by Katie Ruggle
“No. Maybe. Not regret.” Her thoughts were whirling, impossible to sort through, frustrating her. “I’m just adjusting. I mean, now I know what John Carmondy looks like naked. That’s so…weird.”
His expressionless look cracked slightly as the corner of his mouth tipped up. “I look weird naked?”
“Of course not.” The familiar feel of their banter settled her nerves a little. “You know you’re pretty. I just feel like a time traveler who woke up in the future…in bed with John Carmondy.”
“I’d watch that movie.”
“Me too, but that’s not the point.” She struggled to pin down what exactly her point was. “It’s just not what I expected to ever happen, so I think I’m in shock.”
“In shock? My naked body put you in shock?”
“Minor shock.” Her qualifier didn’t seem to help, judging by his expression. She opened her mouth to say something, who knows what, when she was rescued by the hum of her phone against her leg. Hurrying to answer, she didn’t even check who was calling. “Hello?”
“Moo, we need to have a strategy meeting.”
She’d never been so happy to hear Cara’s voice. “Are you okay? Any problems at the warehouse? You didn’t do a video tour, did you?”
“And go inside the spooky, abandoned building? Of course not. How dumb do you think I am?”
“Not dumb, just task-oriented and conscientious,” Molly corrected as she noticed that John was watching her closely. Unable to think coherently with his eyes on her—never mind the distraction of that gorgeous naked chest—she dropped her gaze to the rug beneath her socked feet. “You’re okay, then?”
“I’m completely unharmed. The warehouse seemed totally empty, actually. No one in or out. Can you and John swing by the house? I’ll finish filling you in, and Norah has some stuff to share, too.”
“Sure.” She snuck an upward glance at John’s face, but he still had his blank mask on. “We’ll get there in fifteen.”
“See you then.”
Molly said goodbye and ended the call, feeling both relieved and sad to be leaving John’s house. She had too many emotions rampaging around her body, and she was actually looking forward to a good chase to clear her brain of everything except the need for immediate survival. “Cara asked if we could meet at our house. She’s fine, but she and Norah have some info for us.”
He was quiet for a moment, just long enough to reawaken the jangle of nerves inside her. Finally, he said, “Let me grab a shirt and we’ll go.”
The drive to her house felt endless and horribly awkward. Everything had been wonderful until she’d started overthinking. Regret filled her as he pulled up to the curb in front of her house.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted, turning to face him. John kept his gaze fixed through the windshield, even though they’d stopped moving, showing her his impressive profile and the small muscle twitching in his jaw.
“Sorry for what?” he asked, his voice stiff.
“Making you think I regret it. I don’t.” As soon as the words were out, Molly knew they were absolutely true. Her wild thoughts calmed down, and she reached for his hand, pulling it into her lap. “Not at all. I just freaked out for a second. It’s been a long time since I’ve cared about anyone besides my sisters, and it scared me how much I want you to stick around.”
He finally turned to look at her as his cool expression melted away, leaving the tender, warm look that was quickly becoming her favorite. “As long as you want me to stick around, I’m here.”
It was hard to believe, but Molly shoved away the thought of all Jane’s husbands and boyfriends who’d been there one day and gone the next. Even Lono, Molly’s own dad, had ended up leaving. Cramming all the bad memories into a back corner of her brain, she smiled at John.
“I’ll hold you to that.”
Chapter 20
Cara walked into the kitchen and stopped so abruptly that Norah bumped into her back.
“Why are you both…damp?”
“We took a shower.” Even though Molly was trying to act nonchalant, she knew her face was red.
“A shower?” Cara looked back and forth between them, a broad smile spreading across her face as Norah’s eyes widened. “Singular shower? Meaning you shared one? Meaning you’re finally doing it?”
“Doing it?” Molly’s lip curled even as John laughed. “Are you ten? What grown woman says that?”
Cara offered a fist to John. After a short pause, he tentatively bumped it. “Finally. I’m happy for you two. If you hurt my sister, I’ll cut you down the middle and make you wear your own entrails as a scarf.”
To his credit, he only blinked once before he gave Cara a serious nod. “Noted.” Sending a quick glance at Molly, the corner of his mouth quirked up as he added, “Sister.”
“Nope.” Molly tried to glare at him, but her usual eye lasers didn’t seem to be working. She felt too soppy inside to get up a good basilisk stare.
From John’s grin, she knew that he was well aware he’d pretty much obliterated her tough outer shell. “Sissy?”
“I’m going to veto that one,” Cara said dryly, leaning on the counter. “Congrats, you two. Now, time’s ticking if we want to crash that meeting.”
Norah was still studying them, and Molly felt a twinge of concern. “You good with this, Norah?”
“Of course. I mean, we all knew it would happen eventually.”
Molly huffed. “Everyone but me, apparently.”
Ignoring her, Norah continued. “I’m happy for you. You’re always so busy taking care of everyone else. It’s good that you have someone to take care of you.”
Molly wasn’t sure how she felt about the thought of John “taking care of” her. On one hand, it was an alluring temptation. On the other, it was terrifying. Deciding to deal with that later, since Cara was right about their deadline fast approaching, she cleared her throat. “Thanks, Norah. We’ll talk more about this later. Maybe. For now, let’s figure out the plan for tonight.”
“The warehouse looked dead, although that isn’t a guarantee no one was in there. Despite what some people think, I wasn’t dumb enough to go inside to check it out.” Cara gave Molly a pointed look before continuing more mildly. “Did you find anyone willing to be your backup?”
Molly shook her head glumly, holding up her phone to show a sad lack of return text messages. “No one responded except for Christian, and he just wanted me to know that he wouldn’t get within fifty feet of Sonny Zarver. Fifi and Charlie are chasing a solid lead, plus they’re a twelve-hour drive away, so they’re out.” She turned toward John. “How about you? Any luck?”
“Nope. Pretty much the same as you, although more people wanted to tell me that I’m an idiot.”
His words made her stomach roil with sudden guilt. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”
Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, John pulled Molly into a side hug that was almost ridiculously comforting. “You’re not. I’m here of my own free will.”
When she didn’t respond, he gave her a gentle shake.
“Hey. Can you see anyone making me do anything I didn’t one hundred percent want to do?” he asked.
“No.” Despite that, she knew that she was the reason he’d been in danger—multiple times. Tonight would be the worst of them all. “But—”
“But nothing. I chose to be here, and I want to do this. You never asked. It’s all on me.”
Unable to come up with an effective counterargument and aware of the ticking clock, Molly let it go. It still ate at her, though, that John was in such danger because of her. She could’ve convinced him at the very beginning to leave her alone, and he would’ve listened. She’d enjoyed his company too much to send him away, however, enjoying that safe feeling having him with her created—and loving just having him around. She jolted at the last thought and
then immediately banished the L-word from her mind. This wasn’t the time to be distracted.
“Fine,” she said. “Just…be careful tonight, okay?”
Pulling her in closer, he pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “Always. You too.”
Shivers—pleasurable ones—ran from the base of her skull to the bottom of her spine. Cara’s throat-clearing finally brought her out of her haze, and Molly dragged her gaze away from John’s. “Right. Okay. So one of us will go to the Langston address that Cara checked out this afternoon, and one will hit up the Denver location.” She looked at her sisters, seeing the apprehension Norah was trying to hide. “You’ll only be called in as backup if the world is ending, got it?”
Even as her sister nodded, John protested. “No.”
“What?”
“I don’t want you by yourself.”
She gave him a steady look. “Since all of our potential backup is fleeing at the mere mention of Sonny, we don’t really have any choice, do we?”
Although he didn’t look happy, he stopped protesting. “Fine, but I’m taking the Denver location.”
“Fine.” In fact, Molly was a little relieved that she wouldn’t have to deal with an unknown building in Denver. She rarely went, especially now that the city reminded her of her mom’s crime and the detectives who were after them.
Despite having gotten his condition accepted, John still looked unsettled. “You can take my car. I’ll borrow my buddy’s. He owes me one.”
Molly was tempted to argue, but she let it go, telling herself to pick her battles wisely. Besides, she loved John’s car. It smelled like him.
Norah placed a tablet on the table. “Now that the logistics are settled, let’s talk building plans.”
Although Molly was focused on her sister’s diagrams, a part of her was hyperaware that John Carmondy was sitting next to her and that they’d just had sex. The word made her frown, sounding too clinical for the incredible experience they’d had together. Made love. She immediately shoved the words into a dark box at the back of her mind. She wasn’t ready to figure out how deeply she’d fallen for John Carmondy.
After they’d gone over the layouts and set up plans that basically involved watching the buildings and calling the cops if Sonny showed up, Norah and Cara wished them luck before both slipping out of the kitchen, as if there’d been a prearranged signal to leave her alone with John. She moved to leave, but he caught her hand.
“I can’t discuss anything remotely deep right now,” she blurted out before he could say anything. “Nothing about feelings, either. Not now.”
Instead of arguing, he just gave her fingers a squeeze before letting go. “That’s fine. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here. Your bedroom’s my time-share, after all, and you have equal rights to my couch.”
Contrarily, him giving her space made her want to move in closer. “It is a fabulous couch.”
“All yours.” He gave her a sweet smile and then gestured toward the doorway. “Let’s go get Sonny.”
As they walked out, emotions swirled around in Molly’s chest, and she wished she’d just blurted out how she felt. At least then it would be out, and he’d know how she felt, just in case he…
She didn’t allow herself to finish that thought.
They reached his car, and he opened the driver’s door for her. Instead of getting in, she took two handfuls of his shirt and shoved him back against the car. As his eyes widened in surprise, she yanked him down and kissed him, putting everything she was feeling, everything that she couldn’t say—all her worry and affection and confusion and the love that she didn’t want to admit, even to herself—into the press of her lips on his. It all poured out of her in one bruising, incredible kiss.
One of his hands cupped the back of her skull, and the other wrapped around her back, pulling her even more tightly against him. Not only was he not pulling away from her almost-violent embrace, but he was fully participating. Soon, though, it grew too intense, and she had to pull away, knowing that if she didn’t, she’d never be able to leave him.
They were both breathing hard as they stared at each other.
“Do. Not. Die.” She gave him a little shake with each word.
“I won’t. I promise.”
“No getting hurt, either.” Reluctantly, she released her grip on his shirt, smoothing out the wrinkles her fists had made, using them as an excuse to touch his ridiculously hard chest.
“Not even a paper cut.” His dimple popped out for a moment, but then he quickly sobered. “Stay safe. I don’t want to lose you right after you finally stopped snarling at me.”
“I never snarled—” She broke off when she saw that mischievous dimple reappear. “Brat. Okay. I’m leaving. Stay safe. If you die, I’ll revive you in a satanic ceremony just so I can kill you again.”
“Molly Pax. Always has a plan, even a post-death one.”
“Good thing for you.” She forced herself to get in the car. “Otherwise you’d still be bumbling around planless, waiting for me to find your skips for you.”
His mock-offended gasp made her roll her eyes and press back a smile. As she drove away, she couldn’t keep herself from glancing in the rearview mirror, just to get one final look at John Carmondy.
Chapter 21
Molly’s phone vibrated against her hip, and she quickly glanced at it, pretty sure who it was going to be from and what it was going to say.
I hate this plan.
Holding back a huff of amused exasperation, she quickly texted John back I know before sliding her phone back in her pocket. That was about the tenth time he’d texted her that, and that was after telling her that in person multiple times before they’d headed to their respective spots. She was fairly sure the only reason he agreed to the plan was that he was about ninety percent sure that the Denver address—the location that he was staking out—was where the action was going to be, so he’d figured that she’d probably be safe by herself at the Langston warehouse.
To her, it had been the only thing that made sense. After all, there were two possible locations for Sonny’s meeting, and there were two of them. Neither of them was going to try to interrupt the meeting, so they just needed to wait for Sonny to finish whatever nefarious business he was doing before following him and snagging him as soon as he was alone. It was something both of them had done by themselves hundreds of time to hundreds of skips. Sonny wouldn’t be any different. Molly had built him up in her head to be something of a white whale, but he was simply another bail jumper…one who liked to blow things up.
Despite her attempts to soothe her nerves, though, she was worrying about John just as much as he was obviously worrying about her. She just couldn’t admit it to him, or he’d be speeding back to Langston, plan abandoned.
Dragging her brain back on track, she shifted to a more comfortable position. She was perched on the edge of the neighboring building in the dark shadow of a cottonwood tree, watching the main entrance of the warehouse. The other doors were either the huge overhead kind that semi trucks could fit through or chained and locked, so this appeared to be the only possible way to access the building at night.
She shivered slightly, both from the chill in the night air and from anticipation, wishing John were with her right now. She’d gotten used to being a team, and working by herself again made her feel vulnerable and lonely. The previous hours ran through her head in vivid color—the way his soapy skin felt under her fingers in the shower and the long, intense kiss he’d given her before they’d split up—and she was suddenly no longer cold.
Peeking at her phone, Molly saw that it was just a few minutes before eleven and that John had sent her a frowning emoji. Swallowing a snort before it could escape, she focused on the entry again. Her heart rate slowed back to normal as she pushed thoughts of John out of her mind and concentrated on scanning the front of the building an
d the space around it. Nothing moved.
As the minutes ticked by, she grew more and more uneasy. Things were too quiet. Even as she watched the door, she knew in her gut that she was alone except for the night bugs and a few bats. No one was meeting at this warehouse tonight.
A chill crept back over her skin. If Sonny’s cohorts weren’t here, that meant they were possibly at the Denver location with John. The silent buzz of her phone made her jump, and her fingers trembled slightly as she pulled it out. The text was from John, and she relaxed slightly when she saw his name, but the actual words on the screen made her stiffen.
Tell your boy goodbye.
Her heart stalled before stuttering back into motion too fast, like a startled jackrabbit’s, her fingers suddenly numb and fumbling as she texted back.
Who is this?
There was no answer.
Her skin went clammy as she stared at her screen, unable to tear her gaze off that menacing text. Something had happened to John. Just as she knew that no one would be showing up at this address tonight, she also knew that John was in trouble. Terror roiled in her gut. She had to get to him.
Scrambling to her feet, trying hard to ignore the twenty-foot drop to the asphalt below, she rushed for the back where a work truck had been parked conveniently close to the building. It was a struggle to descend cautiously, to not just hurl herself onto the roof of the truck cab, heedless of noise or safety. Even though she was terrified that something had happened to John, she shouldn’t blindly run right into a trap. She needed to plan.
Slipping from the top of the cab into the truck bed, she jumped to the ground, hardly noticing the sting as her boots hit the pavement. She could barely keep herself from running the few blocks to where John’s car was parked.
Not wanting to stop long enough to text, she called Cara once she was in the car.
“They have John.” The words spilled out as soon as her sister answered.
Cara sucked in an audible breath, but when she spoke, her voice was calm. “I’ll grab Norah. Are you picking us up?”
