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Yep. We were there now, having to plan in case that happened again.
Jake sighed, laying his head back. “It’s my birthday, okay? I used to cook dinner for my grandma on my birthday.” His shoulders rose and fell. “I kinda feel like we’re more than what we were before. I just wanted to do something special, and the boss isn’t around, so why not? We’re not on the move or anything.”
Once Jake said birthday, Cavers changed his tune. He nodded. “Hey. Yeah. Happy birthday, man.”
“Yeah, man. Thanks.” He saw me looking in the rearview mirror and tried to put a bit more oomph in his smile. “I kinda want to get shitfaced tonight, too.”
“Let’s run that by the boss first.” Cavers hit the turn signal. “We need to go to the grocery store?”
“Considering we only have deli meat and buns at the house, I’m thinking yes.”
Jake was sad, but his wit was still there.
I shot him a grin before turning forward.
Cavers pulled into the local grocery store, but as Jake and I started for the doors, Cavers indicated to the right. “I’m going to grab some other things.”
There was a liquor store.
“Nice.” Jake gave him an approving nod. “Appreciate it.”
Cavers’ mouth twitched in response.
I couldn’t say which small town this was anymore. I lost count after the fifth spot, but I knew if someone came looking, they’d find us. We stuck out around here, which was evident as we walked into the grocery store. Women noticed Jake. A few men, and the bag boys, gave me looks. There was an old lady who harrumphed at me, literally sticking her nose in the air.
I didn’t blame her. My soul was dripping in blood by now.
The gossipy ones alarmed me the most, like the woman who saw us and went right to her phone, typing away.
Jake saw her, too, as he grabbed a cart. “It’s hard not to come into town every now and then.”
I nodded. “We’ll move on probably tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
That was also the pattern.
Once we had to go into town, we moved. Because of that, we tried to do most of our shopping at gas stations, but there were exceptions. Like tonight. I kept hoping for one night where Raize would come back, tell us we were fine for the night, and we could let down our guards. Just for a night.
I wasn’t holding my breath.
“So.”
I looked over.
Jake’s lips had pursed as he pushed the cart forward. He looked at me from the corner of his eye. “You and Raize, huh?”
Oh. Yeah. We’d never talked about that.
“Yeah.”
“You didn’t…” He paused, his head tilting to the side, but he wasn’t looking at me. “You didn’t do that to save my life…” He looked over. “Did you?”
Oh! Whoa.
I shook my head. “No! Oh my God. No. That, uh…”
He was following my statement, bobbing his head up and down. He finished for me, “That started earlier?”
I nodded.
“In Texas?”
We started forward again, and I gave another nod.
He sighed, his hand going to his chest. “Gotta say, I’m relieved to hear that. I mean, you seemed to be attracted to him, but I guess… You just never know in this life.”
My stomach twisted. He’d thought I was faking it for his life? Damn.
“I am attracted to him,” I assured him. “I’m not faking it.”
“That’s good. And, you know, congrats and all.”
I frowned. “Yeah. I guess.”
This was the weirdest conversation… I’m sure I’d had worse, but I wasn’t going to go there. Hella awkward.
“What about you?” I asked.
Jake gave me a wry grin. “Me faking it with Raize for you?”
“No.” I laughed. “You and that woman you talked about. You think Carloni is still keeping her?”
His smile faded and his shoulders slumped. “I don’t know. I’m a romantic, wanted to hold on to something. I hadn’t seen her in months, even before I started working for Raize. Also, I’m pretty sure she and Carloni were sleeping together. Just didn’t want to accept it.” He gave me a considering look. “You know what I mean?”
“What do you think, sis?”
I lost my smile. “Yeah. I do.”
Burgers.
Buns.
Coleslaw.
Chips.
Beans.
Cheese. Ketchup. A1 Sauce. Onions. Lettuce.
Watermelon.
Jake had wanted as close to a genuine barbeque as he could get, and Cavers showed up just as we finished loading the grocery bags into the Suburban. He had a pack of beer under one arm and a brown bag that clinked as he put it next to the food.
Jake shook his head. “Boss isn’t going to let us get drunk.”
Cavers stepped back, ignored him, and shut the back. “Maybe we can plan on the possibility he does?” He swiped the keys from Jake, going to the driver’s side.
Jake and I shared a look.
They could hope, but it was a stupid hope. We all knew that.
37
Raize
A squad car was pulled over on the side of the road a half mile from the house, that pissed me off. Hitting my lights, I turned onto an abandoned road and crawled forward, getting out of sight. Considering we were out in the boondocks and the road was gravel, I doubted he saw me or anyone else going past.
