Page 24 of On the Double

He was right, and I hated that. Whatever happened to the women who wanted a fun night in the sack without all the trappings of a relationship? Where were those women?

Oh, that’s right. They were back in California. I sometimes forgot that I was in Kansas now and women were more morally upstanding. Not that all women in California were willing to jump in the sack, but there was a larger population than out here in the sticks. There was a greater possibility I would walk into the bar and find someone willing.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not looking for a woman to spend my life with.”

“What do you have against monogamy?”

My parents, for one. They were a great example of how you could outlive a relationship and ruin not only your marriage, but your child’s life. Growing up in that house not only caused arguments between myparents, but between me and my father. He was the reason I went into the military. By the time I was a senior in high school, I would have done anything to get away from him.

“It’s great for some, but I’m not interested,” I answered, pulling down the long driveway. It was odd to see an empty space where the building once stood. I felt slightly bad for starting the fire, but it was really IRIS’s fault.

Slamming the door, I looked around for the boss, but he was nowhere in sight. Lock had a handle on things, like he always did, and was jabbering on about making sure the silo was still in good order. I waited a good ten minutes, and after multiple confirmations from the department that the silo hadn’t been damaged, we were clear to enter through the tunnels and get to work.

“I really appreciate it,” Lock said, holding out his hand to the chief.

“Sure. Next time, just make sure your explosives aren’t near the building,” he grumbled, shaking his head.

“What was that about?” I asked as he walked away.

“I had to lie to the chief and tell him it was an accidental explosion.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because insurance doesn’t cover blowing up your own building,” he retorted. “Where have you been?”

“Cash sent me out to get food for the gathering.”

Lock’s brows twitched in confusion. “What gathering?”

“To celebrate Rafe’s life.”

“There’s no gathering.”

“Uh, yeah, there is. I told him he needed to stop ignoring the facts and he agreed. It took some persuading, but?—”

I stopped the minute Lock’s lips twitched in amusement.

“Fuck, he was messing with me.”

“Of course he was. He’s fucking pissed at you and IRIS.”

That fucking burned. “I really thought I was getting through to him.”

“If Eva can’t get through to him, what made you think you had the magic touch?”

I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably. I hated when peopledidn’t get along, but I despised when someone went down the road of self-sabotage and knew destruction was ahead, yet did nothing to change course. That’s what Cash was doing right now. And if he wasn’t careful, he wasn’t only going to lose Eva, he was going to fucking burn his company to the ground.

No pun intended.

“Where did he go?”

“I’m guessing he’s chasing down a lead.”

“And he didn’t take anyone with him?”

“Actually, I think he’s meeting IKE.”

Fucking IKE. That guy didn’t even work for the company. Not really. “What about the three J’s?”

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