“Do you want me to go buy you some books?” I asked.
“No! I want you to tell meyourstory. You can embellish a little if you want, though.”
“Oh, trust me, nothing needs to be embellished.”
She gasped. “How big is it?” Holding out her hands like she was sizing a fish, she asked, “Like this?”
Laughing, I settled myself in to start the tale, but a knock sounded on the bedroom door before Angel popped his head in.
“Ari, are you good to stay here with your sister for a few hours?” he asked.
“Yeah, of course. I have no plans today. I can stay as long as you need.”
“Good.” He walked into the room and smiled down at Markie, brushing a strand of hair from her face and kissing her gently. “I’m gonna go help Bones with a job.”
“Be careful.”
“Always, baby. Don’t overdo it.” Then looking at me he said, “Feel free to strap her to the bed if she tries to do too much.”
“I don’t even want to know why you have straps for your bed,” I replied.
Laughing, Angel left.
As soon as he was gone, I gave in and told Markie everything. She listened intently, only interrupting to ask questions and get more of the details I tried to gloss over. I couldn’t help but appreciate the way our relationship had changed since she’d come back. I was so glad she planned to stay for good.
“So, what are you going to do?” she asked after I finished.
“I told you, we’re keeping it casual.”
“It doesn’t sound like you want to keep it casual.”
I shrugged. “It’s safer. Nobody has any expectations, nobody gets hurt.”
She frowned. “I want you to be happy.”
“I am happy.” I grabbed the remote control from the night stand and pointed it at the flat screen television hanging on the wall above a dresser. “But this conversation has gotten way too deep. Let’s find something to watch that’ll make us laugh.”
She giggled. “You said deep.”
Feeling more content than I had in a long time, I curled up next to my sister and watchedThe Proposal.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Bones
NO WONDER I hadn’t found Matt. The bastard had been hiding out in Goodsprings, a little hole in the ground located about forty minutes southwest of Vegas. Angel and I took his Hummer. He drove as I used his laptop to navigate past the old Pioneer Saloon and into a depressed residential area made up of mostly old manufactured homes.
“Hang a left here,” I said, watching the screen. We were closing in on the little red light that represented Matt’s phone. “And a right here. Looks like it’s at the end of the next block.”
“Which side of the street?” Angel asked.
“Left. That yellow single-wide right there.” I pointed ahead to a trailer that had definitely seen better days. The siding was peeling away, and old tires held down the roof.
Angel slowly drove past the trailer as I checked it out. A beat up old Ford Taurus sat in the driveway, but there were no signs of life. Like all the homes around it, the yard was nothing but dirt and sagebrush. The one window that faced the street had dark plastic taped over it.
Angel parked two houses down and we both scanned the area. It was still morning, and people in this part of town were either working or still passed out from the night before, because nothing moved.
“How do you want to play this?” Angel asked.
