Well, fuck it. If I was stuck with a bodyguard to keep me from going anywhere, then the fucker was going to be stuck with me too. Whatever that meant. Oh, yeah. I was going to go about my day like normal. And by that, I meant be annoying as fuck. I wondered how much he liked reality TV shows. I just had to find the right one. Cooking? No, that could be a hobby of his. He seemed like the type. Some kind of dancing one! I would have said one of those stupid romance ones, like the one with the rose, but I had a feeling he might drool over the women. And I knew enough to know that some of those pool scenes got a little sexy. So that was out for sure. But some kind of dancing one, yeah, that would do it.
I grabbed a bottle of nail polish from the bathroom and walked back into the living room. I sat down as if he wasn’t even there. Between the smell of the polish and the TV show, he should be hating this gig in about five minutes.
“That shit stinks,” he said with a hateful look in my direction.
“Well, what else do you want me to do?” I asked him with a blank stare. “I can’t go anywhere and I’ve needed to fix my nails for like a week now. So I figured this was the perfect time to catch up on my shows and make myself pretty.”
He sucked in a furious breath through his nose but said nothing else.
After three episodes,Iwas done. How did people watch this shit? I mean the dancing wasn’t all that horrible even if it wasn’t really my thing, but all that shit in between each routine, it was only time filler. Three episodes were all it took for me to hate reality TV. Not that I could let it show.
“I’m going to take a nap,” I declared as I stood up.
After a minute of receiving no reply, I headed off to the bedroom.
As quietly as I could, I started pulling out all the important things I wanted to take with me, praying the whole time that there weren’t cameras to catch me. I made sure to keep it to a minimum. Some clothes. My box of pictures and mementos. Toothbrush. Yeah, that was about it. Now, I just needed something to put it all in.
Knowing I didn’t have anything, I started looking in Ray’s closet. As I searched, I happened to come upon some money hidden in the back of his dresser drawer. It wasn’t all that much, but what the hell, he owed me. Without even an ounce of regret, I swiped it and continued looking for something big enough to put all my shit in. The best I could come up with was a vinyl garment bag. It was better than nothing.
I unzipped it so slowly that I thought I was going to die. I didn’t want to take the chance that Glen could hear anything and get suspicious. Once I had everything tucked away, I zipped it up just as slowly. Then I stowed it under the bed for when the time came.
With nothing else to do, I took a nap. I had to make it look real after all. I also figured that if I gave it some time, then I’d know if someone was watching. There was no way that people like Ray could let that kind of thing slide. If he really didn’t trust me, then the first sign that I was disloyal would set him off and he’d make a move.
I just needed a little time to think, to come up with a plan. I’d find a way out because that was what I did best.
-8-
Silas
It was hard not to call The Hunter and demand an update. I’d known him for years and so I knew how he worked. There wouldn’t be any contact until he had “the package” and was ready to deliver it. Hell, most of the time he’d just show up without calling. However, things with me were a little different. Most of the time I wasn’t trying to recover someone. I was trying to track down someone to end them.
So with nothing to do and no contract at the moment, I was going a little out of my mind.
“Ah, fuck it,” I mumbled as I pulled out my phone and dialed the asshole.
“Just because you don’t have a job right now doesn’t mean that I got time for your shit,” he answered right away.
“I missed your sweet voice too,” I told him with humor in my tone.
“I know why you’re calling and I don’t have anything to tell you.”
“Nothing at all?”
His heavy sigh was so hard it sounded like he was in a tornado for a split second.
“She’s gone off the grid. It’s going to take a lot more digging and footwork. I’ll find her, it’s just going to take some time. And I can’t work if I’m having to answer stupid phone calls.”
He wasn’t a people person so I didn’t take his attitude and irritation to heart. I’d known him for years and was all too familiar with his attitude by now.
I was silent for a moment. I didn’t like his answer and I was fighting to keep my mouth shut about it. I reminded myself to be thankful that he was helping me, even if I was paying him to.
“I have a lead,” he finally said in a tone that sounded slightly resigned. “I’m on my way to check it out now. And don’t even think of asking, I’m not telling you a damn thing.”
Yeah, I knew better. But that didn’t stop the anger from trying to break free with its demand to know everything. It was a good thing that I had years of experience controlling my emotions. It sure came in handy at a time like this.
“I don’t need to tell you—” I started only to be cut off by him, no surprise there.
“Yeah, I got it. I really do. But if you want me to do this, then you need to let me do it my way. Have I ever let you down?”
