Page 18 of Phantom
“From where?”
Tess shook her head. “Nope. I’m not telling you anything until you answer some of my questions.”
“What questions?”
“Come on. I made coffee. Let’s have a chat.” She waved a hand before disappearing from the doorway.
I scrubbed behind Lockjaw’s ear as an apology for disrupting him, then I moved him over so that I could climb out. He grunted, peeked a single eye open, and then settled back into sleep. Once I was out of bed fully, I could see some folded shirts and pants on the desk in the room. Whether Tess had snuck a peek at my tags or just guessed at my size, I didn’t care. I grabbed the top shirt and pair of jeans and took them down to the bathroom. I took a brief but welcome hot shower, donned myself in the fresh clothes, and went out to the living room.
Tess was sitting at her kitchen island with a breakfast sandwich on a plate in front of her, and there was an identical one with a cup of steaming coffee sitting next to it. I stood motionless for a minute, just staring at the scene. Tess was scrolling through her phone. Lockjaw had no doubt followed the smell of bacon out into the living room and had been rewarded with a couple of pieces in his dog bowl. The morning Arizona sun glinted in through the front window and cast an angelic glow around the room. What a life that could be. I wouldn’t mind waking up to Tess every day, starting my mornings with her smiling at me, enjoying a hot breakfast before climbing on our bikes to take a ride in the heat. Some people wanted millions of dollars, a big house, or fancy cars. Me? I’d be happy with just this. This with no worries of Luther hunting me down or not knowing how Caid was feeling. Just this.
Tess finally looked up with a raised eyebrow. “You gonna stand there all day? It’s gonna get cold.”
It was enough to shake me loose. I continued through the living room and over to the other barstool and sat down. “Thanks for the breakfast and the clothes.”
“You’re welcome for the food. Clothes were actually my dad.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
Tess chuckled. “I was just as shocked as you were. He was here bright and early, dropping off a bunch of tools so that you two can work on the bikes later on. Brought the clothes, too. Said he could tell you needed ’em.” She gave a little shake of her head. “He really seems to have taken a shine to you.”
“I don’t know what I did.” I took a bite of the sandwich and let the salt of the melted cheese and bacon wash over my tongue.
“I don’t either, but I wouldn’t waste it. Trust me when I say, Nick Squared is a good man to have on your side.”
“I believe it.” I took a quick sip of my coffee before continuing. “So. You said you had questions?”
Tess took the last bite of her sandwich and then turned to face me properly. She kicked a foot out, and it slid briefly across my leg. Her ability to tease was unparalleled. Never mind being careful around Taylor and the other Knights. Tess was the real trouble that I had to keep an eye on.
“You gonna tell me why you’re being hunted?”
My heart slammed a little harder in my chest. “I told you, I don’t know.”
“And I told you that I don’t believe you.” She crossed her arms. “Your urgency to get out of here, the fact that you stayed on the run so long when you were in such bad shape, and you taking out the other prospects without so much as a scratch. I ain’t dumb, and I’d prefer you not treat me like I am.”
I sighed. She had me pegged. It was stupid of me to think I could pull the wool over her eyes. She’d always been smart and observant. I calculated the risk of telling Tess everything, even about where I’d come from. Would she believe me if I told her I wasn’t running with the Unchained Dogs anymore? That I truly picked her because I trusted her, and not because I was trying to get one over on the Steel Knights?
“Fine.” I turned to face her, too. “Here’s the truth.” Tess took a deep breath, almost as if she knew she wasn’t going to like what I had to say. “I stole some money. A lot of it.”
Tess raised an eyebrow. “How much?”
“Fifty grand.”
“Jesus!” she yelped. “For what?”
“For Caid.”
She calmed a little. “So, the experimental treatment in Germany. That’s all true?”
“Yes. He was getting worse by the second and was running out of time. The doctors here all said he wasn’t gonna make it, but one of them recommended this treatment in Munich. Hadn’t been verified yet, but it had a ton of success. He…” My throat burned a little as I thought of my poor brother, scared and weak in a hospital bed, strung up worse than Pinocchio. “He had asked me to kill him. He didn’t want to be alive anymore. He was in so much pain.”
Tess reached a hand forward and settled it on my cheek. That time, her actions weren’t seductive, only comforting. “I can’t imagine.”
“It was his last hope, but I didn’t have that kind of money. So, I stole it.”
“From whom?” Tess asked.
Even if she believed that I was uninvolved with the Unchained Dogs, the truth was too intense to share just yet. “From where they keep lots of money.” Half-truths had been working so far.
