Page 5 of Crush & Byte
“I’m Crush,” the larger man said.He had a low, careful voice that sounded like he was always on the verge of passing judgment on some unsuspecting soul.“Byte is here with me.”He nodded toward the younger guy, who raised two fingers in a lazy salute.
“Hi,” Byte said, which seemed almost cruelly casual.The look in his eyes said I better have a good fucking reason for having this phone.
I cleared my throat again nervously.“I have a message for you from Mrs.Walsh.She said it’s urgent.”
“Did she give you a phrase?”
I nodded.“Lockbox.Sycamore.Breach.”I tried not to make it sound like a question, but honestly, I had no idea what I was doing.
Byte’s face twitched, and for a split second I saw real surprise.“She’s actually doing this,” he muttered, more to himself than to me.
Crush studied me.“River.You’re not in any immediate danger, but if you choose to continue this, I’m going to need to know you can follow my instructions exactly.We’ll keep this simple.Can you memorize a set of directions?”
“Yeah, I’m good with directions.And I already have a pretty good memory for random bullshit,” I muttered.“So, go right ahead.”
He raised an eyebrow before glancing briefly at Byte.“You’re going to go to the intersection of Sycamore and Main.There’s a diner called Benny’s.Go in at exactly nine o’clock, order black coffee, and wait.We’ll send someone to meet you.”
I looked at the phone, then at my notes, then back at the phone.“Is that it?How will I know who I’m meeting?”
Byte grinned, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.“You’ll know them when you see them.”He glanced at his brother.“Might want to pack a bag of essentials for an overnight trip.Just in case.”
“Okay,” I said.I hesitated, then added, “So, just to clarify, this isn’t some weird prank, right?I’m not about to be filmed for a TikTok where I get arrested for loitering in a diner or busted for some espionage game gone wrong.Right?”
Crush’s expression didn’t change, but Byte actually laughed before winking at me.“No.But keep your head on a swivel, princess.”
There was a moment of weird energy between them, like they were having a silent argument or something.Byte shrugged, but Crush picked up the conversation.“Mrs.Walsh knows what she’s doing, and I can assure you she’s not in any danger.Besides, she has people who will look out for her until we can take care of this… situation.”He rubbed his hands together a couple of times before resting one on top of the other.I thought it might be a nervous habit, but I couldn’t imagine these guys being nervous about anything.“Your part in all this is done, and we appreciate you doing what our grandmother asked.You don’t have to do anything else.”He laced his fingers together, but he was anything but relaxed as he stared at me intently.He looked at my face instead of at the camera.I felt like he was studying me for any sign of weakness, or if I had the resolve in seeing this through.
“Crush, Maggie wanted her in on this.She wouldn’t have done this otherwise.”Byte looked more serious than he had since the start of the call.I got the feeling it wasn’t often they weren’t on the same page.
“Maggie doesn’t get the final say here.And I seriously doubt she told River any more than she told us.”
Byte shrugged.“Probably gave her about as much notice too.”
“Look.”Crush rolled his eyes at his brother before addressing me again.“I’m just saying, don’t feel like this is something you have to do.We can take it from here.”
I thought about it.Really, I did.But the truth was, Mrs.Walsh had been the only person in a very long time who’d treated me like I mattered, even if it was just as a pawn in her retirement age spy game.
“I’m in,” I said, and tried to sound braver than I felt.“Is this the smartest decision I’ve ever made in my life?Not in the least.But if Mrs.Walsh wants me to do this, then I’ll give it a good hard try.You know.Whatever the hell ‘this’ is.”
Crush nodded, the barest flicker of surprise on his face while Byte chuckled and winked at me as he spoke.“Good.Keep the phone on you and charged at all times.We’ll be in touch.”
“Wait!”There was something I needed to know.“Mrs.Walsh.Did she really work for the CIA?”
The brothers looked at each other, again having one of those silent conversations.Then Byte shrugged, like he could give a good Goddamn whether Crush answered my question or not.
“Yes.”Crush nodded at me.“If she told you that much I’ll confirm it for her.Did she tell you anything else?”
“Oh, she told me lots of random shit.She was always vague and, I’ll be honest, I really thought it was her dementia talking.She loves to read spy novels.Sometimes, she’ll scoff at them and say it’s not realistic or something, but I never thought she was really in the CIA.I thought her mind was…”
“I understand.”Crush gave me a tight smile.“I can also assure you that our grandmother always has a reason for what she does.Even if it’s not something we all agree with.She is not senile or weak of mind in any way.”He held my gaze for several seconds before reaching toward the camera and disconnecting the call.
I took a shaky breath, tucked the phone in my pocket before collapsing on my sofa in a heap.Great.Not only did I have some time to kill, but I probably had also insulted Mrs.Walsh’s grandsons.Awesome.
Why?Why did I do this to myself?I was just going to take off with a couple of hot bikers with no clear destination or purpose.The thing was, no matter how much I told myself this was a bad idea, it all came down to whether or not I trusted Mrs.Walsh was in her right mind, and that she wasn’t setting me up for something nefarious.The second was laughable.Mrs.Walsh genuinely liked me, I was certain of it.The first?Yeah.Jury was still out on that one.
Or, maybe it was me who needed the reality check.
Chapter Three
