Page 79 of Wicked Devotion
“Five years ago. With her parents. And now I’ll to tell you what you guys are going to do. You take her somewhere nice. Spend time with her, fuckingtalkto her. If you don’t do it, I will. I’m sure she’d like Aruba.”
“Don’t you dare,” Logan says.
“I’ll take care of it,” I interrupt them. “But please don’t tell her anything. I want it to be a surprise.”
“See, he’s listening,” Ruby tells Logan, nudging his arm with her elbow. “Can I take her shopping?”
“No. It’s not safe for her to go out.”
“The 203 doesn’t operate in this part of Cali,” Ruby says, and Logan raises his eyebrows.
“You know too much for your own good.”
“It’s called market observation.” She shrugs. “I’m not scared of a few crackheads, let me call a few guys so Lily and I can—“
“I said no.”
“Eating my foodandtalking back? Bold,” Ruby says. “Guess I’m gonna put some stuff for her together, then. I brought too many clothes anyway.”
“You’re the best,” I say with a smile, knowing Lily is going to start a ten-minute argument once she finds out about Ruby’s donation.
She still insists on paying me back the money she spent when she went to get groceries together with Charlie, even though she only bought a few cheap items for herself. It’s like she doesn’t want to understand that it’sourmoney.
A few hours later, I’m almost done planning our trip. Joyce was more than understanding when I explained the situation to her, which made me wonder if there’s a single personon base who hasn’t had an unpleasant interaction with Sanders yet.
I also have to take care of everything on my own because Logan may have a certain reputation on base, but it’s one that does not get people to do you a favor.
“Cabrera? On my aircraft? No fucking way,” Scarlett snarls into the phone when I drop my request.
“Please,” I say with a sigh. “Wasn’t there a concert you wanted to go to but you couldn’t get tickets? I’m sure I could work something out…”
“Two tickets. And if he doesn’t keep his trap shut, I’ll throw both of you out. Mid-flight.”
“You’d have to throw three people out—“
“I know what I said, Max. The girl has nothing to do with this.”
It’s a blessing that Scarlett is flying to Montana tomorrow for a cargo drop, and it’s an even bigger blessing she’s willing to take some additional cargo with her because flying commercial with Logan is like entering the nine circles of hell.
The first problem is his countless fake IDs. At this point, I’m unsure if he has a real identity beneath it all or if he really is some kind of experiment. Created in an underground lab, made out of too much testosterone, untreated anger issues, and a pinch of a sociopath, topped off with looks the Greek Gods would have envied.
The second problem: metal detectors. Not because the bullets and shrapnel pieces in his body set them off. No, those can be explained. The hidden knives and other forbidden objects, not so much. Logan is convinced that being part of the task force makes him something resembling an air marshall. Unlike Rockwell, I don’t have the patience for a three-hour discussion with airport security. Especially not if we bring Lily.
Going by car would be possible, but it’s a long drive, andanything exceeding four hours poses a danger to everyone on the road, including the passengers of the car Logan is driving. I’ve seen this man drive a car while applying pressure to a stab wound in his abdomen because dying is apparently less of a problem than letting someone else behind the steering wheel.
When I rejoin the others, they are already halfway done with lunch. Packed bags stand in the hallway, and as the good mood is slowly overshadowed by goodbyes, I wonder how Ruby does it.
How she can let Sam go when the possibility of never seeing him again always lingers in the air. At least I can take myself out immediately if something happens to Logan, but now that we have Lily… I should really rethink my career choices, and Logan’s too, while I’m already at it.
Ruby is good at concealing her emotions, keeping up a smile that stops reaching her eyes when Sam, Rockwell, and Charlie leave the property in the minivan we all came here with. She waits until Lily excuses herself to go to the bathroom and leans closer to whisper in my ear.
“Dom will drive you back to base tomorrow morning.”
I pull her in for a hug, and she rests her head against my shoulder.
“Sometimes I hate his job,” she says before she crouches down to pet Mochi, and I don’t know what to tell her.
We spendthe rest of the day together, with trash TV and a questionable amount of food. At 2am, the night ends with all five of us, including Mochi, lying on the couch in recovery position, so full that even the short walk to our bedrooms would have been too far.
