Page 47 of Kill Me Sweetly

“You okay, JJ?” Wes’s brows dipped.

“Of course, just confused as to how we forgot a meeting.” I snorted. “I’ll just go see what Shep wants to do.”

I pushed the doors open and saw Shep was still on the phone.

“What’s at that address, Nick?” I watched Shep’s face, trying to gauge his reaction but I imagined each of us was wearing a “What the fuck?” expression.

“Do we go?” Shep asked. Nodded. “We have two hours. Get someone over there to check it out. JJ and I will be home soon.”

He disconnected the call but he didn’t say anything, so I nudged him.

“Speak, please.”

“Nick said the address is a strip mall. 33 is a laundromat.”

“That’s odd.”

He agreed and slipped his phone into his pocket. “We need to get to the house. There are enough goods here for the day. Let me just tell Lizzy, and we can go.”

Once he was out of sight, I let myself take a moment to silently freak out because none of this was right.…In my gut it all felt wrong.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

SHEP

“I getthat this person wanted to meet with all of us, but I’m thinking he doesn’t have to. Three go in, and two stay outside just in case.” Nick was typing on the computer as he talked.

“I went over there—place is a regular laundromat. There’s a tax office attached, a dollar store, two empty shops. Nothing out of the ordinary for that area.” Noel sat next to Nick and opened his laptop.

“I’m hearing five of you. You know Mason and I are people, right?” JJ cocked his head, brows furrowed angrily.

“And who’s gonna watch Max and Four?” Angel raised a good point.

JJ narrowed his eyes, then acquiesced. “Okay, I accept that answer.”

“All right, let’s get moving. We have forty-five minutes. The earlier we get there, the better.” I slid my holster on and righted my guns before putting on my leather coat.

“Be careful.” JJ gripped the lapels of my jacket and pulled me close until our lips touched.

“I will be,” I said against his lips, taking a few extra seconds to enjoy his taste.

“Come on,” Angel grunted.

On the drive over we decided that Noel, Angel, and myself would go into the laundromat and Nick and Gabe would stay back.

We drove around the strip mall; it wasn’t very large and appeared to be quite worn from the years. Across the street was a dentist’s office, and the only way we knew that was because someone had written on the large window, Dr. Ross’s Dentistry…Yeah, like I’d trust my pearly whites to that place.

“Howesville is a nice town.” Noel chuckled as the three of us walked toward the laundromat. Angel was carrying a bag of sheets to make it look as though we were truly there to do laundry.

“Towns like this used to flourish years ago. Now it’s all big-box stores and chains.” Angel shook his head. “Makes me sick.”

“It’s the way of the world.” Noel shrugged, earning a glare from Angel.

I was sure if we hadn’t reached the door it would have turned into an argument about Noel having his head in technology and not paying attention to the struggles of real people…but I’d never know, and I was fine with that.

“I’ll get the coins.” I made to move, but Noel stopped me.

“Actually, it’s a card.” He pointed to a machine that said, Prepaid Laundry Cards.

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