“Turns out the guy was a complete ass,” Ink added. “He had all these videos that he’d taken of girls through the windows of their dorms. Anything to identify the girls had been blocked out, but it was clear what he was doing.”
“Good for them,” Cash said. “I’d do the same if I had those sorts of skills.”
“I don’t object to what they did, just the way they did it. They really don’t need to get kicked out of college. Anyway, back to you being on the roster for the safe house. Are you forgetting that you don’t work for me?”
That’s right. Cash was only here out of the goodness of his heart, right?
Although she couldn’t really understand why he cared so much. Why was he putting himself at risk? Was it really just because she climbed into the back of his truck and he felt responsible for her?
That didn’t make a lot of sense.
“You’re going to need people to watch them. I’m free. I have the skills to take care of them. So does Ralen. So put us on the roster.”
“And what about the person you actually work for? How would he feel about all this?”
Were they keeping Cash from his actual job?
She couldn’t let him do this. He needed to go to work, or how was he going to pay all his bills?
“Let me worry about that,” Cash said.
“The last thing I need is your boss coming for me,” Ink replied.
“He won’t.”
There seemed to be some subtext that she didn’t understand, or maybe she was just too tired to figure it out. Exhaustion was pulling her under, and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open.
She couldn’t fall asleep here. She still wasn’t safe. No matter that her body seemed to think otherwise with Cash around.
“Just put me on the roster. I’ll figure everything else out,” Cash said.
Ink shook his head. “I can’t have you pulled away to go do something else.”
“I won’t be.”
There was a tense silence between them.
“If I get called away, I’ll let you know, and I won’t leave until there is someone there to protect them,” Cash said. “Look, youdon’t have to put me on the roster, but I’m going to be there, all right?”
“Yeah, all right.” Ink sent him a knowing look that she didn’t understand, then he turned back around and glanced over at Stone. “We’re not being followed?”
“Not as far as I can tell,” Ethan Stone said. “I’ll check in with Captain but I haven’t seen anyone who looks like they’re following us and have taken a roundabout route.”
“Good. Then let’s go to the safe house.”
28
Cash didn’t like how quiet Addie was. Well, she was always quiet, but at the moment she seemed completely withdrawn.
They were in the living room of the safe house. Dotty was asking a million questions while Monroe just stood in the middle of the room and stared at everyone. She seemed dazed. Addie was curled up in a corner of the sofa with his jacket over her, trembling. Stone and Captain were outside, keeping watch, while Ink tried to answer Dotty’s questions and Ralen stared at Monroe in concern.
Butch was prowling through the house as though he thought there might be a threat hiding under the bed.
Cash walked over, crouching in front of Addie. “Ahh, Stowaway. You’re exhausted, aren’t you? And hungry. I can make something soft for your throat. What would you like?”
She just stared at him, shaking. Shit. He had the feeling that she couldn’t make any decisions right now. That she was completely overwhelmed.
And that was okay with him. He didn’t mind making the decisions. In fact, he preferred it. The only problem was he didn’t have enough information to take care of her properly.
