41
RUST
The wig capcompresses my skull. I can feel a tension headache coming on. Yeah, this thing is definitely Tally-sized.
Blinking through a curtain of shaggy blond hair, I survey the second floor of the Desert Vista Mall and nod my chin to instrumental pop music.
Shoppers stroll past windows. Kids munch on pretzels and laugh at a wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man in front of a sporting goods store. A dad with dark bags under his eyes and a sleepy baby strapped to his chest tries to lure his crying toddler away from a coin-operated kiddie carousel.
Teens hang around the entrance to the food court. They hold up their phones, clucking mockingly as they record a guy wearing the lower half of a turkey costume and offering meatball samples on toothpicks. It does look funny. Sorta like a merman but if mermen were half poultry, half human.
Other than these suburban mall shenanigans, nobody stands out.
Except for an overzealous saleslady patrolling outside a department store with a perfume bottle. She lunges, desperately trying to spray unsuspecting shoppers with a new fragrance. Poor thing must be on commission. She almost got me, too, but I dodged the sandalwood and lime-scented mist like Neo in The Matrix. Well, maybe not as dynamically.
At exactly two minutes to twelve, the elevator doors across the walkway open. Tally steps out, holding a greasy paper bag from the burger joint where we bought food last night.
My heart flip-flops in my chest.
Last night. Oh Lord, last night…
I can’t believe she fell back in love with me!
Frankly, I got no clue how my stupid ass managed to make her like me again and throw her friends-with-benefits rule out the window. I’m still half expecting her to take it all back. That makes me nervous as hell.
We didn’t talk about our future or what our confessions meant. What if she mistook the adrenaline from the crimes and the blackmail for love and once it’s all over her feelings will vanish?
No point worrying for now. First, I gotta take care of the asshole extorting my wife. That requires my full focus.
I pat my pocket where I carry her wedding ring in a zipper compartment of my wallet. Then I’ll figure out how to get that ring back on her finger.
Tally scans the area. Her eyes gloss over me to not arouse suspicion, but her lips twist into a smile.
She giggles through the earbud in my left ear. “Your new look is very… adventurous.”
“Didn’t you insist on radio silence? You’re just jealous cause blondes have more fun,” I snark.
“Jealous? You look like a scarecrow joined a 70s glam rock revival band.”
“I thought you wanted to be on a call to calm your anxiety, not make fun of my disguise!”
“That’s not a disguise. It’s a crime against fashion, Rust.”
I huff. “You’re the one who got overly excited with them dollar store scissors! I told you I don’t have the right face shape for bangs!”
“Well, I ain’t a hairstylist! It was the big chop or blond hair to your ass. What’s next, complainin’ about the artificial mall light washin’ out your tan? I think I liked you better as a brunette anyway.” Tally chokes down a laugh. “Okay, seriously now. Do you see the drop-off location?”
“Yeah, and unless our blackmailer is a mom with a stroller, he ain’t nowhere close. You’re good to go.”
Tally walks toward the trash can. She lingers, scrunching the top of the bag tighter before dropping it in and turning around. Her shoulders tense as she approaches the crowded escalator and rides it downstairs.
A heavy sigh filters through the earbud. “I’ll wait by the truck. But Rust, I’m scared. What if it doesn’t work?”
It kills me that I can’t hug her and comfort her right now. “Trust me. I’ll handle it.”
She sniffles. “Okay. Be careful. I need you back in one piece.”
“I’ll always come back to you, Trouble.”
