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“Morning. Glad you could join us.”
“Shannon, this is Mack. Mack, Shannon,” Crash made the introductions.
Mack’s eyes swept over her. “So, you’re hiding out, huh?”
Her eyes lifted to Crash’s as he stood above her. He
nodded, indicating she should answer. He’d already told her downstairs that he’d talked to Mack. He watched her gaze drop, and she turned back to Mack. “Yes, I suppose that’s what you could call this.”
He nodded. “How long’s that gonna work?”
“He should be leaving the country in a couple of weeks. If I can just lie low until then…”
“What do your parents know?”
“They know I’m okay, but they don’t know where I am.”
“And the missing person report?”
“I’m not sure. I’m guessing my father was trying to force my hand and make me return.”
“He offered a reward for you. A big one. You know about that?”
Crash hadn’t heard that part of the report, and he knew Shannon hadn’t either. He looked down at her, studying her reaction to that news. She looked a little shaken.
“No. I didn’t.”
“Your father know about your fear of this guy?” Mack cut straight to the heart of the matter.
She swallowed. “Well, he knows, he just doesn’t agree that there’s any need for concern. He thinks I’m overreacting and being ridiculous.”
Mack puffed on his cigar, his eyes intense on her. “Um-huhm.”
Crash stared down at Shannon, and her eyes lifted to him. He looked over at Mack. “We done here?”
“Yeah.” He stood up, tossing his cigar over the edge into the alley. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.” And then he moved toward the door.
Shannon’s eyes swung back to Crash. “Tomorrow?”
“Let me walk him out,” he answered, without answering. He walked Mack inside. Wolf and Red Dog were leaning against the island, waiting.
“That story’s full of more holes that a slab of Swiss cheese,” Mack stated, turning back to him.
Crash grinned. “Yeah. You’re right. But it’s the only one she’ll give any of us.”
Mack grunted. “Women.” He turned to Wolf and Red Dog. “Let’s go.”
They all stepped onto the elevator. Mack paused before closing the gate and turned back to Crash. “You do realize the boys are gonna be fallin’ all over her tomorrow, right?” He nodded back toward the roof and Shannon. “So, you better decide if you’re goin’ there or not. Don’t need you beating every motherfucker that looks twice at her to a pulp. You get me?”
“I get you.”
Mack slammed the gate closed and descended. Crash punched in the code to raise the door. After they rode out, he closed it again. Then, grabbing the half empty coffee pot, he returned to the roof and Shannon.
She sat staring out at the horizon, and he wondered what was going through her head. Pausing next to her chair, he held the pot aloft. “Warm it up?”
She nodded. “God, yes.”
He grinned, topping her mug off. Then he moved to the chair Mack had vacated and picked his own mug up off the ground and refilled it. Setting the empty carafe down, he leaned back, raising the steaming mug to his mouth.
