AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Saving your asses,” Emery said. “Was that unclear?”
Jem opened his mouth, but Tean squeezed his wrist, so he changed what he’d been about to say into “I meant how did you end up here?”
“He also meant to say thank you,” Tean said. “We’re both grateful.”
“We’ve been following those two all day,” John-Henry said.
“Dressed like that?” Jem asked.
With a laugh, John-Henry shook his head. “We thought they were going to the party; we had bags in the car, so we changed.”
“Then I saw your Three Stooges act,” Emery said, “and we had to pivot.”
Tean glanced in the direction the brothers had gone. “Why were they here? Were they coming after us?”
“I don’t think—” John-Henry began.
“Not unless they were staging the worst surprise attack in the history of the world,” Emery said. Then he frowned and added, “If you omit North Korea’s failed gambit in 1950.”
“I will,” Jem said, “but only this time.”
For whatever reason, that made Emery nod.
John-Henry, on the hand, gave Jem a closer look. The blond man was handsome, sure, and on top of the good looks, he carried an air about him—authority, yes, but also a kind of unflappable confidence. Jem’s first thought was businessman—money, and the certainty that, because he had money, the world would shape itself to his liking. Easy pickings, in other words. But the eyes were wrong. John-Henry had cop eyes, and now that Jem knew what to look for, he had a cop look too—the hair, the posture, even something about the way he walked. And right then, those cop eyes were considering Jem with an uncomfortable degree of scrutiny.
“So, you do this for fun?” Jem asked. “Follow shitheels around when you’re on vacation?”
“A surprising amount of the time, unfortunately,” John-Henry murmured. “It seems like we have to leave the country to have a real vacation.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” Emery said. To Jem, he said, “Obviously not.”
“Here’s the thing, though,” Jem said. “We appreciate that you showed up—”
“Saved your asses,” Emery said.
“—and last night, taking the heat from Cassidy, that was righteous. But we don’t know you, and I’m starting to get a little wigged out that you’re so eager to help a couple of strangers.”
“What he means—” Tean began.
“Is it easier to believe that I want to fuck over Jonas for personal reasons?” Emery asked.
John-Henry rubbed his forehead.
“Maybe,” Jem said.
“He was my partner when I was police in St. Louis.” As soon as Emery said it, Jem could see it in him too—the cop eyes, most of all, although his dark hair was longer than most cops, and he carried himself differently than Jem expected. Didn’t act like a cop, a part of Jem’s brain registered, and that sent up a warning flare. “He was dirty. When I confronted him, he dumped it on me. That’s how I ended up in a steaming pile of shit called—”
“Home sweet home,” John-Henry said.
Emery set his jaw and, after a moment, said, “Yes. Precisely.”
“And you?” Jem asked.
“You might not have gotten the vibe yet,” John-Henry said, “but right now, I’m along for damage control.”
Emery snorted, and in spite of himself, Jem cracked a smile. But a moment later, he said, “You’re cops.”
John-Henry fixed those cop eyes on him again, but he had a best-buddy smile when he said, “That’s right.”
