Page 91 of The Company We Keep

He insisted that they take a vacation.

They’d go somewhere as remote as possible. They would take the cartel helicopter back to the penthouse, gather whatever they could, lock it down to the best of their abilities, and then they would find somewhere to lay low for a few months.

Carrow could quietly arrange repairs to the ruined home from wherever they went.

Let the cartel think that they’d won. Let the scene in Las Abras cool off.

Let someone else fix their penthouse while they were far out of the reach of their enemies.

The Company had earned a vacation, after all.

They could’ve just renteda few villas. But when Carrow had seen the roundabout way that visitors had to take to access Vinh Hy Bay — when he’d realized how easily defensible the Ninh Thuan coast would be — he’d told Leta to ask the concierge if they had any options for purchase.

Without another thought, he’d purchased The Company a furnished five-bedroom villa. Now, at least, they could say that they operated on two different continents.

The spot had something for all of them.

Leta, the polyglot, was happy to relax within the walls of the resort proper, soaking in all of the languages from visitors around the world. Wayles gravitated towards the white sandbeaches. Vashvi seemed drawn to the fishing village down the road. Herron bartered for a sputtering motorcycle and raced it up the winding mountain roads.

But for Dust and Carrow, the backdrop didn’t seem to matter.

It was secure. There was no one who knew they were in Vinh Hy Village. They had paid people off along the entire route to the villas — and if anyone speaking English or Spanish came looking for them, Carrow would have word of it from a mile away.

They were safe, at least for the months that they had planned to stay.

The two of them fell into each other.

They were safe. They were whole

For the first week, Carrow and Dust barely left the villa.

Leta had acted as a tour guide for the rest of the company, adeptly showing them around the village, exploring the giant inland nature preserve, and indulging in the best that the real culture surrounding them had to offer.

But for Dust and Carrow, the draw lay within the villa.

The rest of The Company joked about the marathon sex they must be having. But in reality, for the first time, they were really learning about one another.

Dust told Carrow about Charlie Judge. He tried hard not to be ashamed, and the other man never made him feel as if he had anything to hide. They’d all learned what he was, and they’d all decided that his status as Dustin Wrenshall was more important.

He told Carrow about life on the Atlantic Coast, about living in a rotting bungalow and the pace of life in the sleepy town where he had grown up. Carrow, who had never talkedabout his childhood, opened up too. He’d grown up in small-town Nevada, and the man was fascinated by the idea of living somewhere with so much water. Dust talked about lush palm scrub and kudzu and cicadas. Carrow talked about sandstorms and huge cacti and holiday trips to Lake Tahoe, just he and his mom.

As boss and employee, they had crashed together without ever looking back.

As Ansel and Dust, they wanted to know everything. They wanted to build something on a foundation of truth. They were cautious and thorough and the two of them learned everything there was left to know.

“Earth to Ansel…”

Dust was staring at him. Carrow had no idea for how long.

A breeze wafted through the open window of their room and Carrow took a deep breath, appreciating the unfamiliar smells and the sound of water moving nearby.

Vashvi, Wayles, and Herron had ventured into town to wander the local markets. Leta was out swimming somewhere in the impossibly blue water. She’d never taken much interest in the penthouse pool, but the shallow, clear lagoons were a different story. She’d been enchanted since their arrival.

Everything was perfect there in the present and he chided himself for allowing his thoughts to drift to the past.

“Where’d you go?” Dust asked.

Carrow sighed and tried to decide how to answer that question.

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