she countered with a sniff. “So, what are you, some kind of mercenary bounty hunter or something?”
“Or something.”
Another scrunchy face. She didn’t like that answer, but that was all she was going to get.
He crossed his arms. Her eyes flicked to his biceps, and then she blinked.
“Why did this Charley hire you to find me?”
“Your sudden and unexpected disappearance raised some red flags.”
