He nodded slowly. “I guess so, yeah,” he agreed halfheartedly.
“What about you, Maddox?” Gunner asked, turning from the sink and depositing the last bowl on the drying rack. “You coming to Seattle anytime soon? Want to take us for a motorcycle ride around the city?”
I gestured to the workshop out back. “I’m not going anywhere for a while. My ass is sore and tired from two months of cross-country riding. I’ll be playing hermit for the rest of the fall, I imagine.”
Malcolm reached back, lightly touching his rear with his hand.
I guess I’m not the only one with a sore ass.
He adjusted his glasses, then stood up from the stool, glancing around the house one last time. “I guess we should get going, then,” he said. “Sorry again about breaking into your house.”
I shrugged. “It’s nothing I wouldn’t have done at your age.” Although back when I was in my early twenties, I probably would have pocketed a few choice items, too.
I glanced over at Gunner, considering for a second that he might have grabbed a few valuable items. When he smiled back at me, though, I felt oddly confident that he wouldn’t do that. Maybe he would rob some stranger or steal from some other house. But now that he knew me, I had a strong sense he would honor the trust I had shown by letting them stay.
“Yeah,” Gunner agreed. “Let’s get back to the city. I’ve got to apply for more bartending jobs, and Malcolm has a new apartment to track down.”
I stood to walk them out but paused when an idea started forming in my mind. With such a strong sense that I had something to offer them, maybe I should actually trust myself. Maybe I didn’t have to send them back to the city emptyhanded. After all, I had always been frustrated that I couldn’t do more to stop my family from exploiting other people. Yet here was Malcolm, a guy I might actually be able to help, standing right in front of me.
I pushed open the front door, stepping out to the porch. The sun was just rising above the treeline, and the morning birds were chattering away. “Actually, before you go, I think I might have an idea,” I said.
Gunner threw his arm over Malcolm’s shoulder, and they both stared back at me, their expressions open and warm. “You decide to give us a ride on that motorcycle after all?” Gunner asked. “Or maybe a whole other kind of ride…”
“Or maybe a job,” I said, cutting his flirtations off.
“You know a bar that’s hiring?” he asked, his face lighting up.
“Nothing like that,” I answered. “And nothing that’s going to let you quit your demolition job quite yet. But if you’re up for it, Gunner, I might be able to help you both out at once.”
They looked at each other skeptically and then turned back to me. “How?” Malcolm asked, his voice nervous. “You’re not going to harass my landlords, are you?”
“Nothing like that,” I said, remembering the story I had told the night before about my last motorcycle. “But I have something to confess to you. I’m no stranger to Richter Properties or the Richter family in general. In fact, the guy who owns your building is my uncle.”
Malcolm sputtered. “What? Are you serious?”
I nodded, the idea clicking together as I talked to them. “I know everything about their shady business, from the way they run their money to the schemes they use to cover their tracks. I’m familiar with every dirty trick they might play and every two-bit thug they’ll hire to do it.”
Gunner licked his lips, practically salivating in front of me. “We’re going to rob the landlords,” he said. “Fuck yeah.”
I shook my head. “Hardly,” I said. “Trying to rob them would just put us all in harm’s way. Anyway, we don’t need to make off with a sack of cash. Malcolm will still be out a place to live, and trust me, stolen money disappears faster than you can imagine.”
“What are you going to do, then?” Malcolm asked, his voice still anxious.
I pointed at Gunner, thrusting my finger at his chest. “I’m going to take Gunner here under my wing next week. We’ll use my knowledge of the business to keep an eye on things and document my uncle breaking the law. When we’ve got enough evidence together, I’ll show Malcolm how to file a complaint that won’t get swept away in the corrupt corners of the city government.”
I didn’t say the other part of the plan, the part that was probably just as important. I’d use the occasion to teach Gunner a few important lessons. I’d show him how to be safe and how to make smarter choices. I didn’t expect him to put his rebellious tendencies aside, but I did think I could help him put them to better use.
They were lessons I’d learned the hard way, one broken bone at a time. But if I were careful, I might be able to save Gunner a little bit of that pain and help him build an honest, stable relationship with Malcolm while I was at it.
“So we’ll be spies together,” Gunner said, thinking it over carefully. “That’s cool.”
“Won’t you be taking a big risk, though?” Malcolm asked, wrapping his arm around Gunner’s side as concern clouded his face. “I don’t want you both getting in trouble for my benefit.”
I reached out, squeezing his shoulder. “I promise you, Malcolm,” I said, keeping my voice steady so that he knew I was being truthful. “I have no intention of getting arrested or hurt, and I wouldn’t make an offer like this unless I was certain I could keep you both safe, too.”
They turned to each other, their eyes searching. “Cool,” Gunner finally said. “So what’s first?”
“First? You get back to your lives, and I take the bath I’ve been thinking about all month,” I said. “I’ll come to the city in a week or so, and we can take it from there.”
“Cool,” Gunner said again, with that glint back in his eyes.
“That sound good to you, Malcolm?” I asked. Considering he was at the center of the whole thing, I wanted to hear him say it.
“Yeah,” he answered. “If you think it’s a good idea, I trust you.”
And it was the weirdest thing, but as we said goodbye in the morning light, I trusted them, too.
As much as you could trust a couple of guys who broke into your house, that was.
