“Ever’s there too,” Tommy says. “But we’re not sticking around. My job was to grab your car, drive you there, then Arlie’s going to arm you up, Everett will take a look at your shoulder, and then we’re out again.”

Before I can take a second to be relieved that Arlie won’t be someone I have to deal with constantly, Perry takes over.

“Wait a second, how did you get my car? I’ve got my keys.”

Tommy snorts. “Who needs keys?”

Then he turns off the street we’re driving along and onto a back road. It looks exactly like the creepy kind of place you’d bring someone to kill them. So I’m instantly filled with assurance that this is all totally fine and not another case of us having to run for our lives. Can I really hope for a third time lucky?

“Well, this looks creepy,” Perry says, sitting forward to look out the front windscreen. It brings him dangerously close to me, and while the urge to lean in a little and brush his hip is strong, so is the urge to poke him in the shoulder.

Bet his precious Arlie would never hurt him like that.

All I can hope for at this point is that she’s seventy-nine and Perry’s joking around.

But a few minutes later, when we pull up in front of a dinky little cabin with moss-covered wooden walls and a sheet metal roof, I find it hard to worry about them bringing us out here to shoot us in the head because the woman who’s waiting for us is a goddamn goddess.

Nothing like the constant reminder that you were only a means to getting off to help you value your own life a bit less.

I thought our kiss had been explosive.

Turns out it was only explosive to me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

PERRY

“You came!” I cry, jumping out of the car and attempting to throw my arms around Arlie. Except I forgot that one of them is basically out of commission, and instead of swamping her in a hug, I curl forward with an “owwww-shit-crap” instead.

Her warm chuckle makes me glance up. “I can’t believe I’m risking my meal ticket for you.”

“I appreciate it, if that helps.”

“Not a bit.” She reaches down to help me to my feet and steers me toward a camp chair next to a large fire pit. I’m not sure how they even get that thing going considering everything around here looks really fucking wet. We’re hugged by trees on all sides, the grass is being strangled by dirt and stones and dead leaves, and there’s a hint of decaying vegetation on the air.

I’ll take the smog of city life, thanks.

Arlie plants her hands on her hips and looks down at me. “How did you get yourself shot?”

“Occupational hazard of being a hero.”