“That sounds less than fair,” Leland grumbles.
Why didn’t I get in the other vehicle?
I timidly raise a hand. “Is the other car still an option?”
“Nah, option’s gone,” Leland says as he pulls out onto the road while I glance over at Henry’s car which hasn’t even moved yet. It really doesn’t look like the option is gone.
“We’re both starving. Can you stop for some food?” Tavish asks.
The reminder of food makes my stomach clench hard enough that I briefly forget all about jumping out of the car and running over to the other vehicle.
“I have some dog food that a bear like you would just love,” Leland says. “It’s too good for you, but my pups would be willing to share.”
“That’s fine if you’d like to feed him that, but can I have people food?” I ask hopefully.
“Of courseyoucan.”
Cassel scrutinizes Tavish for a long moment. “So, Tavish… you didn’t look into Ellis before abducting him and throwing him in your trunk?”
Tavish whistles a merry little tune like he can just forget the very important question that I would also love him to answer.
“Tavish?” Leland asks. “I mean… every hitman knows that the first thing you do is closely look into your target so you don’t makeanymistakes.”
“The client fabricated a bunch of shit and it looked really legit. I made a mistake. Ellis knows I’m sorry. And I’m trying to make up for it by doing all of this free of charge, of course.”
“That’s so saaaaad,” Leland says. “I’m so glad I’ve never made any mistakes in my life.” Jackson scoffs but doesn’t say anything until Leland’s head jerks to the right to look at him. “Excuse me, husband, is there an issue?”
“You tied my best friend up while debating whether you should shoot him or not,” Jackson says.
What… the fuck is happening?!
Tavish turns to me. “Being around them always makes me feel more normal.”
“Says the man who chased me up like fifty flights of stairs with a knife,” Leland retorts.
“It definitely wasn’t fifty. Felt like fifty but wasn’t fifty.”
“You saidhechasedyou,” I say.
Tavish starts whistling again as Leland pulls into the drive-through at a sandwich shop. Everything looks so delicious that I find myself wanting the entire menu and quickly forget all about Tavish chasing this man and that Cassel thinks people who eat squirrels are worse than serial killers.
“I… I’m realizing now that I don’t have any money for any of this,” I say. “Is there any way I could pay one of you back? I’m really sorry.”
“You’re so cute. Jackson, look how cute and innocent he is,” Leland says as Tavish, who is also walletless, is over there ordering as much as he can.
“You can order anything you want,” Jackson assures me. “And you will not pay us back a dime. I feel really sorry and guilty after we all just stared at you in that trunk.”
“Leland’s rich, order it all,” Tavish says. “The weasel owes me.”
“Jackson, I changed my mind. What if we tied Tavish up and we took the sleepy guy with us? He can just pretend to be asleepallthe time. It’ll be hilarious,” Leland suggests as Cassel pushes his head out of the way to see the menu better before ordering.
Once we’ve all ordered, Leland pays for everyone, and Jackson hands the food out as Leland drives. The food is the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life. It’s so good, I have to be careful not to overindulge. Every ounce of it is like heaven. I’m so preoccupied by it that I don’t even find it strange when Leland rolls the car up into some secret garage thing before we all pile into another vehicle and are off again.
“This is soooo good. Thank you so much for buying this for me. I really, really appreciate it,” I say.
“You’re almost suspiciously nice,” Cassel announces.
Leland nods. “I’m thinking the same thing. My bet is he’s actually some conniving mastermind pulling the strings.”
