Page 85 of Burn

Then when I wanted sex, he’d given me that too, without demanding a single thing in return. Men didn’t usually have to be leveraged into sex. The only thing he’d told me he would do and had failed to deliver on was the phone. Somehow, I didn’t think it was his decision. At least not his final decision.

The problem with that was he’d also not contradicted Bones. If he really wanted to, could he? Or was Bones the one they all had to obey? If they did—thenwhy?

Too many questions, not enough answers.

“I’ll tell you,” I said finally. “It hurt when I shrugged, but not so bad I couldn’t take it. It does feel better today than it did yesterday.”

“If that changes…”

Was I up for making him any promises? “If I need assistance,” I said, splitting the difference. “I’ll tell you.”

His mouth tightened. Not the answer he wanted. I didn’t have it in me to feel bad about his disappointment. Not now.

Movement to my right pulled my attention, and I found Alphabet studying me then Voodoo. There was a beep in my ear and while I could see their lips moving, I didn’t hear whatever the conversation was.

Bones snapped his head back to glare at Voodoo as well.

That was interesting.

Had Voodoo just given me a way to put a wedge between all of them?

Chapter

Thirty-One

GRACE

Despite the length of the flight, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure of the destinationexceptthat we had to be near Mexico when we landed. They discussed border crossings. If we were going to Canada, I couldn’t imagine them flying in circles forhoursjust to throw me off. That would be ridiculous, as well as a waste of time.

“Remind me I want to do some shopping when we’re done,” Lunchbox mentioned as he taxied us toward some hangers. The place had what looked like a total of three, as well as a dodgy looking control tower, and a single dude in a pickup who drove over to meet us.

The only person who got out was Lunchbox. He took five minutes to sign some paperwork and hand over a yellow wrapped package that could easily be a stack of cash. The guy in the blue baseball cap saluted before he climbed back into his pickup and drove off.

Lunchbox opened the door. “We’re parking it here. They’ll see to refueling and doing an exterior check.”

“You can trust these guys?” Bones asked, shooting a look back over his shoulder to Voodoo.

“Yes,” he answered. “Network.”

Networking usually brought contacts into play, so that made a certain amount of sense. That was an odd way to say it though.

“Good,” Bones popped his exterior door and climbed out. A moment later the door on the other side of Alphabet opened.

Goblin leapt out first, then Alphabet followed, albeit more slowly. I unbuckled my seat belt, but didn’t rush. Alphabet seemed almost as sore as I was and no one was giving him hell about hurrying. Probably a good thing.

Once Alphabet was clear, Voodoo glanced at me and I extended my hand to motion him to the door. “I’m right behind you,” I offered.

“You got that?” He nodded to the tablet in my hand.

I curled my arm to hug the table to my chest. “I have it.” I didn’t think they would take it away and keep it, but I didn’t want to lose the device since I’d just gotten it.

The corner of his mouth kicked up, but he didn’t comment. He pushed out of his seat and stepped out. He waited for me to reach the exit and then offered me a hand. The narrow steps were easy to miss, but I appreciated the fact that Voodoo didn’t just pick me up and put me on the ground.

“Thank you,” I murmured. The air was warmer than I expected and the landscape seemed almost painfully flat andbeige. Cloud cover kept the sun from blazing down but it hardly looked like a storm was in the offing. There wasn’t even a smell of rain on the air.

The guys already had the bags out of the back of the plane. There was a dirty, beaten up van waiting for us that looked like it could have made the trip to Woodstock back in the sixties.

I was pretty sure it was older than all of us. It was also an eyesore orange where the paint hadn’t chipped away. I looked from it to the guys and back.

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