Page 8 of Blood and Bone

Rick straightened from the Charger, ducking his head so he wouldn’t bump it and pivoted to put a wrench in a tall, red toolchest with several drawers. He wiped his greasy, black hands on his coveralls, and acknowledged them with a nod when he saw them coming toward him.

Talking to him was always fun because along with Rick, came his identical twin Dick—the other Richard Tooley. Ari still laughed every time he thought about the brothers who shared a name. According to Eoghan, both men were as dumb as a bag of hammers on the cerebral scale and nothing he’d witnessed so far, disputed that fact. But they definitely knew their way around a motor. He had to give them that.

“Hi, Sapphire. Hi, Brown,” Rick said, greeting the pair as they walked over.

“Brown,” Dick echoed from beside his brother.

Ari bit his lower lip to keep the smile off his face as he noticed the same identical blank expression the brothers wore.

“We need to check out one of the vehicles, Rick,” Eoghan said.

“Okay, that one is all gassed up and ready to go,” Rick said, pointing to a metallic, dark blue car.

“Ready to go,” Dick echoed.

“Good,” Eoghan said.

Rick nodded. “Keys are under the driver’s side visor.”

“Driver’s side visor,” Dick echoed.

“Thanks, guys.” Ari turned and walked away from them with Eoghan at his side. They got into the car and he turned to Eoghan. “What do you think causes that?”

“The thing where Dick echoes everything Rick says?”

“Yeah.”

Eoghan shrugged. “Low oxygen at birth?”

Ari snorted as he watched Eoghan grab the keys and put them into the ignition. “Do you think he’s a little slow?”

“A little?” Eoghan asked, laughing. He started the car and then pushed a button on the vehicle’s dash, making the tall double doors to the tunnel begin to roll open.

“Don’t laugh,” Ari chided. “You don’t know what’s wrong with him. You should put yourself in other people’s shoes.”

“Ugh.Other people’s shoes smell like other people’s feet.”

“Harsh,” Ari chided. The doors opened to their limit just as he managed to snap his seatbelt into place. Eoghan gunned the engine and the car shot into the tunnel, rapidly gaining speed as Ari held onto the grab bar with everything he had. They were silent for several minutes as Eoghan drove through the underground tunnel, finally shooting out into the light of day. He turned and watched the tunnel’s hidden doors slide closed as soon as the car was out. In seconds, their egress was camouflaged by the mountainside where they’d just come from. He leaned his head on the headrest and rolled it until the side of Eoghan’s face came into view. “I didn’t get my breakfast sandwich or a second cup of coffee. You’re gonna have to stop.”

Eoghan frowned but kept his eyes on the road. “So, all that stuff back at the café about not being hungry was bullshit?”

“Yeah. I just wanted to get out of there. Do you blame me?”

“Not really, no.”

“So, please find somewhere to stop.”

“Hmm…fast food, or convenience store?” Eoghan asked.

“You’re the healthy one. You pick,” Ari said.

Eoghan shot him a quick glance before looking back out the windshield. “Convenience store it is then, but you have to promise me to get only healthy snacks. We’ll stop halfway there for lunch, so you’ll have to tide yourself over until late afternoon.”

Ari groaned. “No Fuego flavored Takis?”

“Oh, God, no. Are you kidding me right now? Youdoknow how much sodium is in those vile things, right?”

“Yes,” Ari teased. “So, no Takis. Okay, I can make do with a hard-boiled egg, black coffee, and a banana if I have to.”

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