I stop short just inside the apartment. Kendrick is stirring something on the stove, half turned and listening to something Henry is saying. Terror seizes my heart.
He’s watching you two.
Greer is right. He has been, and neither of us have noticed. He’s not just an average person, in over their head. But he alsoknows the police are looking for him. Who wouldn’t prioritise their own freedom over revenge?
Unfortunately, too many people.
And there’s no way that I’m letting anything happen to Kendrick, not again. I’ll kill every motherfucker that gets within fifty feet of him if I have to. Watch the entire world burn so that he’s safe and in my arms. I’ll leave as many bloody corpses behind me as it takes. Sacrifice anyone.
I quietly move to the small side table against the wall near the dining table and reach underneath, working the keypad until the drawer clicks open a fraction. Kendrick watches as I leave it like that but doesn’t say a word.
Loaded weapons are hidden in there, nestled in polyethylene foam. If something happens, I want to access them as quickly as possible. There are other ones in the hallway, the bedroom, and the bathroom. “Dinner ready?”
“Almost. Have a nice visit?”
“No. Seems the horse escaped their pen. Friends are looking for it, but there’s a chance it may get itself into trouble before they can find it.”
Kendrick’s gaze flicks back to the side table. “Got it.”
“You have a horse?” Henry asks curiously.
Chapter twenty-seven
Kendrick
“Stop looking at melike that.”
“Like what?” Spencer asks innocently. “How do you even know how I’m looking at you?”
I don’t need to face him to know. I can feelhis eyes boring into me “We’re working.”
“This isboring. I want to go shoot someone.”
“Take it up with Hunter,” I say absently. The boss threw three cases at us as soon as we were in the door, and the unfortunate truth is that it’s always a bunch of paperwork to start with before we can stalk the streets. Spencer isn’t usually quite so restless, though.
“Now there’s an idea.”
I anticipate his move and grab the arm of his chair, dragging it toward me before he can get up. “Don’t even think about it.”
“It wasyoursuggestion.”
With a sigh I drop my pen on the desk and turn to face him. “Come here.” He doesn’t need any more coaxing than that to climb into my lap. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m scared, Ken. I’m so fucking scared of you getting hurt again.”
Not quite what I thought would come out of his mouth. I should have known, after last night. He shoved extra guns all over the apartment—like we didn’t have enough already—and made me sleep with a knife under my pillow.
“Hey,” I soothe, running a hand down his neck. “I’m not getting hurt again.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.” It’s not a guarantee that anyone can make. “Just like I don’t want you getting kidnapped again, but you have a knack for getting yourself into trouble.” If he thinks that doesn’t keep me up at night, he’s wrong. We’re both carrying the scars from those few days. If we let it, it would consume us until we couldn’t leave the house without paranoia eating us alive.
I take his face in my hands and force him to look at me properly. “Whatever happens, we’ll get through it. We always do. Greer is gonna find this guy, and everything will be fine. He’s not the first criminal to try their shot at running. No matter where he goes, we’ll find him. He’s not even the worst case we’ve ever had.”
“Do you remember that beard guy?” Spencer laughs, and I like the sound much better than the fear. “Jericho was ready to rip his throat out with his teeth. Then quit and live out the rest of his life in the woods with the squirrels.”
“We don’t have squirrels in Australia.” He could have gone to New York with our killer friends, I guess.
