“Did you just say you loved me?” Anthony’s eyes flew open wide.
She flushed with embarrassment. “I did not! Itolerateyou. Like an annoying cousin who really annoys me, annoyingly.”
He managed a weak smile. “We can’t ask that of you. Your family has its own problems, with Algernon going after your restaurant and all. I’m already taking more food than I should, and I know that you guys can’t afford to pay me, but you do anyway. And I did steal those pies.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she sighed. “It was just food. Tell my mom. If she knew and your brothers were going to be out on the street, and you didn’t ask for help, she’d be very hacked off.”
Then she walked over to the heating grate in the wall, thanking her lucky stars that Austin hadn’t looked there. If he had, she would have been screwed.
She popped the grate off and pulled out her real bag. “I have a bunch of extremely strong doses of sedative in here. Austin thought he stole all my sedative, but I actually had a bag out as a decoy in case he came after me. He just took a bunch of syringes full of water.” She frowned, suddenly feeling uneasy. She was furious with him, yes, but she didn’t want him to die. Had she just set him up to go after Roy thinking he had ammunition that didn’t really exist?
No, he wouldn’t have set out on this mission counting on being able to steal her sedatives. He was taking on this job because he thought his Dominus power would be enough to subdue Roy. He’d told her didn’t plan on using the tranks.
She leaned against the wall, thinking hard. She probably could use the extra help. If she let Anthony come with her, he could drive while she kept an eye on Roy. She’d have the tranqs, she’d make sure that nothing happened to Anthony.
“I will make you a deal,” she said. “You can tag along, if you obey me and do absolutely everything I say. I am not kidding around here. If you disobey me, it will get us both killed. I may need your help getting his unconscious body back to my car, but if at any point I tell you to leave, you leave. If I tell you to run for your life, you run, do not look back, and do not try to help me. I’m a big girl – I can take care of myself. And yes, I’ll give you a portion of the reward. Got it?”
“Hot damn!” His eyes lit up. “Road trip!”
They left the room, and Savannah tried to stifle the sinking feeling that she was making a terrible mistake.
