Page 65 of Delinquents Turned Fugitives
Andros had come and sat with me when I needed it most. I needed to return the favor.
I went slowly down the stairs, checking each room. I found Andros in a small office, squished into a chair and staring at a computer screen that wasn't even on. "Hey," I said softly.
He looked over but didn't say anything.
"Wanna get out of here? Go for a walk or something?"
He shoved himself out of the chair without another word and I turned toward the door. We headed outside into the afternoon sunlight and I was struck by the awkward reality of our situation. There, we were, two criminals, on a walk in the middle of suburbia, passing by housewives walking their dogs and nodding at them.
"Life is never what you expect, is it?" I said, after I felt like the silence had stretched on long enough.
Andros glanced down at me and I couldn't help but marvel again at how huge he was. My head only came to his elbow. He took up three quarters of the sidewalk. That suburban housewife we'd passed had turned to admire his ass until I flipped her off and yelled, "Taken."
Andros swiveled his head to see what was going on and chuckled. "Gray's probably gonna kill you for drawing attention to yourself."
I shrugged. "Meh. We can buy a Forgetfulness Amulet and toss it through her window. I'm pretty sure Tia has an uncle or someone who makes them."
"I'd like one of those." Andros' tone turned black as midnight.
I wanted to ask, but I resisted. Asking for people to summon up their demons was heartless. It was different if they needed to cast them out by talking, expel them with words. But asking? Nope.
I slid my hand into his and we walked in silence again until we came to an overgrown little alleyway between some houses. I glanced down and realized that at the base was an old, abandoned railroad track. Weeds had sprouted up around it, and the houses had been built way too close for the line to ever be used again. The alley looked like it led to a park or a forest.
I glanced up at Andros. "Wanna?" I asked in invitation.
He simply stepped off the sidewalk and started to follow the track, pulling my trapped hand along with him.
I smiled.
Whatever was eating at him hadn't completely corroded his sense of adventure. When we made it through the alley, he held down a wire fence for me so I could step over it. And then we started down a twisted path through shadowy tree trunks, the smell of earth and wet leaves overtaking the smell of exhaust and perfume that clouded the city behind us.
"When this is over, we should all go somewhere else. Somewhere warm and tropical for a little bit. And then maybe just somewhere remote." I glanced sideways with a little grin. "I'd love to watch you chop wood."
Andros didn't crack a smile at my joke. He stopped walking instead, dropping my hand. He stared down at me, grinding his teeth for a second. "They don't want me to say this. Z would be pissed. But I think it's important."
I furrowed my brow. "What?"
"I think you need to have a plan in case we get caught."
He was right. The guys wouldn't like that. I didn't like hearing it. At the same time, I'd spent so much of my life contingency planning that it made sense. I needed to have something figured out in case I ended up in prison.
"Muller's not a normal cop." Andros didn't expand on his statement. "And we listened to the news on the way back. The Pinnacle's up in arms after a Council member was found dead, spouting all kinds of shit about vamps. It's been labeled a public accident. But you know that behind the scenes ... they want answers. Muller's gonna give them answers."
I stared down at the leaves for a second, wondering if somehow the second half of this plan was even crazier and possibly more dangerous than the first.
"You need to know ahead of time where you're likely to go. You need to have a couple of bargaining chips in mind. You need to be prepared for what they'll try to do to you there." Andros looked away from me then. "I don't want it to happen. But if it does ... "
I reached out and squeezed his hand. It was so huge that I could only get about half of my hand around his. "I'm in."
Relief made his shoulders sag a bit. I grinned up at him. "Did you expect me to fight you on this?"
The huge gangster gave a shrug. "I at least expected you to yell at me."
I shook my head. "I thought about prison before you know. I knew what I was getting into."
"See... I don't think you do. Whatever you're thinking prison is ... it's worse."
I tried not to let his haunted tone send a chill down my spine. I tried to change the tone to lighthearted instead. I stepped closer and put my hand on his forearm. "How about I agree to plan for the worst in exchange for secrets."
