“Absolutely.”
“Thanks, D.”
He left her alone to focus as he focused.
Surprisingly, even though he suspected it would, the boredom never crept in. It was a Thursday night but people were out and about, getting home for the evening, driving in, walking up, strolling down the halls. There was so much happening, even as more time passed, there was no way not to stay alert.
Half an hour later, Sixx said in his earbud, “I need another ten.”
“You got it,” he replied.
Though she didn’t.
Five minutes later, the dude’s car drove in.
He put the transmitter to his mouth. “Man’s home. Just drove in. Get out.”
“Roger that,” she said.
Roger that.
Feeling heavy from just about everything, but most recently his chat with his sister, that still made him smile because this gig was the shit.
He gave her some time to focus and then he gave her a blow by blow.
“He’s not to the garage door yet and your hallway is clear.” He waited. “He hit the garage door and he’s through. Hallway still clear.”
He waited and saw her come out of the apartment.
She locked the door, boogied down the hall, reached up and grabbed the camera she’d mounted.
Static on that box on the screen.
He caught her in the elevator, looking right at their guy who was coming out going up as she was getting in to go down.
She nodded to him.
The guy nodded back having no clue the stranger he’d just nodded to spent the last hour plus in his pad.
“Totally the shit,” he muttered.
She grabbed camera three (elevator), camera two (garage) and camera one (lobby) and she was out, hoofing it to D’s truck, all while D put the binocs in their case and zipped the transmitter in its. After the lobby camera went out, he powered down the laptop, slapped it shut, wound up the cable neat and had it all ready for her as she climbed in.
She took the stuff after she shut the door. When she stowed it in its bag, he gave her his earbud.
But he didn’t want to.
James Bond never had a kickass pickup.
But Diesel rocked that shit.
He turned to the wheel and started her up in order to drive Sixx to where they’d left her car.
“Get what you need?” he asked.
“Nope.”
He tried to keep the hopeful out of his, “You need to go back?” And that hope was not all about another potential five hundred bucks.
“I had lots of time in there, D. This guy is not a mastermind and thus able to hide his shit. He’s an average Joe. So average, it’s a wonder his vanilla self didn’t blend into the background so he was invisible as I walked by him getting off the elevator. His ex is going to have to get creative about reasons to take him to the cleaners with this divorce. The man doesn’t even have condoms in the house . . . anywhere.”
What newly single dude didn’t have condoms?
Anywhere?
Jesus.
“Bummer,” D muttered, pulling into the road.
“You win some, you lose some,” Sixx replied, like it was all the same to her.
Then again, it was. She got paid either way.
D had too. He had five crisp one hundred dollar bills in his wallet.
Another bit of goodness about the woman, Sixx paid in advance.
“Just to say, you got other gigs you need eyes or anything, you know my number,” he told her.
“Glad to hear that since my usual backup is pregnant and she’s about to go offline at her husband’s decree. He’s in the family business, I work with him too, but they have their own jobs so going solo makes his time tight. You got good instincts. Thanks for the rundown when he was coming in, by the way. So yes. It isn’t regular I need an assist, but it happens and that’s not rare. So I’ll be taking you up on that.”
Brilliant.
“Be obliged you teach me how to pick a lock,” he shared.
“Then we’ll add some field trips on our schedule,” she replied immediately.
Stellar.
“Bored with the day job?” Sixx asked.
He worked road construction.
It didn’t suck.
But there were no transmitters.
“Just good with the absence of neon orange vests but the presence of a shitload of cash for doin’ practically nothing in my wallet,” he told her.
“Practically nothing to you is peace of mind allowing focus for me, D,” she replied. “That’s worth more than five bills, but I don’t think I’d get away with any more on my expense account.”
“You get a golden goose, definitely hit my number.”
She laughed and he let himself grin at the windshield.
He dropped her at her car and she stood in the open door saying, “Tell Molly and Maddox I said hello and we’ll find a time for that dinner party soon, D.”
“They say hey back and yeah. Look forward to that,” he replied.
She didn’t move from the door. Just stood there, looking through the cab at him.
And then, proving the goodness never ended with Sixx, she said quietly, “You can hit my number anytime too, D. I’m always there for you at the other end of the line.”
She didn’t back that up with shit, getting in his face about knowing something was bugging him, pushing him to share.
She just dipped her chin, stepped out of the door, closed it and strolled on her long legs to her Cayenne.
He watched her swing in and didn’t start moving until he saw her headlights go on.
Since they were both headed east, she followed him down Camelback but turned left on 44th to head to Paradise Valley while he turned right on it to skirt Arcadia and head to the area that didn’t have nineteen hundred square foot houses that cost eight hundred grand.
D parked beside Maddox’s truck, hauled his ass out, beeped his locks and let himself in the house.
He was not surprised the little lamp on the table by the door was lit.
That would be Molly.
He dumped his keys in the bowl and turned the lamp off.
He was also not surprised the under cupboard lights in the kitchen were lit.
That would be Maddox.
He flipped those off before heading to bed.
The hall was dark. The back bedroom door open, the room beyond it dark.
He hit it and saw through the moonlight Molly cozied up to Maddox’s side, both on their stomachs. The covers were up to her shoulders because the AC was cranked down, even at night, ceiling fan on. The fan was white noise they all needed, but also breeze and AC that Mad needed since his body ran hot in sleep which was why the covers were up to Mol’s shoulders, but only up to his middle back.
Neither moved as he came in but he saw Molly was wearing a nightie which meant Maddox hadn’t fucked her before they fell asleep. If he had, she’d be naked. Her choice, before-sleep fucks meant she stayed in bed, her men cleaned her up and then she passed out.
So there’d been no fucking.
That was interesting.
D moved to the walk-in and dumped his boots and clothes in the dark.
As he walked back out into their room, naked, he had a strange urge to walk right out, go to their guestroom and sleep there.
Leave them be.
By force of habit, his feet took him to his side of the bed.
He hadn’t even reached to the covers when he saw Maddox’s head and shoulders come up, turned his way.
“Good?” he whispered.
“Yeah, buddy,” D whispered back, carefully pulling back the covers to slide in.
He was in on his back in bed and still, Maddox hadn’t lowered down.