Page 4 of Drifting Hearts
“Is that safe?”
“The debt is paid, Kieran. No one is after him anymore. He’s got a busted leg, a busted arm, and a busted face. His whole life is in the shitter. Archer is worried that he’s going to end up dead if he walks away.”
“So Clayton gets to rip him off and gets a free pass?”
“It’s not a free pass. Archer won’t talk to him.”
“Then why is he helping him?”
“Because he’s a good person. He might hate what Clayton did, and he might hate Clayton, but he wants to know that no matter what happens to him down the road, that he did what he could.”
“The two of you give me indigestion. I swear to God, Shane, if Clayton so much as blinks wrong, I’m evicting him myself. The two of you—no, three of you, because Mom is just as bad. You’re all too nice for your own good sometimes. So, fine, I’ll be the bad guy. I’m serious, Shane. He stays in line or he’s out. And why can’t he stay here in his apartment and go to therapy?”
“He lives on the fourth floor. No elevator. And he’s being evicted for not paying his rent. You have two guesses to figure out where his rent money went. There was no food in his place, Kieran. It looks like he sold everything he could except for his laptop. Archer booted it up and snooped around in it. He thinks the online gambling got him first, and then it snowballed and got out of control.”
“I still think you’re stupid and when this blows up in your face, and it will, I won’t refrain from saying I told you so.” Taking a deep breath, I pushed my anger and frustration aside. Truthfully, it was mostly frustration. Shane had inherited our mom’s must-fix-it gene and it could be a lot to watch. They both wanted to help everyone, even to their own detriment apparently.
“I suppose that’s fair.”
“Fair or not, it’s what’s going to happen. Now, what’s the plan?”
“Archer and I are going to take care of his stuff, but Archer can’t stand to be in the same place as him. So we need you to drive Clayton back and get him settled at Mom’s.”
“Mom runs awomen’sshelter.”
“Mom has two girls staying with her, but they’ve agreed that it’s okay to give it a shot. He’ll take the small bedroom on the ground floor, and the girls will stay upstairs. Clayton will be brought up to speed on the safety rules and if he makes the girls uncomfortable, I’ll put him in a hotel and he can fend for himself, busted up or not. It’s all arranged.”
“Of course it is. I swear you’re going to give me a fucking ulcer. Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll take Clayton the Con Man to stay with our mother.”
“Be nice,” Shane scolded.
“I am nice. I’m here, aren’t I? Nowhere in your little spiel did you mention that I had to be happy about your stupid decisions. And I’m not, for the record. I think this is a horrible idea and it’s only going to end badly. But sure. Okay. We’ll do it your way.”
Shane released another exasperated sigh. “Glad to have you on my side.”
“I am on your side. Sometimes your passion for helping people makes you do unrealistic shit. Not everything will turn out as well asthings did with you and Archer. Eventually you’re going to help the wrong person.”
“And you think Clayton is the wrong person?”
“You paid his fucking bookie, Shane,” I said through grit teeth, determined to keep my voice down despite wanting to throttle him. “He already stole from Archer and now he’s conned his way into Archer’s life again—and yours by default. Mark my words, this won’t end well.”
I stepped away from Shane before I did something stupid. Digging my card from my wallet, I used it to pay for a drink and a snack from the vending machine. I felt Archer creep up on me while I waited for the machine to deliver my candy bar.
“I don’t want to talk about it, Archer.” I didn’t dislike Archer. He made my brother happy, but also stupid.
“I just—thank you. I don’t know if Shane managed to tell you that yet.”
Bending over, I retrieved my candy bar. “He didn’t. But I don’t think I gave him much of a chance.”
I tore the wrapper open and took a bite, savoring the milk chocolate and nougat flavors that exploded on my tongue.
“I don’t know how much you’ve been told about what happened…” Archer trailed off and I turned to look at him. I’d seen him before, but only in passing. This was our first official meeting and I was spending it being a jackass.
Forcing a deep breath into my lungs, I made myself relax as much as I could.
“He told me the general gist of it. You were best friends until he ripped off your mutually-owned business. Gambling problem. Bookie. Assault. The highlights.”
“I want you to know that I tried to talk Shane out of this,but—”
