“You’re playing a game of chess with rules you have no idea have changed. I, for one, would normally sit back and watch you get destroyed, but I have an unusual stake in the outcome of this particular game, so I thought I’d lend you a hand.”
The bar noise continued around them, low murmurs of conversations, clinks of glasses, and the annoying hum of the old television in the corner. Tyson fought not to visibly react. Who the fuck was sitting across from him and how was he connected to Rose?
“And what is this hand going to cost me?”
“Nothing more than you were already willing to pay. The chaos of moving your particular piece into play is my remuneration.”
Tyson was not sure he liked free information.Nothingwas ever free. There was always a price, even if it was hidden.
A piece of paper slid across the table with what appeared to be coordinates on the east coast of the United States. “Mount Grove, Pennsylvania. That’s where you’ll find your son.” Tyson was unable to hide his reaction at the mention of his son. He’d never heard of Mount Grove, but seeing as he’d been handed the presumed coordinates of the town, he’d soon be very familiar with the place. “You should know, she’s been there for weeks. Has practically an army at her back now. Furthermore, her sister has now joined her. You’ll need more than,” a hand flicked towards the bar, “your measly bodyguards.”
Fuck, so much for them being inconspicuous. Tyson had brought them with the hopes that Corrigan would give him something that made him dispensable now. He needed to get rid of this fucking noose around his neck.
Another piece of paper was slid across the table. A picture this time of a little boy with bright blue eyes and blonde hair. He was in the arms of a man with a ridiculous amount of band-aids on his bruised body and glasses. Both boy and man were smiling at the woman walking next to them in the photo. It was clearly a surveillance picture, not posed for appearance’s sake.
As Tyson picked it up, he was told, “Your three missing mercs are buried there as well. He took them out.”
Tyson nearly snorted but was able to contain the gut reaction.Him? The man in the photo looked like a nerdy loser who couldn’t take a punch, and what the fuck was with all those band-aids? “You said there was practically an army there. What does that mean?”
“Really, Marshal? Need I do all the work for you? A simpleGooglesearch will tell youexactlywhat that means. Buckle up, buttercup. For the first time in your life, you’re actually going to have to fight a battle for yourself. Personally, I don’t think the little bastard is worth it, but clearly you do. Just remember,Kennedy, my fee for this information is chaos, and you better deliver. I don’t give second chances. Fail me, and you won’t have to worry about going back to prison. There are many seedier places in the world worse than this bar—and every single one of them would pay me a fortune to make you their bitch.”
* * *
As Roseand Poison sat on the couch, Keys took Oscar into his bedroom to get the boy ready to go to sleep. The numerous band-aids Oscar had put on him earlier had already been removed when Keys had gotten into the shower to clean off the blood and grit. Other than his split lip and the occasional scratch, it was mostly bruises. It was a good thing he gave Rose his glasses to hold, or they likely would have been destroyed.
There was no doubt in his mind that he would be hurting something awful the next day, but he also couldn’t argue that he didn’t deserve it. Rose could, and did, but Keys understood and respected Poison’s position.
Keys stayed with Oscar longer than necessary, wanting to give the sisters time to talk, to figure out where they went from here. Didn’t seem like the sort of conversation he needed to be a part of. He knew his and Rose’s future, and Poison had a choice to make if she wanted to be a part of it.
Waist-high bookshelves lined one wall of Oscar’s room. When Keys had designed the room, he’d recalled how Rose praised Oscar for his love of reading, and wanted to give the boy as many books as he wanted. Most were classics, while others were educational that he would grow to use.
Curled up on the Lightning McQueen toddler bed with Oscar did not help his bruises or sores at all, but Keys wouldn’t have turned down Oscar’s invitation for him to lay down with him while they read a book for anything. Then again, after he figured out how to squeeze into the little bed, Keys realized getting backup might be harder than he anticipated. There was a growing chance Keys might have to spend the night here, unless Rose came in to assist him up, and they could do it without disturbing Oscar.
“That’s the Daddy Dino and that’s the Mommy Dino,” Oscar explained as they flipped through aNational Geographicdinosaur atlas. “And see all those eggs? Those are the Oscar Dinos!”
Keys raised an eyebrow. “What’s an Oscar Dino?” He currently had Baxter tucked under his arm as Oscar held the large yellow book between both his hands. Per Oscar, Baxter was guarding Keys against the “mean lady”. Poison had a long way to go to win Aunt of the Year in Oscar’s eyes.
“That’s all the baby dinos, silly!” Oscar giggled, not sounding sleepy in the slightest.
But of course. How foolish of Keys to have asked that question. “Right, right. That’s certainly a lot of Oscar dinos.”
“They’ll be hatching soon,” Oscar said with the confidence of a doctoral paleontologist. “And then they get to live with their mommy and their daddy and get lots of toys. They’ll be a family!”
Keys glanced down at Oscar. “Is that what you want, too?”
“Sure! I love toys.”
Keys couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, I meant a family. You, me, and your mom? Is that what you want, too?”
Frowning, Oscar looked at him over his shoulder. “We’re already a family.” Turning back to the book, he pointed at the dinosaurs standing over a nest of eggs. “I told you, there’s the Mommy Dino and the Daddy Dino. That’s you and Mommy.” Then he pointed to the eggs. “And that’s me, but I’m already hatched.”
Smiling, Keys leaned over and kissed Oscar’s blonde hair. “Tell me more about this dino family. What are some things they’ll get to do together?”
“Play games and go to the park! And swimming. Oscar Dinos love to go swimming.”
“Yeah?” Closing his eyes, Keys laid his head on Oscar’s pillow with designs of a pool floating about his brain. Maybe indoor would be best so Oscar could use it all year round. “What else?”
“And coloring and painting. They like to build things with blocks and LEGOs. Oh! And they like to watch Paw Patrol together.”
