Cigarette Man climbed the steps and held the door while Bo strolled out and made a beeline for Lucky. Bo. Finally. And alone.
After a quick left to right perusal, Lucky grabbed the man he’d been within reach of for the last few hours but unable to touch.
“Aaaak!” Bo struggled all of three seconds.
Nothing shut the man up quicker than a tongue to the mouth. After a moment, Bo answered passion with passion, slamming Lucky against the side of his Durango.
Oh, hell yes. Lucky ground against his man. Five minutes, all he needed—or less. Nights like last night made him want to hold on and never let go. But he had to. “What’s your plans for the next few hours?” he stepped back enough to ask.
“I heard you needed a ride to your parents’ house.” Bo jutted his chin out. “I’m driving you.”
Stubborn looked good on the man. Lucky ought to argue, put his foot down. Bo had to be worn completely out and in need of a few hours’ sleep. He couldn’t be up to a visit to Redneckville. Being bone-weary himself took the fight out of Lucky. Maybe he should sleep first, but no, he needed to be with his family. If they’d have him.
And he needed to be with Bo. Bo acting as driver also meant no more undercover—for now.
Damned if giving statements didn’t become more time consuming each time. Seven fucking A.M. Not the hour of day to come calling unannounced.
“Okay. You win.” Arguing with a smart man like Bo used up energy Lucky’d rather keep.
The Dimple peeked out of Bo’s cheek and disappeared. Yup, probably too tired to pull off a megawatt smile. “What? You’re giving in so easily? I didn’t even have to employ any of your mother’s techniques to pull you into line.”
Double-teamed. He’d keep an eye on his partner around his mother. Charlotte too. “Just remember, there’s more Lucklighters where we’re going. Lots of ‘em.”
“I’ll take my chances. Now get in the truck.” Bo jogged around the hood and got in the driver’s side.
Lucky crawled into the passenger seat, buckled himself in, and called his Mom’s cell phone. “Mama. I need to see you. Can I come by?”Please say yes! Please say yes!
Silence. Not good. Finally, his mother answered, “Yes, I suppose I’ve kept things from your father long enough. Charlotte’s been begging me to let her talk to him. I reckon it’s time.”
“Okay, see you soon.” Lucky ended the call. “Here’s the address, or close enough.” He punched a store near the farm into Bo’s navigation system. Even satellites couldn’t find the Lucklighter farm.
Bo gave Lucky’s hand a squeeze and pulled out onto the road. “I heard you went to urgent care last night. Everything okay?”
“Yep. Just banged up a little.”
“Good. Seeing you hit the ground like to have made my heart stop, let me tell you. It was all I could do not to say ‘fuck the case’ and come running out to check on you.”
“Same happened to me when I heard shots.” And envisioned Bo lying in a pool of blood. The no-fraternization rule at work made more and more sense. Distracted agents became liabilities, or worse, dead agents.
One side of Bo’s mouth quirked up. “Aren’t we a pair?”
“A pair of what?”
They passed a club Lucky used to haunt with Victor. No need pointing out such a landmark to Bo. Twenty minutes later stores and office buildings gave way to green fields and black barns of tobacco farms.
With each mile Lucky’s heart pounded harder. Almost home.
And then the surroundings grew more and more familiar. “That’s where I went to high school,” he pointed out. Nothing like the massive school buildings in Atlanta. Might as well give his partner the grand tour. “And over there’s the feed and seed. I went there a lot with my dad when I was a kid.” The twinge in Lucky’s chest had nothing to do with his surgery. The post office and a handful of businesses rounded out the wide spot in the road Lucky used to dream of leaving.
He rolled down his window, letting fresh air wake him. “We don’t have Starbucks, but stop at the convenience store, m’kay?” Coffee. Even decaf, might make him feel human again.
Not one damned thing seemed to have changed since Lucky last came home over twelve years ago. He left, and life continued without him at the same molasses pace.
Birds chirped in the trees when he got out of the car, and he caught a slight whiff of honeysuckle and freshly-mown hay. Home. He’d come home.
“You all right?” Bo placed a hand on Lucky’s shoulder, snapping him out of his daze.
“Just tired, I reckon. You?”
