AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He ripped open the envelope and read the card.
Hope you’re enjoying your mountain getaway.
He crumbled it in his fist, pulled open the cabinet under the sink and threw the flowers and the card in the garbage. He stood in the kitchen as his mind spun with all kinds of scenarios. None of them good. He rechecked the locks, shut off the lights and sat in the living room chair giving him full view of the front and back doors. He had no doubts about the extent Marita would go to get her own way.
* * *
Something touchedMamba’s shoulder and his hand instinctively reached for the gun in his lap.
“Mamba?” Mandy’s voice broke threw the fog in his sleepy brain.
His head jerked up and he stared into Mandy’s confused face. “What time is it?”
“Seven. I got up to use the bathroom and you weren’t in bed.” She motioned to him sitting up in the living room chair with his gun resting on his thigh. “What are you doing?”
He rubbed at his eyes. “I fell asleep.”
“In your clothes, gripping your gun.”
“I ahhh . . . came down for a beer and I must’ve fallen asleep.” Sounded pretty stupid to his ears and Mandy’s confused expression said she felt the same way.
“With your gun in your lap.”
Okay, explain that one, asshole.
He unsuccessfully tried to massage the kink out of his neck. “I thought I heard an animal outside, so I got my gun.” That made absolutely no sense.
“So you slept down here all night because you thought you heard an animal?”
There was no way to make this sound normal without arousing her suspicions so he went with the next best thing.
“Cobra said the kitchen’s fully stocked, so why don’t I go in and fix you a nice big breakfast.” He pushed out of the chair, stuck the gun in his waistband and headed for the kitchen hoping food would distract the pregnant woman from any more questions. A dick move for sure, but he was desperate.
She silently padded behind him.
“When I lived over the Gold Mine me and Rattler cooked breakfast all the time.” He made a show of pulling out the frying pan, opening the fridge, and pulling out eggs, bacon, and English muffins. “Looks like he’s got the fixings for pancakes too if you’d rather have them.”
She stared at him quietly, too quietly.
“So what’s it gonna be—eggs and bacon or pancakes? Or maybe you want all three.”
“You are unbelievable.”
Yeah, that wasn’t meant as a compliment, but he’d ignore the obvious.
“You think I’m unbelievable now, wait till you taste this breakfast.”
“You really think I’m not going to question the fact you didn’t come up to bed last night, or that you sat up all night clutching your gun?” She slammed her fists on her hips and he knew he was done for.
“I was kinda hoping.” He flicked on the burner under the frying pan. “Once you smell bacon sizzling, you’re not gonna wanna think of anything else.”
“Stop patronizing me and treating me like a child, or did you forget my brother ran the most dangerous gang in North Las Vegas? I can smell bullshit a mile away so I want to know what’s going on and I want to know now.”
“Nothing.” He splayed out his hands the way he’d done thousands of times to public defenders, judges, irate girlfriends, but of course Mandy didn’t buy it for one minute.
Her eyes narrowed and she cocked her head daring him to lie to her, but what the hell was he supposed to do? Tell her he heard noises outside and he thought it might be some psycho bitch on his ass because he refused to be part of a human trafficking ring?
“All right, you want the truth?”
