Page 24 of King of Pain

That’s what would be best for her…

I get out of the truck and start for the door, which cracks open before I can even knock. I stop. “You all right, love?”

She opens the door a little wider. “Just glad you’re back.” Her smile is easy. Relieved. My gut twists.

Pushing into the room, I can also see that she’s collected up all our stuff, packed it back in the bags, and we’re ready to roll.

God, I love a competent woman. “Where’d you get the truck?”

“I’ll tell you on the way. Let’s roll.”

“Okay,” she says grabbing up a couple of the bags. “Where are we going?”

“We’ll decide that on the way too.”

She cocks her head and looks at me. “Something happen?”

“On the way, love,” I answer, grabbing the other bags. She gives me a single nod, her face pinching as I walk her quickly out to the truck.

I can barely appreciate how hot she looks in her tight jeans as she climbs up into the passenger’s seat.

Closing her door, I make my way around the driver’s side and fire up Alice. “We’ve got some choices,” I say, tossing the old truck in gear. We’re not getting anywhere fast, but then again, who’s going to suspect the guy in the 1970s two-toned beige-and-cream Ford is a billionaire real estate mogul? “Keep going east or head back to Vegas.”

“I’ve got three days until I have to be back for work,” she tells me. “Which way do you think is safer?”

I frown. That’s a tricky question because my answer is different from hers. “Away from Vegas. I say we keep moving east.”

“East it is,” she smiles. “Actually, one of my stepdads has a cabin in southern Colorado. We could crash there for a few nights.”

“One of?”

“You don’t want to know,” she mutters.

“Sounds like a good story for on the way. Mind breaking out the map and telling me which direction we’re headed?”

“Right. I’m navigator.” She rummages through the bags. “But you’re taking a left just up here. We’re for sure headed back toward the interstate.”

I don’t take the left. Because that would take us right by Walmart.

When I miss it, she sits up and gives me the eye. “You really are bad with directions.”

I wink. “I’ll be better next time.”

Pulling out the map, she starts checking our route and I take the next left.

Kate and I are headed to Colorado. Didn’t see that one coming.

But even with my Gorilla sighting, I’m not sure I’m upset about this road trip. Fucked up as this is, it might be the most fun I’ve had in a long damn time.

But I’ll unpack that one later.

We find the highway and I take the eastbound on-ramp, Alice bumping along. No AC in a car like this, so we roll down the windows, the desert heat making it a hot day and the wind making conversation difficult. It’s all right, though. I’d rather wait until we’re far away from whatever little town that was to tell Kate that Gorilla is on our tail.

I don’t want my girl to worry.

Yet.

CHAPTER SEVEN

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