Page 82 of As Thick As Thieves

“She got there before they did and got between Stone and Skeeter’s gun,” I answered flatly. “We arrived to find them having a standoff.”

“Your girl’s a baddie. I hope Stone appreciated it, or I’ll kill him myself,” he said brightly, and I could hear the grin in his voice.

“It was reckless.”

“She’s fine, right? Pat her on the back and move on. I’ll see you soon.” He hung up before I could growl at him about being an asshole, and I knew Penn had heard what he said by the way she was trying not to smirk.

“Don’t try to be cute. I’m going to spank you later for doing something stupid,” I scolded, her smirk widening.

“Please?”

“Go pack your shit. We can’t stay here now. I’ll check in with Beckett later to see if they have somewhere we can stay,” I sighed, rubbing my temples. She wandered towards the bedroom but she glanced back at me with a thoughtful look.

“Why don’t you ask Stone if—”

“No,” I bit out, and she rolled her eyes as if I was being crazy. I turned to Drake, finding Knox lifting his shirt to check him over for injury. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. I think we need to worry about her, though,” he answered, letting Knox literally strip him to his boxers, knowing he’d worry unless he saw proof that there were no bullet wounds.

“Why do you say that? Is she hurt?” I demanded, intending on chasing after her, but Drake shook his head.

“No, but I don’t like how protective of Stone she’s being. She always seems to know what’s happening with him despite not seeing him. Isn’t that a little strange?”

Knox was finally satisfied that Drake wasn’t shot, so he handed his clothes back and joined the conversation. “You think he’s blackmailing her or something?”

“Or something,” he confirmed, pulling his shirt over his head. “Finding shit out is kind of our thing, so keep your eyes open.”

“You want us to spy on her?” I hissed quickly, and he quickly shook his head.

“No, don’t go through her stuff, just take notice of little things like when she’s out and she goes to the toilet for too long or something. Maybe he’s meeting up with her and threatening her, maybe he’s even paying her to protect him. He knows she’s a good shield because no one will hurt her.”

“That won’t work for everyone. Skeeter would’ve had no problem shooting her to get to him today,” I muttered, but Knox shrugged.

“I don’t think he would’ve. Penn might have pissed him off by breaking into his house, but she’s innocent in all of this. He spends a lot of time saving women and children from danger, and as much as he’ll attempt to scare her into doing as she’s told, I don’t think he’d actually hurt her.”

“We’ll figure this shit out later. Right now, we need to get all of our things together and find somewhere to stay. Preferably off the grid,” I sighed, glancing around the room at the mess. “The fuck did they use? A machine gun?”

“I didn’t poke my head out the door to ask them, my bad,” Drake deadpanned, scowling as Knox swatted the back of his head. “And don’t think I can’t smell cigarette smoke on you, asshole.”

“I’m not hiding it,” he replied, walking towards the bedroom. “You guys can handle Lopez when he arrives, I’ll handle Penn.”

Zavier would barge in and go straight for Penn anyway, so it wasn’t like we needed to deal with him.

Chapter Eighteen

Penn

Zavier fussed over me for ages, trying to convince us to all stay with him at Raven’s house, but it was already too crowded there and we didn’t want to risk his friends. Whoever was coming for me would track me down way too easily there.

Zavier had finally gotten hold of Beckett, but she said they didn’t have any vacant houses right now. Most of theirs were currently occupied with abused teens or foster kids who’d turned of age and wanted their own space.

“I know where we can go,” I said as I tried to wrack my brain for the address. “Seventy-seven Sale Street.”

“In Briar Falls?” Cruz asked with a frown.

“Yeah. It’s Estelle’s house. She wouldn't turn me away,” I confirmed, not wanting to take drama there, but knowing she wasn’t connected to us to leave much of a trail.

“What if this is your Dad’s doing? Can you trust her?”

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