Page 59 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

“You were thorough.”

Though she can’t see me, I nod. “Uh-huh. I got new window wipers. I even found an original owner’s manual on the internet. That’s just for me, because I really,reallywanted it.”

Her soft laughter warms me.

“It’ll turn up in the mail in a week or so, as long as the guy wasn’t bullshitting.”

“How much did you pay for it?”

“Ten bucks and post.”

She snorts. “Ten bucks says you never see that manual.” I lean around the hood and watch her. “You were fleeced, Ang, because anyone that has the original knows it’s worth more than that. Anyone that held onto it for this long knows what he’s got. If I had that manual, you wouldn’t be getting it for ten.”

I go back to my engine and pick up the socket wrench she laid in the bay when I got here. “We’ll see then. Ten dollar wager – I’m doubling down.”

The loud fizz of soda competes with the click, click, click of my wrench and the soft strains of the radio. “So you’re looking to lose your original ten, and post,andthe ten you bet me. Jesus, Ang. Times have changed. You’re ballin’ now.”

I laugh and catch the nut that almost slips through the engine. “Yeah, I’m so much better off now than that punk in the Charger was.”

The car moves a little when Laine climbs down with a grunt, and when I peek around the hood to see where she’s going, I watch her collect the trash and dump them in the bin. Rushing to the sink she started at, she pushes her black sleeves up to reveal that bandage, and pumps soap into her hands. Loose tendrils of her long hair casts shadows over her cheeks as she scrubs.

And scrubs.

Frowns, pumps more soap, and scrubs.

“Laine?”

Her breath comes faster as the bandage turns darker from being wet.

“Hey?” I step back from the car. “Laine?”

“Hang on.” She slides her nails up to the sleeves of her hoodie and scrubs so hard her flesh turns pink. Scratches line her delicate skin, and color rushes to her cheeks. She scrubs so hard, her entire body moves.

Anxiety leeches into the air. From her body, like an invisible cloud, it pushes out until it settles deep in my gut and makes me sick.

“Laine?”

“Wait!”

I step up behind her and lean around to flip off the taps, but the second my chest touches her back, she shoots forward and slams her hips against the sink. She cries out and spins. Tears track over her pale cheeks, and she holds her hands the same way she held them up when she first washed them, warily backing away from me until she can skim along the wall.

Jogging footsteps echo on the stairs, then Jess bursts into the garage with a pale face that matches Laine’s. “Hey.” She grabs her sister and pulls her close, and as soon as Jess tucks her into her chest, Laine’s breath explodes on an exhale. “It’s okay. Relax.” She looks up at me with apologetic eyes. “It’s okay. We’re going to watch a movie. Catch you tomorrow, Ang.”

Almost like she could hear everything I didn’t say, within a minute of my inappropriate thoughts and Laine’s resultant freak out, the garage door is closed and the girls are gone, tucked away in the house.

That’s their home, their sanctuary, and I’m not invited in.

“Ang?”

I spin to the re-opened door. “What the fuck?” I clutch a shifter in my hand and watch Kane close the door and step to the security panel. “How can she stay here with you, with the fuckin’ thug that looks like he’s gonna rob her any minute, but she can’t hang out with me when sheknowsme? She knows me, Bish! We’re family, and Ineversay what I’m actually thinking, but I’m the creep that makes her hands shake? What the fuck?”

“It’s not you.” He turns and sits on the step I ate on earlier. “She’s haunted, Ang. She has nightmares. It’s like she has an internal clock, atolerance levelfor men.” He runs a hand over his face. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You just ran out her clock and now she’s done. You get a clean slate tomorrow.”

We both hear the unspokenmaybe,but he doesn’t dare say it.

“It’ll be okay.” Looking up, his eyes wait for mine before continuing. “That clock timer went a hell of a lot longer than we expected. You had her for ages. You made her laugh. Tomorrow will be better.”

I point my shifter. “That wasn’t a strike.”

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