“Nope. I should have. I had a feeling that DODO was after me. But I went against my better judgment because I couldn’t imagine being away from you.” He tried to grab my hand, but I pulled away.
Was he serious right now? “You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes you are. You told me that DODO was an ancient all-powerful organization that was worse than a cartel. You really expect me to believe that they caught you and then just…let you go?”
“Yes. I still owe them a great debt, and I couldn’t exactly repay that debt while sitting in a prison cell in Morocco.”
“Morocco?”
He cleared his throat. “What? I didn’t say anything about Morocco. Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, DODO. They sent me back here so that I could repay my debt. And they specifically warned menotto get distracted.”
“Which means what?” But I had a feeling that I already knew.
“It means dating is off the table for me.”
Then why are you buying me jewelry and whisking me off on a romantic getaway and trying to hold my hand?I almost asked that, but then I realized I didn’t want to hear the answer. He was a crazy person. And I wasn’t here to flirt with him. I was here for Rosalie.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m not really interested in guys either.”Shit!That made me sound like a lesbian. “I mean I’m not interested in a serious relationship. I’m all about that casual sex now. But not with people I know. Strangers only.”Oh God what I am saying?!“Anyway, let’s focus up. What’s the plan for finding info about Rosalie?”
“Well, for starters, you need to change into something more camp-appropriate.”
“I assume that’s what’s in the suitcase?” I asked.
“It is.”
I reached back for my suitcase and someone handed me a bikini.
Wait, what?
I screamed at the top of my lungs. And then the person in the back screamed too.
This Is War - Chapter 17 - Nigel!
Friday – September 22, 2023
“Nigel!” yelled Tanner. “Stop screaming. You’re acting hysterical.”
Nigel?
I looked back. Sure enough, Tanner’s weird little houseboy had taken the place of Tanner’s suitcase. He was dressed in his full butler’s uniform, which somehow was the most normal thing I’d seen him wear. But what wasn’t normal was that he was sitting there at all. Because I swear he hadn’t been a minute ago. “Where the heck did you come from?”
“Hello, Mistress Ash,” he said. “Forgive me for startling you. I would have stayed in the trunk, but it was getting cramped.”
I glared at him. The trunk was exactly where his weird little ass belonged. “Forgive you? I absolutely do not forgive you. You locked me in a Starbucks bathroom and left me for dead.”
“It was for your own safety.”
“There was nothing safe about that bathroom,” I said. “You should have seen the puddle on the floor. It still haunts me…”
“Nigel, is that true?” asked Tanner.
Nigel shrugged. “How should I know if the puddle haunts her?”
“I didn’t mean the puddle. I was asking if you really locked her in a bathroom?”
“I did. So that she’d be safe from DODO.”
