Which was not atallwhat she should be thinking about when they were only a block away from the man who tried to kill her and would keep trying until he succeeded.
Lark took a deep breath and did her best to focus on the important tidbits of info in this scenario. Tidbit number one: her would be killer was out of the hospital, and his first stop was a coffee shop. He was currently sipping a tall black coffee while perusing his laptop, probably searching for her. She wasn’t sure if she should be comforted by the fact that he needed somecaffeine before he got back out there to commit murder, or terrified by how casual he seemed about the whole thing.
Tidbit number two: Tenley wasshockinglyquick to agree to approach a killer. Her total lack of nerves scared the crap out of Lark, frankly speaking, because what kind of person wasn’t afraid of a contract killer? Worse yet, what kind of person seemedexcitedby the prospect of tangling with one?
Tidbit number three: The table scraps she’d given to Dammit George had been a mistake. The gas he was emitting from his position in the passenger seat of the van could be weaponized and used in battle against the forces of evil.
“Told you the chicken lo mein wasn’t in our best interests,” Ren grumbled.
She frowned at him. “Don’t act all innocent. You know as well as I do that he’s at least ten pounds overweight. He didn’t get that way on dog food alone.”
He sighed. “Twenty. And…touché.”
“Aw, you guys are so cute and domesticated,” Tenley said as she casually strolled toward the coffee shop as if she was going to meet a friend for a latte instead of spying on a contract killer.
“Glad the com earrings are working. And shut up,” Ren said.
Tenley’s laugh was downright evil. “I will shut up, but only because you made sure the earrings are freakin’ adorable.”
They were, too. To a casual observer, the earrings were classic, brushed platinum clip-ons with a stunning 3 carat, natural pearl in the center. No one would be able to guess that they were also a sophisticated, wireless communication device that allowed themto monitor Tenley’s entire interaction with the hit man and let her signal them for help if she needed it.
But something told Lark she wouldn’t need it. Tenley didn’t strike her as the damsel in distress type.
Ren’s brow furrowed as he watched on his laptop monitor as Tenley strolled casually toward the coffee shop with her classy silk blouse, pencil skirt, Birkin bag, and shoes that probably cost more than Lark’s car. “If anything seems off—anything at all—I want you to get out of there, OK, Ten?”
She blew a raspberry and fluffed her hair. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, sweetheart. I’ve got this.”
Lark couldn’t help but smile. “I wish I had her confidence.”
Ren snorted. “There are MMA fighters twice her size that don’t haveherconfidence.”
“I’m here,” Tenley said, reaching for the door of the coffee shop.
“If you need me, just use the codeword and I’ll get you out,” he reminded her.
“Just so you know,pistachiois a really weird safe word.”
“Codeword,” he corrected quickly. “Not safe word. There’s a difference.”
The way his gaze shifted over to Lark at the mention of a safe word made her a little weak in the knees.Weakas in she probably wouldn’t be able to close them if he so much as breathed on her at this point.
“TTFN,” Tenley sing-song’d, then shut down her receiver.
Lark sucked in a deep breath. “Do you really think this will work?”
“If it doesn’t, it’ll be the technology’s fault, because Tenley Taylor doesn’t fail.”
The way his voice warmed up when he talked about Tenley tugged at her heartstrings. “How did the two of you meet?”
He kept his eyes on the monitor where they saw Tenley scrolling on her phone while she waited for her coffee order, but said to her, “School had just started, and there was a group of older kids who decided I was an easy target. They were in the process of trying to stuff me into my locker when Tenley came along. She was just a scrawny little thing, no bigger than me, but she took on four boys twice her size and managed to send one of them to the hospital. No one ever bothered me again after that. And we’ve been friends ever since.”
“That’s why you’ve watched over her all these years,” Lark said quietly. “Because she watched out for you when you needed it.”
“Exactly.”
Even in the short amount of time they’d spent together, Lark was really beginning to understand how Ren’s mind worked. Not the genius part. Hell, she could barely balance her own checkbook, let alone design apps that clone PCs and rig the state lotto. But the sweet, protective, antisocial, slightly socially awkward parts of Ren…nowthoseshe was starting to understand. And like.
Really,reallylike.