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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
When Perry got to the convalescent home the next afternoon, Nick was dressed and ready to leave. “I get the feeling that no matter what I say to you that you’re leaving anyway,” Perry said.
“You’re right,” Nick said and Jap laughed.
“And you shouldn’t be encouraging him, Jap,” Perry said sternly. “Nick, you’ve been shot twice in the chest. You should be dead now.”
“Maybe I’m just hard to kill,” Nick said.
“Or maybe you’re just lucky to be alive. You need to rest, give your body the time it needs to heal properly.”
In spite of his objections, Nick walked out of the home, only after he promised to go straight home and get some rest. But Nick had other ideas. “You want me to take you home?”
“No. I got a few stops to make first. Then you can take me home.”
After he did what he had to do, Nick and Jap arrived at JR’s. When they got there, the club employees who were getting ready to open the club gave him a round of applause. Once he was finished with his well-wishers, Nick headed for the liquor room. He knocked on the door and startled Danielle. “Did I scare you?”
“No, just caught me off guard. Nobody ever knocks. They just walk in and start talking.” Danielle fought the urge to jump out of her chair and hug him. She was just that glad to see him.
“You mean like I usually do?”
“Yeah.” Danielle smiled. “So I see you’re all right.”
“Just got out today.”
Danielle’s smile grew. “And you came to see me?”
“I wanted to say thank you for taking me to Perry,” Nick said and sat down in the chair next to Danielle.
“Yeah, well, what was I supposed to do, stand there and scream like an idiot?”
“You could have, but you didn’t. You saved my life.”
“I think Perry deserves that credit more than me. All I did was drive the car.”
“By the way, did you get the blood out?”
“Yes I did.”
“How much did it cost you?”
“Nothing. Rain told me to take it to a place called Clay’s Garage. They were able to get most of it out. Only reason I can see it is because I’m looking for it.”
Nick took a box out of his pocket. “This is just my way of saying thank you,” he said and handed the box to Danielle.
“What’s in it?”
“Open it.”
Danielle opened the box. There were keys to a car and a stack of bills. She took out the keys and looked at them. “These are Volvo keys.”
“A Volvo XC90 to be exact; that and ten thousand dollars.”
“Ten thousand dollars!”
Nick stood up. “Just my way of sayin’ thank you.”
At that point, Danielle could no longer contain herself. She jumped up from her chair and gave Nick a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Ouch.”
