Benson chuckled. “I’ll keep their security cameras on a loop for the next hour. Looks like our boy in the alley is waking up. Police should be there soon,anonymoustip— you’re welcome.”
“Talk to you later, Benson, thank you again.”
I hung up on him before he could get in any kind of snarky retorts or comments. I didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with him. But I was thankful for his skills and promptness.
“Why didn’t your gun make much of a sound back there?” She whispered as she rocked back and forth in the seat beside me.
I slapped it down, a little too hard between us, and pointed to the end of the barrel and the long piece attached to it. “This is a suppressor.”
She nodded her head, but her eyes were glazed over, and her teeth were beginning to chatter. My eyes zeroed in on the blood rolling down her face, and I let out another breath. I would need to take care of her. She likely had a concussion, and she was definitely in shock.
A name flashed across the screen of my radio, and I groaned. “Yes?”
Dimitri’s voice filled my car this time. “Don’t worry, my guys with the NYPD turned a blind eye to the shoe and bag and all the evidence you left behind. Thank God Benson called me and informed me of your extra-curricular activities so I could get things tied up with a nice bow.”
Poppy gasped beside me, and I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart. I’d been so worried about getting her to safety, I hadn’t even thought about taking care of my own hide.
“You owe me,” Dimitri didn’t bother with letting me get a word in. “You come to my city and keep making messes like this. You owe me.”
I sucked on my front teeth and blew out a breath. Ifthese idiots kept on… I wouldn’t have much of a secret. Poppy was smart; she would figure it out. She wouldhateme. “Whatever you want.”
“Stay awhile. Keep making messes. I’m having a blast. You’ve been entirely too boring as of late. We need some excitement around here.”
The line went dead, and I spared a glance at Poppy. Her eyes were wide before her brow furrowed as she mulled over what my brother said.
“He’s dumb.”
She nodded, woodenly, as I pulled into the parking garage. I helped her out and watched to make sure no one was around before I got her into the elevator and up to our floor.
“My sister,” she whispered. “She’s living with me.”
“I’ll bring you back to my room.”
As quickly as I could, I unlocked the door and pulled her gently into the room. I stopped in the foyer and bit down on my bottom lip. This wasn’t going to be good.
“I suppose this means you don’t play a musical instrument…” Poppy stared, wide-eyed, at the array of weapons strewn about the room. I’d had to keep my hands and my mind busy and thought the best course of action was cleaning all of the weapons I brought with me… Clearly, I wasn’t thinking at all when I did that. I raked my fingers through my hair as she turned her gaze on me. “So are you special ops?”
My head moved on its own accord, up and down like a robot.
What else could I say to explain all of this? There was nothing else to say except to lie.
“Can you not talk about it?”
“It’s best not to,” Was she already putting the pieces together?
“Are you like a contractor?”
I shrugged. “More or less.”
“So people hire you to do jobs for them?”
She was definitely putting all of this together. I was toast. Burnt toast. I squatted down beside the bed and pulled the trauma kit free. I always kept one on me, especially after the accident with the antler. I patted the bed and looked up at her from my knees. Her eyes didn’t leave my weapons until I touched the alcohol pad to the side of her face, and she hissed through her teeth.
“I’m sorry, I wish I didn’t have to do this. How’s your shoulder?”
Her eyes widened before she reached up to rub it, as if it were forgotten. Adrenaline would do that to you. “Hurts a little but, it’ll be okay.”
I nodded as I continued to clean the dried blood from her face then spritz a numbing spray on it. I pulled the sutures from the box and prepared the needle. She blew out a breath as she watched my hands work. “Thank you.”
