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Eric shook his head. “I doubt he’d get along with my cat.”
“You have a cat?”
“Yeah.”
“I was going to bring Hope to your house.”
Eric shrugged. “Tubby will just ignore her. He’s too lazy to give her any trouble.”
“Have fun.” Lance smirked as he disappeared out the door.
I checked the antique mantle clock that sat on a shelf in the kitchen area. I couldn’t remember if I’d wound it the night before, but the time it showed matched my estimate based on the sun. “We need to get moving. I wanted to get to your house while it was still dark.”
“That’s why you were rushing me.”
“If we arrive early enough, there won’t be many people out. I’d rather no one know I’m there, at least at first.”
“What about Hope? People will see her.”
He was right, and I hated that I hadn’t thought of that. I wasn’t sure my brain was fully functional yet even after a good night’s sleep. Eric had truly wrecked me with his responsiveness.
“I really don’t think Dax would mind if she stayed with one of your cousins as long as she’s well taken care of.”
Dax had trusted her to me, but I suspected it was just a ploy to get me out of the bayou. I hadn’t asked him, though. He would just have denied it, and I liked being useful, even if I’d never admit it to Dax.
“Fine. I’ll see if Corbin and Beau can keep her with them.”
“Lance said she loves being at the shop.”
I frowned. “Dax won’t like that. It’s too dangerous.”
“Don’t you mean Travis won’t like it?”
“Dax doesn’t like anything that makes Travis worry.”
Eric smiled. “It’s obvious they love each other.”
I sighed. “Yeah, it is.”
I was happy for my twin. He deserved everything he had with Travis, but I was used to having him at my beck and call, and now he was… Travis’s. It was strange.
We managed to make it to Eric’s house before it was fully light. We used my bike to get to where he’d parked his truck the day before. I let Eric drive this time so I could keep a low profile. He pulled into his garage, and I didn’t get out of the truck until the door closed behind us.
Lance was arranging for someone to retrieve my motorcycle and deliver it to the woods behind Eric’s house. It would be good to have a second vehicle no one knew about.
As soon as Eric opened the door into the house, a fat orange cat jumped down from the kitchen table and raced toward us. Eric bent and scratched his ears as he twined around Eric’s legs, purring loudly.
“You should have told me you had a cat waiting for you when we left for my cabin.”
“Would you have brought me home if I’d told you?”
“No, but I would have had someone take care of your cat.”
“Tubby has an automatic feeder, and I always leave him plenty of water. I never know when something is going to take me away for a long time.”
“You could have brought him to the safe house.”
“I was never going to agree to let you hide me away.”
He shouldn’t be hidden away at all. He should be able to be exactly who he was. He deserved someone who could care for him like a real boyfriend and someone who could stand up for him if anyone in his parish gave him shit.
You could be that person.
No. I didn’t deal well with people, especially ones I couldn’t shoot at.
Eric checked Tubby’s food and water, then scooped him up and gave him a kiss. The cat was so docile he just flopped in Eric’s arms and even allowed his belly to be kissed.
Eric opened his pantry and grabbed a bag of cat treats. “You want to give him a treat?”
“Will that make us friends?”
“He’d likely be your friend anyway, but—”
I held out my hand for the little bag. As soon as I opened it, Tubby came running, tail straight up. I offered him several of the little morsels, and he bumped his soft face against my hand and purred. I scratched his ears. “We’ll get along just fine.”
“If you’re not careful, he’ll expect you to pet him all day while I’m gone.”
“Gone where?”
“To work. I’m supposed to be at the station in thirty minutes.”
“You think you’re just going to run around the parish unprotected.”
“I’m here to do my job. What’s the point of me being here instead of in a safe house if I’m not going to turn up for work?”
You’re here so I can be the one keeping an eye on you. “Call in sick.”
“No.”
He’d be too vulnerable. I couldn’t lose him. “Just for today. Give me a chance to do some recon to see if I think Carlotti is aware you’ve been staking out his drop-off point.”
