Page 112 of The Kings of Kearny

I hadn’t even known he had a truck. It reminded me how little I actually knew about his life. I felt like I knewhim, what made him tick, how his mind worked, but the day-to-day details were something else. Something I looked forward to learning over the coming days and weeks and hopefully months.

We kept our distance as I locked up the apartment. I couldn’t touch him right now, and from the way he kept looking me over, he couldn’t touch me either, not without us ending up naked on my floor.

He grabbed my bag from me and slung it over his shoulder as we headed down the stairs. “Awfully light,” he said.

“That’s because it’s nothing but lingerie and high heels.”

The toe of his motorcycle boot caught on the next step, and he nearly tripped. Score one for me.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered, the words almost a groan.

My laughter echoed through the stairwell.

His truck was parked in the space next to my car. It was an older model Ford pickup, and it was, unsurprisingly, black. He’d added an after-market lift kit to it, and it was tall enough that we wouldn’t have to worry about traffic on the way to wherever we were going because he could just drive over everyone else.

He opened my door for me and chucked my bag in the back. “You got it?” he asked.

I looked up, and up, at the seat. “Give me a hand, and I should be fine.”

He held his hand out, and I gripped it with one of mine and grabbed the handle on the doorframe with the other. I hauled myself up with my arms, my good foot planted on the footrail.

“Piece of cake,” I said, settling myself in.

He lingered at my open door. “You’ve been taking it easier lately at the bar. Leg acting up?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m just done acting like it doesn’t hurt me all the time.”

“Good,” he said.

He shut my door and climbed in next to me a minute later.

“I’m assuming it’s okay to talk in here?” I asked as he pulled out of the parking space.

“Yes, and before you ask, no, I didn’t kill Redding. I told you that you could be in on revenge, and I’m not about to break my word to you again.”

“But you’re sure it’s okay to leave? The hospital posted a guard at Dr. Perez’s door.”

“It’s okay to leave,” he said. “I have eyes on Redding. He’s nowhere near Kearny right now, but if that changes, you’ll be the first to know.”

“What if he slips through the cracks again? What if he’s able to shake whoever you have trailing him?”

He shot me a look as he drove. “You really think he slipped through the cracks?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I want to think he did. I want to believe that Nick wouldn’t set a rapist free just to try to entrap either of us.”

Jakob let out a grunt. “Don’t underestimate your old friend. You might have shared something once, but his loyalty is to the Bureau now.”

“Do you think my apartment is bugged?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I’ve been away for a few days. No telling what happened while I was gone. Your apartment might be bugged, or you could have a second GPS tracker on your car.”

“Great,” I said, glaring out the windshield. How the hell was I going to enjoy this weekend without being stuck in my head the whole time?

“Hey,” Jakob said, reaching out to thread his fingers through mine. “Just let it go. Let it all go. I swear to you that Redding isn’t going to hurt anyone while we’re gone, and all this other shit can hold for a few days without imploding. We’ll have plenty of time to deal with it when we get back. You promised me a weekend, and I didn’t think you were the kind of woman to go back on your word.”

“I’m not,” I said, sighing. “And I’ll try to let it go.”

He nodded. “Good enough for now.”

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