Page 64 of Wayward
Dante
“Where the hell are they?” I say to Calvin. We’ve been at the restaurant for twenty minutes. Enough time to give Anan the pictures. Even if they walked super slowly in the heat, they should have caught up with us by now. “We shouldn’t have split up.”
“No, we should have split up, but I should have stayed with Haley.” Calvin finishes the rest of his bottled water. His eyes rove constantly between the door and the small front window.
My stomach churns. “We should go look for them.”
“It’s a big city. We stay here until it’s time to switch to the next rendezvous point. We stick to the plan until we have to change. Fucking grow a pair.” He pushes the empty bottle to the side of the table.
The server comes over. “You sure you don’t want to order?”
“We’re waiting for some people,” I say in Thai. Last night, I felt at home in this shithole. Today? Today not so much. Bringing my family here? Yeah, I see what a dump it is. It’s a dump with amazing food. World class food. It’s on severallists of authentic places where you should eat before you die, if you follow the hyped-up bloggers. Which I don’t. I shake it off. We’re so close to being out of this that I’m getting ahead of myself. A limo pulls up out front. Thinking about bloggers just brings them out. The driver opens the door, and Haley gets out. Followed by Sam, Zane, and Easton.
When she strolls in, it’s like the whole place spins for me.
“Dante, Calvin!” She zig-zags through the tables. It’s not anywhere as busy as last night, but there’s still a good bit of locals who look up at her. And look at her indeed. Because the horrible dress I bought for her last night has been replaced. She’s dressed every bit the part to step out of a limo.
Haley slides into the booth next to me. “I’m sorry. I hope you weren’t too worried.”
“Me, no. Calvin, though, was jumping out of his skin, ready to burn down the city.”
Calvin cocks a smile at Haley that saysyou know I would burn down the world for you, but Dante’s the real basket case.
Haley reaches across the table and squeezes his hand without taking her eyes from mine. “We found Stella, as in the Freemen wedding. Or rather, she found me. Your dress attracted her attention. She’s going to let us take her jet home. Tomorrow. And we can stay in the villa. She’s going to arrange everything. She doesn’t like it, but she’s not going to tell the police.”
“That’s... that’s amazing.” I lift her chin and kiss her.
“I used the phone in Stella’s villa and chatted with the harbormaster,” Sam says. “Green Summitand the speedboat are gone. Left this morning.”
“How did you get that information?” Calvin cocks his head. “Harbormasters don’t pass out that kind of information.”
“I said . . . ‘I have theRosewoodcoming in. And vant to make sure the slips are clear,’”he says in a Scandinavian accent.“Hawk would turn the accent up and down if he thought it mightget the crew better tips. Guess I learned a thing or two. They told me the slips had been clear since this morning.”
“That’s brilliant. Anan says he’ll have our passports ready by tomorrow. We’ll owe him. He’s made a big deal over letting me go on credit when I have none.”
“We’ll pay him. As long as he comes through,” Easton says.
Haley leans back against the booth. “I can’t believe it. We’re going home. We have, or rather, we’re going to have the paperwork. We have a way home and we also . . .” She turns to me. “I’m so excited we can stay in the villa, too.”
“Whoa. Nice.”
“Holloway’s gone. We have a place to stay. As far as we know, Ed’s men don’t know we’re here. We can relax. You could show us the city.” Haley lets go of Calvin’s hand and throws her arms around me.
The counter girl’s watching us, but why the fuck do I care? I give Haley a kiss.
“Haley, while it’s true the boats are gone, that doesn’t mean Holloway didn’t leave some men here to look for us.” Calvin waves off the server, who hasn’t been leaving us alone.
“You are Debbie Downer, Calvin. But you’re right.” Dante raises his eyebrows. “We’ll have to be careful. I’d love to show you what I know here. Granted, I spent most of my time behind that door over there, in the kitchen, soaking up everything the asshole Anan had to teach me. Honestly, I could have stayed longer. The guy’s a genius, but his side hustles made me want to get out of here.” I’m about to order a late lunch for us when I have a better idea. “You’re right, Sassy. One of the best things to do here is eat. And while you’ve already had some of the best food in the city, eating it on a stick in the market . . . it makes it better.” I apologize to our server and pay her with some of the money Anan gave me last night. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” I say in Thai and head out with Sassy’s hand in mine. “You look good.”
“She does,” Easton says, inching up behind her.
“Thanks, I thought Stella’s pants would be too tight for me, but they fit.”
“No, they fit you, not her.” Sam’s eyes flick down Haley’s body.
“Is it hot out here or what?” She fans her face with her hand.
