Page 33 of Armed ’N’ Ready

“It’s better you don’t know. You should stay out of this.”

“Stay out of this?” She gave the phone a look of disbelief. “Thanks to you, I’m in this whether I like it or not. I already told you police and federal agents searched your house, and I had the extreme misfortune to be there when they broke in.”

“Oh Jesus, baby.” Nick clenched his jaw at Myer’s term of affection. It shouldn’t bother him, but it sure as shit did. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that would happen. I never meant to involve you in this.”

So is she? Involved? Christ, he hoped not. Fuck, Eric was right. Nick did want her to be innocent.

“I didn’t know, I swear it,” Myer continued, regret evident in his tone. “I never would have offered you my place if I had any idea that would happen. Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

Nick suppressed a few choice expletives. The idea that he—or any of them—would have hurt Andi pissed him off.

“No, they just”—she flicked her gaze at him—“frightened me.”

An exhaled breath came through the phone. “Did they take anything?”

Nick nodded, indicating it was okay for her to tell him.

“Just a few papers and some cash. They left a property receipt. You didn’t tell me I was your sole heir.” Her forehead creased. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I care about you. That hasn’t changed. I know I screwed us up a long time ago, but I never stopped loving you. If anything happens to me, I want…” His voice choked. “I want you to have my estate.”

“No, Joe.” She began shaking her head, and the angry look in her eyes softened. “Don’t talk like that. Whatever you’re involved in, I can help. But you should know they have a warrant for your arrest.”

“I had a feeling that was coming, but I can’t turn myself in.”

She looked at him, the plea for help obvious on her face. He pressed his lips to her ear. “Tell him the gangs are looking for him and there’s a bounty on his head. He can turn himself in and we’ll protect him. He can’t run forever.”

“Joe, you have to turn yourself in. There are people trying to hurt you, but the police can help you.”

“How, by throwing my ass in jail?”

“By protecting you.” She grabbed Nick’s wrist, tugging the phone closer. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he found it difficult to ignore how amazing her fingers felt on his skin. “You can’t stay in hiding forever. Sooner or later, they’ll find you.”

“Who, the bad guys, or the police?”

The hold she had on his wrist tightened, and she leaned in closer. “You have to answer for what you’ve done, and you have to tell them I had nothing to do with it.” The creases in her forehead deepened, and her voice began to shake. “But you can’t do that if you’re dead.”

Several seconds of silence passed, and for a moment he thought Myer had hung up. He strained his ears for sounds—something that would give him a clue as to where the guy was. A bell, a whistle, a foghorn, anything. But there was nothing.

“Come with me,” Myer said, his voice tinged with desperation. “We can leave the country and start a new life somewhere else. I can make you happy, Andi. I know I can.”

He scrutinized her reaction, irrationally gratified to see that she wasn’t reacting the way a woman in love would. Or an accomplice.

She released his wrist, and her body stiffened. “You know I can’t do that.”

Another moment of silence passed, this one lengthier.

“I know. It was just a thought. A Hail Mary.”

“Turn yourself in, dammit. I’ll help you. I promise.”

“I’ll think about it. I have to go.”

“No wait!” she cried, reaching for the phone. “Tell them I didn’t wire any money for you.”

But he was gone.

Nick set the phone onto a nearby table then turned back to Andi. “You did good.” And she had. She’d held it together and said all the right things. Now it was up to Myer.