He straightens, mighty proud of himself. “I always use this mall as one of my dead drops for articles and pics. A friend of mine is head of security here and I pay him to put the cameras in maintenance mode whenever I make a deal. Essentially, that means turning them off for about an hour. Same today.”
“Congratulations, you did one thing right,” I say sarcastically as we walk across the parking lot.
Tally leans against my truck, blowing blue raspberry bubbles. She sees me and sprints to meet us halfway, throwing her arms around my neck.
“What took you so long? I was worried out of my mind!” She lets go and her eyes drift to Wolfe. “Hold up… that scrawny pensioner is our blackmailer?”
For the moment, I decide to withhold the fact that he’s also the paparazzo slandering her. I’m not sure how she’ll react and I want her to find out when we’re no longer in public. Then she can really let out her emotions, whatever they might be. Or however violent.
Ishrug. “Yeah, I was a bit disappointed at first.”
“Hey!” Wolfe protests.
“But I’ll admit the guy can run like hell,” I add.
“Thanks, I’ve run sprints and marathons since I was a teen!” Wolfe responds happily.
“Shut up!” Tally and I bark in unison.
I shove my elbow into Wolfe’s side and he wheezes. “Ain’t nobody talking to you! Have you forgotten that you’re a hostage? I don’t wanna hear another word from you unless you’re asked.”
Wolfe ducks, nodding.
Tally points. “Is thatbloodon his chest?”
“Naw. Tomato sauce. Those meatballs are pretty tasty. You should try one,” I suggest.
She gags. “No, thanks. I’m not hungry. Also, that’s gross.” She blinks, squinting at Wolfe. “Wait, I know him! He’s the fella who bothered me at the ‘Bottles & Boots’before our performance.”
“Damn right he is.”
“But why are his eyes so red? What in the world happened in the mall?” Tally fires more questions at me.
I deflate. “Aw right, you didn’t see my chase.”
“No, I headed straight to the truck like we agreed,” she says.
“Damn it. I bet I looked cool after the toddler stole my wig and I dodged the stroller and the kid with the ice cream. But youreallymissed out on turkey man. And then I told the mall cop we run a YouTube channel called ‘Senior Stunt Bros.’ I can’t believe he bought that.”
She blinks. “What thefuckare you talkin’ about?”
I rub over my mustache. Yeah, telling it like this makes me sound crazy. No wonder she’s confused.
“I’ll catch you up on the drive.” From my pocket, I take a cable tie and bind Wolfe’s hands behind his back. “Gethim in the truck and keep him in check with my shotgun. I gotta head back into the mall right quick.”
Tally grabs Wolfe’s arm. “Can’t you go shopping another time?”
“Listen, that perfume lady’s aim was insane. If it wasn’t for her, I might’ve lost our wily friend in the crowd,” I explain, realizing I still make absolutely no sense to her.
She giggles and shrugs. “Okay, I give up. Get your perfume and grab me something sweet while you’re at it, please? A coffee to go, too.”
“Will do.” I plant a kiss on her cheek.
Pink tints her face as she drags Wolfe to the truck.
“I love you!” I shout, throwing air kisses at her.
God, it feels so fucking good to be able to say it. I want to take a megaphone and yell across the parking lot, let the entire world know how much I adore her.
