Page 50 of Thor
Felix turned toward the cops, his shoulders slumped forward with Dana at his back. She poked him, and he let out a long breath. “It’s what Tobias said, Keller. A heated conversation. It won’t happen again.”
Keller hooked his thumbs in his belt and stared around at us, finally letting his gaze settle on Thor. “This better not happen again or I’ll haul all your asses to jail.”
“It won’t,” Thor said, curling his arm around my shoulders. “We’re gonna head out of here.”
“Now?” Jeanie’s voice wobbled as she rushed over to him and grabbed his arm, her fingers digging into his suit. “Toby, please don’t go yet. This won’t happen again,will it, Felix?” She spun a glare on him.
“Mom.” Thor kissed her cheek. “This has nothing to do with what happened here. Loki and I had plans to leave after the funeral. We have a two-day drive home, and we have problems we need to sort out in Pleasant Beach.”
“You just got here,” she whispered desperately, pressing her lips together as though trying to stop herself from crying. “Please stay a little longer.”
“I can’t.” He smiled so sweetly that it almost didn’t seem real.Tobias, not Thor, my mind provided. They were two different men, and I could see why he kept so far away from home, other than the guilt. Men likeTobiasgot killed in our line of business. There was no room for weakness.
Keller cleared his throat and nudged his head in the direction of the line of cars. “Then get goin’ because I can’t have any trouble in this town. We’ve worked too hard to keep it safe.”
I rolled my eyes and thought about flipping him the bird again, but Thor was at my back, pushing me like he expected me to do something foolish that would end with me behind bars. Laughing, I let him shove me in Morgan’s direction. Morgan drove his motorized wheelchair forward, and Marion followed him until they were in front of us.
“Well, you don’t do things by halves,” Morgan said with a chuckle. His hair fluttered in the light breeze that danced through the graveyard. He was adorable like this, with his black suit that fit him a lot better than ours did. It looked like it was custom made.
“We’re the Norse Lords, modern Vikings.” I winked at him.
“Ah, is that what it is?” Morgan laughed again, and he opened his mouth like he wanted to discuss it more, but Thor shook his head.
“We need to go. We’ve had enough excitement for the day.”
“I like Morgan.” I elbowed Thor in the gut, and he grunted. “I’m not going to let that fucker run us out of town. Who is that Keller, anyway? Didn’t seem like a friend.”
Morgan made a suspicious noise that had me turning to him with raised eyebrows. He sighed. “He was the school bully back in the day. Had more brawn than brains.”
“Still does,” Thor muttered, sending the cop a nasty look.
Keller continued to watch us, holding his belt like God Almighty. The other cop was talking to Felix, obviously giving him some kind of lecture with how she waved her finger while Felix nodded at her, looking ashamed. Dana stood beside her husband, holding the gun down at her side, pointed to the ground. She seemed to agree with whatever the cop was saying because she nodded her head along with her and glared at Felix with anger. I was surprised she hadn’t combusted into flames with how furious she appeared.
“So that’s it? You’re leaving?” Morgan blinked up at us, the same kind of disappointed expression on his face that Jeanie’d had when Thor told her we were leaving.
Thor’s parents reached us, finally deciding to follow us, and it was Jeanie who answered. “He hasn’t been here for a week and he’s leaving,” she murmured, running her fingers through Thor’s hair like she was brushing out tangles in it.
He waved her off. “Mom, stop.”
“Can you blame me?” Jeanie pursed her lips. “You’ve been gone for eighteen years, Toby. I haven’t heard a spoken word from you. What will bring you back? Another funeral?”
“No.” Thor palmed the back of his neck and sighed. He tugged at the tie knot around his throat until it was loosened. “I’ll come back when I’m ready.”
“You’ll never be ready,” she whined, and it might be true. A few days here made Thor look ten years older. He’d been through a range of emotions I didn’t know he had until now. When we hit the Californian border, this gentle man would disappear, leaving a ruthless killer who sold drugs, weapons, and cheap booze.
“Maybe I won’t be, but I’ll keep in contact.” He curled his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek again. “I promise.”
“Once a week,” she demanded, and I had to give her credit, she had balls. Maybe that’s where Thor got his fire from because I was starting to feel like it didn’t come from his father. Colonel watched us all meticulously with nonchalance, a carefully constructed façade that didn’t tell us a thing about what he was thinking.
“Once a week,” Thor agreed, finally letting her go to glance at his father. “What about you? Do you want to hear from me?”
Colonel’s eyes darkened and his mouth pressed into a thin line. They shared a look for a long moment that seemed to drag on forever before Colonel finally nodded sharply. The tension around his lips released and there was a semblance of a smile, but not much of one. “Yes.”
Thor held out his hand and Colonel took it in a short shake.
“Take care of yourself,” he said, letting go of Thor’s hand. His gaze slid to me and he nodded. “And you.”
I thought of some very smart-ass comments to answer with, but decided to just smile in thanks because this was Thor’s father. I wanted his family to like me.
A drop of rain landed on my cheek, cold and startlingly wet, and I cringed as I wiped it off my skin.
“What is with this place and raining?” I grumbled.
Jeanie laughed. “Welcome to the Washington coast, sweetheart.”
“I’m never moving away from Cali.”
We all laughed.
