Page 56 of Himbo Hitman
“Wait.” Lars looks between us. “As much as I’d love to see your sister go off on you, you’re not going anywhere.”
“Of course I am.” Perry picks himself up off the ground andpulls his backpack on. Then he throws me under the bus by waving his finger between us. “We have a deal.”
“A deal that we haven’t finished working out the details on.”
“Whatdeal?” Lars asks, sounding very much like a dad dealing with toddlers. I’d resent the tone, but in this instance, it’s probably fair.
I jump in to explain before Perry … can be Perry. “We’re taking his sister dinner, telling her he’ll be gone for a few days and that she should probably lie low too, then we’re supposed to be going somewhere safe to work out what the hell we do next, but we haven’t figured out where.”
“And that’s why we need to get moving,” Perry says. “We’ll feed them up, make them happy, and then Elle will have the solution for us. She’s very smart and very rich. I’ve never cared much about the rich thing myself because she’s not one of those asshole rich people, but it makes things easier in a pinch. And if you ask me, we’re in a bitmorethan a pinch.”
I look at Lars because it’s not like we have a whole lot of options here. Perry’s right. This is definitely more than a pinch.
“Maybe you should call her back,” Lars says.
Perry looks at Lars like he’s lost his mind, and seeing him give anyone that look is … a choice. “This isn’t the kind of conversation you have over the phone. Over the phone is for things likewhat did you want me to grab for dinnerorhey, your parents have died in a car crash. It’s not for warning your sister you’re potentially highly wanted and need a safe house.”
There’s so much there that I really don’t know what the fuck to tackle first. Lars apparently doesn’t share my confusion.
“You can’t tell her you’re wanted or that you need a safe house.”
“Well, not in those specific words?—”
“Not in any words.” Lars rubs at his curls in frustration. “Look, none of us know anything yet, other than you were set up to kill St. Clare. That still has you as enemy number one in my books, so it’s going to take me some time to come around to this idea that you’re suddenly on our side.”
“Do I look like a killer?” Perry asks.
“No, and St. Clare is determined to trust you, so I have to as well. All I’m saying is that I’m keeping an eye on you, and until we know more, I don’t want to go anywhere or tell anyone anything. How do we know that the safe house your sister comes up with isn’t some kind of trap?”
“You don’t.”
“Exactly.” Lars reaches into the back of his pants and pulls out a gun that he drops on my desk. “I also found this in your bag. Who the fuck takes a gun to work in a cafe?”
“Well, it’s not like I could leave it lying around at home.”
“Why the fuck not? You don’t carry it with you unless you’re expecting to use it.”
Perry sighs, tugging his backpack higher. “It’s not loaded.”
Lars hesitates before checking.
“I don’t leave it at home because my place is notorious for being robbed.”
Mice and being robbed? Where the fuck does this guy live?
“We can’t stay here,” I remind Lars. Even if I didn’t think it was being watched, there are no beds, for one thing, and there’s only so long that we can survive off granola bars.
“What about your parents?” Lars asks.
“I don’t think we can go anywhere near family at the moment.”
I can tell he’s torn. It’s not an easy choice, and when he signed up for this job, neither of us thought it would be actual life and death. We’re way out of our comfort zone, and figuring out what to do isn’t easy. It probably also doesn’t help that I’m running off gut feeling than any kind of actual logic.
“Fine. We’ll visit the sister.” He turns to Perry. “But if you fuck us over, I won’t hesitate to make her pay for your mistake.”
Perry looks like he’s wet his pants. “I have no plans for that to happen. Intentionally.”
Unfortunately, his mistakes by this point are legendary, so that really doesn’t give me much hope.
