Page 56 of Hell and High Water

“That’s hardly fair. You all but interrogated me about Hellena.”

“Different.”

“How so? This involves me and could put all of us at risk, especially Hell.”

Gavin gives me a bloodshot side-eye, sending a shiver down my spine.

I give him a few minutes to cool down before prodding. “Come on, Gav.”

“It's… someone I thought was dead. Someone who was supposed to be dead.” His voice is always a rumble, but this time it’s nearly a snarl.

“That's fine if you want to leave it at that. Just let me know if there's any details we need to know in case she decides to drop in to shoot us in our sleep, alright?”

“I just need a minute to process, okay?” Gavin’s gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles are turning purple, the leather creaking like it might snap.

So I lay off, for the time being.

Pulling back into the cave garage, we stash the Jeep and head down to the main house, parking in the back to avoid any prying eyes. As soon as we’re inside, he slams his fist into the workbench, rattling the entire building. “Fuck! I need a fucking drink.”

“I could accommodate that,” I mutter, heading back to my car and fishing the bottle out from under the back seat.

It’s a rare scotch I forgot to take inside, a gift from one of my clients.

“You like scotch?”

“I’ll drink diesel if it will make me feel better right now.”

“Mmm. Delicious. This tastes slightly better.” I nod toward the house, heading into the kitchen and glancing around for glassware.

“Here.” Gavin clacks down a couple of tumblers. “You mind if we stay here tonight?”

“It's probably smarter that we stay put, patch up our wounds.” He gives me a flat look. “My wounds.”

“If you’re okay with it. That way, we can make sure everything's calm and quiet before we drag any more trouble back to the safehouse.”

“Fine by me.”

“I'll shut this place back down and lock everything up in the morning,” he rattles off, more to himself than me, slumping down in his chair, holding his glass for me to fill.

“Probably best if we all stick together from here on out.”

“Fuck yes. And about time. We need to get to Hellena and lock our shit down. Make a plan. Tomorrow.”

“I agree.” Even as the squirming feeling in my stomach threatens to return the contents of my glass.

“Shit.” Gavin slams down his phone, shaking his head. “The signal up there is absolute garbage.”

“I’ve got the new phones in the car. Should fix that problem.”

“Good. Top me off.”

“I’m sure she’s fine with Tell.”

“Yeah, well I’m not.”

We sit in silence for a while, staring at the table.

“I understand you are… struggling with this. Is there anything I can do?” I must sound like an utter fool.

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