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His question steers me away from my train of thought. “We? Got a rat in your pocket?”
“I know you’re up in age, but I don’t think you rate dad jokes until you’re an actual dad.”
“How do you know I don’t have a kid?” I raise an eyebrow.
“Wait, do you?” Griffin scratches his head.
“No. Not that I know of.”
“Then my statement remains.” Griffin shrugs when we reach the garage, angling his body in front of the metal door and preventing me from exiting the stairwell. “Now, tell me where we are going first.”
“You can go wherever you want to, but I’m going by myself.” I can’t let Griffin know that I have a soft spot for Natalie anymore than I can explain why it matters so much that I do this on my own.
“And how are you going to explain it to Mason?”
That is not such an easy question to answer, and it brings me up short. Mason isn’t the kind of guy who wants to be coddled. I don’t know many men who do.
It isn’t coddling him to keep this information to ourselves for now. He’s already too intimately involved in this mission. There are too many conflicting emotions, all of which would only serve to muddy the waters and make the job infinitely more challenging. We can’t afford it.
That doesn’t mean I want to lie to his face. He’s already been through so much, going back well before this most recent situation. There he was all this time, believing both of his parents died in that wreck. Now he knows it was only his father who lost his life—and rather than be happy his mother is still alive, he discovered how twisted and determined she’s become to destroy him. Why? That’s anybody’s guess.
“Well?”
Standing before me, Griffin folds his arms, wearing a smirk. The arrogant little prick. He was shitting his diapers while I was on the other side of the world,
making it possible for him and his family to sleep soundly at night.
“I’ll tell him I have a lead, and that’s it. He doesn’t need to know anything else yet.” I push him aside and open the door to the garage, growling but unsurprised when he follows.
“I’m sure that will go very well for you.”
“What’s the alternative? Are you trying to tell me you have a better way?” I look him up and down, snickering when he falls in step beside me.
His eyes narrow to slits. “I’m telling you, I can sell it better than you can. You’ve got that whole concerned dad thing going on, and it’s not working at a time like this.”
Again with the dad bullshit. “Your shtick is getting old.”
“It’s not shtick if it’s the truth, which it is.” His jaw tightens when our eyes meet, and I know I’m backed into a corner before he opens his mouth. “I can call him and give an excuse he’ll buy, or I can go to him and tell him you’re visiting these locations so he can have you tracked. Either or. It’s up to you.”
“What do you get out of this?”
“It matters to me that she’s brought back safe.”
“And you don’t trust me to make sure that happens?”
I know he wants to make another old man joke. I can practically hear the gears turning in his head. Something stops him, and he clears his throat. “It has nothing to do with trust. But… I know her. And on the off chance she’s truly fucked in the head thanks to whatever Beverly planted in her brain. It might be smarter to have me there than to have me stay here. I might be able to get through to her.”
A strange heat blooms in my chest. What is he implying? Are they closer than I suspected? He wouldn’t do anything as stupid as that, would he? He has to know Mason would flip his shit.
Though Natalie is a grown woman with a mind of her own. A mind I happen to be fascinated by.
“Fine. Call him but make it quick. Don’t tell him anything he doesn’t need to know.”
“I sure am glad you’re here to tell me what to do. Maybe you can help me wipe my ass later. I’ve been having some difficulty with it.” The arrogant little prick sets my teeth on edge, but I brush off the irritation in favor of climbing into my truck while he places the call.
“No, it’s just a possible location,” Griffin insists as he joins me. “It makes a lot more sense for us to go and check it out thanfor you to possibly waste time. You’ve got other shit going on, God knows. Let us handle this.”
He puts Mason on speaker so I can hear him growl loud enough for the sound to fill the cab. “I want updates. Regular ones.”
