Simon cursed and rubbed his eyes. His bear was not happy. Anyone that reckless would be a liability in the backcountry, particularly in late summer as all the wildlife started preparing for winter. She could get herself or someone else killed. Or Simon would end up spending twenty hours a day trying to keep her alive. "Why did she turn to you, old man?"
Tate reached for his own beer. "Fuck you, dude, I'm eight months younger than you." He ran a hand over his shaved head, though, and shrugged. "I was doing a side gig a couple of months ago and we crossed paths. That's not important."
Sure it wasn't. Simon shook his head. Some things never changed, and Tate was one of them. Always running both ends against the middle. If he hadn't saved Simon's life at least twice, Simon would have packed it in that second and gotten the hell out of town — without the girl. As it was, he reached over the bar for a bottle of whiskey, catching Rosie's attention so she could add it to his tab. The bartender watched the girl connecting things, clicking away on a laptop that appeared out of the backpack, and giving orders to Ethan and suddenly also Cooper — and both men looked a little confused as to why they obeyed her commands.
He tried to hide a smile. Maybe having the kid around would be good for his guys. They were all bears and could get a little aggressive if cooped up together for too long. If the girl could hold her own, she might be a calming influence. Maybe. Simon sighed, aware that Tate watched him closely. "So if it's not important how you know each other, why is she here? They can connect you two, I'm guessing, so you need to stash her?"
"Yeah." Tate made a face and rubbed the back of his neck. "Just a couple of weeks. I know some feds, they're building a case against Castellano. She's provided most of the evidence so far. I just need her to lay low for a couple of weeks until they can put this guy and his people away, then she can go into witness relocation or something. She'll be out of your hair soon enough. I just need her to stay alive for the next month."
"And you think sticking a city kid, without the sense God gave her, in the middle of bear country is going to keep her alive?"
Tate grinned as he slapped Simon's back. "That's where you come in, brother. I figured if anyone can keep her alive, it's you."
Simon massaged his temples. The whiskey definitelydidn't help. He needed a baseball bat to the brain for Tate's plan to seem like a good idea. A shower of sparks exploded across the other side of the bar, and the smell of burning wires nearly short-circuited his brain. He lurched to his feet to grab her away from the danger, but the girl jumped up, a little wild-eyed, and wiped her hands on her jeans. She muttered, "I'm fine," as Ethan tried to drag her away from the dicey socket, and instead she crouched in front of it again.
"So apparently she isn't a genius with electricity?"
"Everyone has their shortcomings. Just keep her away from the generators, okay?" Tate glanced at his watch and started to stand. "She won't admit when she's in over her head. I appreciate the help, man. I've got to get on the road, though."
Simon eased to his feet as well, shaking his friend's hand once more. "It's good to see you, Tate. Stay safe, you hear me? And we'll see you in a couple weeks."
"No worries, brother." Tate grinned, slapping his shoulder, and strode over to speak to the girl. Simon didn't try to overhear, and Ethan and Cooper shuffled back a few steps to give them the appearance of privacy.
The girl looked a little panicked once more as Tate squeezed her shoulder and turned away, though she clamped her lips together as he left. Simon followed Tate outside to get a small suitcase from his car, throwing it into the back of the ancient Range Rover. Tate hesitated next to his rental car, keys flashing in his hand. "She's a little odd, Simon, but she's a good kid. A nice kid. And she's had a rough time of it. You don't live your entire life inside a computer without good reasons, right? And I told her to stay off her personal accounts and not to call anyone she knows, in case MobileCorp can track her, but it's going to be tough. Just — be gentle with her. She might be useless in the woods but she'sfucking brilliant with numbers and computers and all kinds of shit."
"I won't hurt her," Simon grumbled, a little irritated Tate felt he had to say it. "Of course I won't. She'll be fine. Just wrap that case up as quickly as possible. It's hunting season and I don't think I have enough orange reflectors to keep her alive in the woods."
Tate grinned, about to retort, when another crackle and shout came from inside the bar. The lights flickered and a cloud of smoke drifted out of the bar as Cooper leaned through the door, sighing. "Uh, boss —"
"Got it." Simon gave Tate a sideways look. "We're even, though. I think she's going to be more work to keep alive than I was."
"I don't know about that, brother. You did some pretty stupid shit back in the day." Tate laughed as he swung into the rental car. He waved as the car peeled out of the parking lot, and Simon shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched the brake lights disappear into the night.
Then he trudged back into the bar, already rubbing his temples. So much for a nice, quiet summer at the lodge.
2
ZOE
The second electrical shock really did it. As if Zoe didn't feel bad enough about being in the middle of freaking nowhere in the middle of the night, her fingers hurt as well. Which made typing a real bitch.
She waved away the three burly dudes who tried to drag her away from the junction box. "No, I'm cool. It's almost —"
"Leave it," a deep voice said, and her heart seized up. The biggest dude, like a freaking mountain, appeared close by and his giant hand closed around her elbow to carefully draw her away from the wires. "The wiring around here is old school, you're going to get yourself killed."
"There isn't enough power to —" She leaned enough to flip a switch and the whole box hummed. She laughed in triumph, pulling away from the guy who made her stomach flutter, and checked the router as it re-set. "Awesome. Wifi."
She grinned at the older lady behind the bar, who eyed Zoe as if she were a moderately dangerous animal, and then turned to check the approval of all the dudes. Now they had wifi. They could join civilization. Instead they just looked wary. "See? It's —"
But the big dude with the dark hair and neatly-trimmed beard looked like he had a headache, not even a trace of gratitude on his face. He reached for her arm once more and tugged her away from the wiring and equipment. "Great. I'm sure Rosie appreciates it. It's late, though, and we should get going."
She set her heels, heart in her throat. Tate trusted these guys, and this guy in particular, but that didn't mean Zoe wanted to walk blindly into the dark with him. Not that she really had any other choice. She hadn't seen much of this town when they drove in, since there weren't any street lights, but she'd put dollars to donuts there wasn't even a no-tell motel. "Where?"
"To the lodge." He kept hold of her arm as he knocked his knuckles on the bar and spoke to the bartender. "Thanks, Rosie. We'll settle up next week?"
"Any time, hon." The older woman glanced at Zoe and tilted her head at the router. "Thanks for the wifi, chickie. You need anything, call here and ask for Rosie."
"Th-thanks," Zoe managed to stutter, flailing on the end of the big guy's grip as he picked up her backpack and headed for the door. She tripped over her own feet trying to keep up, a little more nervous as three guys followed them outside, but she didn't take her eyes off the backpack. Her retirement plan, or at least part of it, was in there, bouncing against the mountain's broad back. "You don't live here? In — town?"
