Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Of course you can. That kid needs you to, so you start at the beginning and ignore everything but the step right in front of you.” Jackal’s voice is firm, like when he’s guiding one of the new guys through a job when they get rattled.
Startled, she looks at him with wide, hazel eyes just like Logan’s, and nods. I pull over a stool and nudge her shoulders until she sits.
“What did they tell you to do?” Jackal asks.
“I have to go…” Her voice trails off.
“You have to?” I prompt.
“Identify her.”
Fuck. I’ve been in this life too long to remember how to be gentle. Not like she needs. If it was one of us, I’d get them drunk as a skunk and then point them in the right direction to fuck or fight their way through the worst of the shock. Doesn’t solve everything, shit, doesn’t solve most things, but it sure helps quiet the demons until you’re ready to deal with reality.
But Dakota is so fucking sweet and normal. Her dark hair is pulled up into a bun, held together by hairpins with tiny glittering gemstones on the ends, and there’s a glint of gold around her neck, with a cursive L charm nestled in the hollow of her throat. Just a cute single mom who an hour ago was at work doing her best to get through the day and probably thinking about what to make her kid for dinner, or if the car needs an oil change on the way home.
“Is there anyone you can call to ask for help?” I ask.
“Our father—no.” She shakes her head. “I’ll have to tell him, but I can’t deal with that. Not now. If I have to,” her voice hitches, “to identify Georgia, then maybe it’s not her, right?” Dakota looks up, her eyes pleading. “Do you think? Maybe someone stole her car and—”
“Stop,” I interrupt. “What did Jackal say? Thinking ahead and guessing at shit just makes it harder to focus. Right now, we head to the hospital. When you have the facts, you can decide what the next step is.”
“We?” Dakota asks.
Did she think we’d just toss her and the kid out to the wolves while she looks like she’s hanging on by a thread? “We’ll stick with you until you have this under control.”
We’re between assignments, so we’ve got the time. She might not be one of us, but for now she’s ours.
“Thank you. I feel like I keep saying that, but I mean it. I’m not usually this useless,” she says with a sigh, looking down at her hands and rubbing her thumb over a blood red nail. “I’m going to owe you guys so much after all this.”
A tear slides out from the corner of her eye and down the side of her nose. Jackal brushes it away. She looks up and he leans in and kisses her, not demanding, just enough to make her eyes go wide and her breath stutter. She freezes, and her fingers go to her full lips. If the Reaper makes my next brush with death stick, he’ll be taking me to Hell, because it makes me want to see what else those lips can do.
She blinks up at Jackal in surprise, her cheeks getting pink. “What was that for?”
“Payment. Now we’re even.” He winks.
In spite of the strain on her face, Dakota laughs. “You guys aren’t what I expected.”
“And that’s a good thing?” I ask, curious.
She nods. “Yeah, I think it is.”
I want to keep her here and stretch out this moment so she doesn’t have to do what’s coming next, but that’s not how the world works. I hold out my hand. “Come on, let’s go find Lash and Logan.”
“Okay.” Her slender fingers slip into my palm and she looks up at me like I’m a much better man than I am.
And just to prove I really am an asshole, I’m going to let her keep on thinking that way as long as I can.
5
DAKOTA
Logan can’t stop twisting and turning in his car seat, trying to get a look at the motorcycles following us to the hospital. He’s usually very well behaved in the car, but for the first time I’m a little worried about him deciding to pop the latch on the harness himself so he can get a better look when Lash pulls up beside us on the highway and waves. Logan excitedly waves back and presses his hand against the window. Jackal roars past, taking up a lead position. Logan gasps.
It’s keeping him distracted which I suppose is a good thing, but, “Stop wiggling, Lo! I don’t want to have to pull over and fix the straps.”
He slumps down in his seat with a dejected sigh.
Motorcycle men.
It keeps circling around in my head. What was Georgia thinking? It’s been months since her last visit, and it wasn’t a great one, but not enough to basically kidnap him from pre-school. I’ve never kept her from Logan if she asked. Not once. All she has to do is let me know first. I want to grab her and shake her, and now I’ll never get to do it because she went and freaking died.