“I’m sorry. Yes, call Chance. Set him on that path. But I don’t think we should lay low. Not anymore.”
“What are you suggesting?” David asked.
Reese’s face settled into a determined expression. “I’m tired of running. And I’m tired of living under this goddamn cloud. I need to go back to Sydney and figure out what the hell is going on. I’m not doing any good here. If Chaz was looking for something in the house, and it had anything at all to do with his father, chances are it’s in the files. And if it’s not, then I’ll confront him and ask what the hell is going on. It’s been years. Maybedecades. It’s time.”
Part of David was proud of Reese. He wasn’t thinking about hiding. He was charging in. Head first.
And leaving David behind.
“When do you want to leave?” Mati asked, her eyes darting to David.
“I can go right now. You should stay here with David.”
“Not a shot in hell,” she fired back.
“Fine, then we should leave first thing in the morning. That way we don’t drive all night again.”
David swallowed past the lump in his throat, his chest stupidly tight. He fought to keep his expression blank.
Reese turned to him. “How much time do you need?”
David forced himself not to say weeks, months, years.“For what?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“To pack. To do whatever you need to do to leave town. Oh—do you have a passport? Damn, I didn’t think of that. Well, if you don’t, we’ll have to see about expediting one. I bet Chance knows where we can do that here in the city.”
David blinked, his brain blitzed. “I have a passport?”
“Excellent.” Reese started enumerating a list of things they would need to do before departing, literally ticking tasks off on his fingers.
“Reese,” Mati said, stopping Reese’s litany. “I think you’ve thrown David for a loop.”
Reese drew up short. “Oh. I—I didn’t. You might not want—you could.” His arms went limp at his sides. “Would you like to come home with us?”
Mati smiled fondly and looked at Reese like he was an idiot.
David knew how he should respond. If he felt like this now, what would it be like when they sent him packing in a few days? A week? Maybe two? He’d been in a freefall for years, foolishly hoping that working for Chance would somehow bring him back to earth. Anchor him again. The last thing he needed to do was pull up stakes and take off for Canada for who knew how long. He wouldn’t be able to bring his gun. He’d have to sleep in strange beds. He’d have to extend his leave from McCormick.
What was really shocking, though, was that he didn’t care. Not about any of it.
He wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
“Yes.”
Reese sagged with relief. Mati laughed. David’s heart twisted in his chest, his hope growing.
“Thank you,” Reese murmured, kissing him gently.
David had no idea what Reese was thanking him for, but he was very, very welcome.
Chapter Twenty-Three
David was in Canada.
He’d been here once before, in high school. His senior class had claimed it was to ski, but as far as David knew, they’d all come to get the kind of education down on St. Catherine’s street you couldn’t get in school.
Other than that, he’d only left the country twice—once to Cancun in college, and once to the Virgin Islands after graduation. This was the first time he was doing it with the expectation of staying sober most of the time.
He still wasn’t sure Mati and Reese weren’t pranking him with this money. He’d seen the coins called loonies and toonies. Eleven-sided coins and two kinds of metal and bears stamped on it. It was cool, but also weird. But the paper money—or, not paper, since it was a rainbow of colors andplastic—felt cheaper than Monopoly money. Reese swore it was harder to counterfeit.
