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“Who knows?” He waves off the question. “Back in the police cruiser, maybe, or still in the pocket of that dirty cop we talked to.”
The sound of my teeth grinding can probably be heard by the people staying in the room next to ours. “How in the hell are we supposed to get these damn things off if you don’t have the key?”
“Oh, that’s not a problem. I’ll pick the lock in the morning once we’ve both had a good night’s sleep.”
“You’ll pick the lock right now,” I demand and glare at him, expecting immediate action.
“Or?”
“What do you mean, ‘or’?” I snipe.
“Or what will happen if I don’t pick the lock to the handcuffs?” he asks, sounding genuinely curious.
I open my mouth to spew a list of threats that will have him shaking in his worn cowboy boots when he speaks again. “I mean, it’s not like you can get up and leave.” He thinks about that for a minute. “Well, unless I decide to go with you, but that just might ruin your big, dramatic exit.”
“I don’t need to go anywhere to make you regret this,” I say, teeth clenched.
“That’s true,” he agrees. “I suppose with a couple button presses you could, what, ruin my identity?”
I nod.
A wide movie star smile spreads across his face. “What’s that old saying? There’s no such thing as bad publicity. That goes double for a thief. You’d be helping build my reputation as the legend I’m meant to be.”
I swear I can feel my blood steaming in my veins.
“Or maybe you’ll just do what you did to Johnny when he pissed you off—hide and block his porn.”
Why hadn’t I thought of that? Jeb has me off my game. I could so do that.
“Except I’m not much for porn.”
“Yeah, right,” I say.
“Really,” he says, that dangerous spark back in his eyes.Just like a snake’s rattle,I remind myself. “Why watch other people having sex when you can just have it yourself?”
I start yanking at the handcuff again. “Get me out of these damn things.”
“Hey, hey,” Jeb says in a soft voice while he pulls his hand high enough so I can’t yank against him anymore. “Take it easy. These things can tear up your wrists bad if you fight against them.”
I can’t help wondering just how he found that little fact out. Was it from being arrested, or was he playing games with his legions of lovers?
“Look,” he says. “I’m just being solution-based here. These are just a little trust builder.” He shakes our wrists, causing the cuffs to jangle. “They’re insurance on my good behavior.”
“Good behavior and your name don’t belong in the same sentence,” I grumble, covering up the shame I feel for accusing Jeb of being untrustworthy.
Jeb made it clear from the beginning of working with our crew he wasn’t in it for the same reasons we were—to take down the Reivers and, now that they’ve been neutralized, Patriots Now. He wanted money—and lots of it—and to pull big, showy jobs that would earn him the status of a ‘criminal legend’. Still, he’d risked his life and freedom right along with us and hadn’t bolted when it looked like we were on the losing side of our war with the Reivers.
It was wrong to tell him I didn’t trust him. And that’s why instead of fighting all night about the damn handcuffs, I give in to him.
He only looks a little smug when I concede.
“I’ll sit with you for two hours while you do all your video scrubbing. Then we eat a little dinner and we go to sleep. You’ll be free of me before you know it.”
With a defeated sigh, I go back to scouring every video feed I can find while he sits next to me. He props his arm next to mine so I can still type while he watches some hockey game with the sound off. I thought I wouldn’t be able to concentrate with him beside me, but as soon as I became used to the tempting sensation of being so close to him, I relaxed into my work. The sound of his breathing is way more comforting to me than white noise has ever been.
An alarm sound startles me. I look up. It’s coming from Jeb’s watch. “That’s two hours,” he says. Then using the handcuffs as leverage, he pulls me away from my laptop and then closes its lid.
“Hey,” I yell. “I wasn’t done.”
