Page 118 of Home With You

"It's better now but I think we'll need to do it in the bed until the swelling goes down. Anyway, as I was waiting in line at the deli, Levi came up to me and said he noticed I was limping."

"That's weird. Why would he care?"

"Because he has a new business." I take the pill from my pocket. "Selling these."

Raine takes it from me, holding it in her palm, checking both sides. "These are what I used to take. The exact same pill." She gives it back to me. "Levi gave you that?"

"Yeah. I didn't want it but it was free and I wanted to show it to you to make sure it was what I thought it was. Levi said if it worked and I wanted more, he'd give me two more free, then after that we'd talk about how much it'd cost to get more. Sound familiar?"

She nods. "Too familiar. Sounds just like the deal Jacob gave me. These guys must all do the same thing."

"I wasn't so sure."

"What do you mean?"'

"The way Levi was watching people on the street, looking for people in pain, approaching me the way he did? It all seemed too similar to the story you told me to be a coincidence."

"You don't think...." Her voice trails off. She doesn't even want to say it.

"That's exactly what I was thinking. So I asked Levi some questions."

Raine shoots up to standing. "You didn't tell him about Rob, did you?"

"Not exactly. Rob's name came up but I didn't link you two together."

She throws her hands up. "Why would you even bring him up? Rob has nothing to do with Levi."

"Actually he does."

Raine slowly sits back down. "I don't want to hear this, do I?"

I take her hand and keep hold of it as I talk. "Levi started working for Rob a few weeks ago. He never met him but they talked on the phone."

"You're sure it was him and not some other guy named Rob?"

"I confirmed the last name. It's definitely him."

"Shit," she mutters.

"I'm not trying to scare you, Raine, but there's a real possibility Rob will be coming back to town. Levi said he'd be coming back to check on him."

Raine shakes her head. "He won't do that. Rob's smart. He wouldn't want to risk being around his sellers in case someone saw them together and connected him to what they were doing. He won't come back here to see Levi."

"He told Levi he would."

"To make him feel special. He did that stuff to people all the time, including me. He'd tell me he was going to take me on a weekend trip, or to dinner at a place I really wanted to go, then when it was time to actually follow through, he'd say he got called away on business or make up some other excuse. He'll do the same to Levi. He won't show up."

"Even if that's true, I want you to be careful. Don't leave here unless I'm with you."

"Miles, I'm not going to sit here all day doing nothing. I won't go out at night but I'm still going to go out during the day. I applied for two jobs today and then I stopped by the place I applied at yesterday and they set up an interview."

"That's great, but Raine, I really don't think you should go anywhere until I do more research on Rob and figure out what he's up to."

"Research?" She rips her hand from mine. "Have you been trying to find stuff out about Rob without telling me? Even after I told you to leave it alone?"

"Yes, but it was hardly anything. I did a quick online search. That's it."

"Dammit, Miles, I told you to stay out of it. Rob is the past. I don't want you going after him and bringing him back into my life."