Page 21 of You're the Reason

He only had one option and that option was probably a very bad idea.

He stared at his phone for a moment, then pulled up Jon’s number. His cousin answered on the third ring. “Are you ready to say yes?”

“I have a proposition for you.”

“I’m listening.”

“I will help you figure out what to do with your properties, but I want to turn the Lansing warehouse you mentioned into a ninja gym.”

“The Storm is back.”

“No. I don’t want to attach my name to it. The Storm is gone. I just want to run it.”

“I think it’s a great idea, but you may want to look at a few of the other properties. There’s one right in Heritage?—”

“I want the one in Lansing.” It might only be two hours away from Heritage but that should be enough. “It’s better for us both that way.”

“Okay. Deal.” Jon seemed to hesitate a moment, then pushed on. “What about the apartment? I know you don’t want to live in Heritage, but you need some place.”

“How much?”

“Free.”

“I don’t need your charity.”

“It’s just sitting there empty.” When Seth didn’t respond, Jon’s sigh came though the line. “Fifty a month for added utilities.”

“Hundred.”

“The more you save, the sooner you can leave town.”

“Fine. Fifty but I’ll buy my own furniture. Don’t think I don’t know how your mind works.”

“Deal but only if you use the studio below for your weights until you get your ninja gym set up.”

He took in the pathetic amount left in his account. “Deal.”

“So what happened?”

“Happened?” He tossed back the question as if he had no idea what Jon was talking about. “Can’t I have just changed my mind?”

“You don’t have to do life alone, Seth.”

But didn’t he? If Jon knew the condition his mom was in, he probably would rescind the offer.

Jon finally sighed again, his voice tight. “You can pick up the keys at my place.”

“See you in an hour.” Now if he could keep his head down and away from all Howells for the next few months, this might turn out just fine.

four

Only less than forty-eight hours after accepting the job and Seth had already landed in the back of the squad car. Again. Talk about a Monday morning. And it wasn’t just any squad car, the very squad car that hauled him off to the precinct more than once in his life. The first time he’d been picked up, the vehicle had been fresh off the line with a new car smell. Now, there was a fair amount of scratches and dents in the hard plastic seat which, by the smell, had been hosed off with disinfectant not too long ago.

He stared at the open MIM window twenty feet away. Why had he listened to Leah?

“You really want me to break and enter?” Seth had questioned Leah on the phone one more time as he examined the back window of the MIM.

“Preferably just the entering and not the breaking.” The teasing in Leah’s tone hadn’t put him at ease. “It’s easy. If you slide your hand down the left side of the window pane, there should be a nail slightly sticking out. If you pull that out, the window will push open. My grandpa came up with that years ago to keep from getting locked out.”

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