Journey to Cash Page 2

  “Will do.” I sketched a quick wave and left through the office.

  It took me thirty minutes to change clothes and style my hair and give myself a pep talk that this whole idea wasn’t bananas. Clothes and hair took about ten. Removing cat hair from my outfit was three. The rest was pep talk. Spending the majority of my savings on a business with a questionable survival rate was responsible and not a bad idea. It was all going to be fine.

  When I got back to the gallery in my pale pink blazer and indigo jeans, I couldn’t decide if I was a massive douche or the pinnacle of cool. But then I walked in and Van let out a long low whistle.

  “So I’m bangable?” I asked.

  “Totally, bro.”

  I looked over Van’s teal chinos and linen shirt. The shirt was unbuttoned about halfway down his chest. “You’re looking pretty great yourself.”

  “When you’re done fawning over each other, there are cases of wine and beer in my car that need to be moved inside,” Kyra said.

  “But we’ve barely fawned.” I did my best to look sad and confused.

  “Cash, people will start arriving literally any minute. If you don’t get those cases out of my car before that happens, I will throat punch you.” Kyra propped her fists on her hips and gave me a look that suggested she would not hesitate to throat punch me just to prove her point.

  The door opened and a couple in their early sixties came in. They were almost immediately followed by a group of Van’s grad students. I grinned at Kyra and backed away. In the time it took me to move six cases of booze inside, the gallery filled to about a third of its capacity.

  Kyra introduced me to a million people. I retained exactly zero of their names or faces. People continued to arrive. The sun dropped enough to fill the room with warm light. Van had been right about using it to our advantage. I glimpsed Nate and Robin and Andy but couldn’t manage to actually speak with any of them. I watched Andy acting very sophisticated with a champagne glass filled with sparkling water and hitting on a woman in her early twenties. Robin intervened. Andy pouted.

  Chapter Two

  On one of my circles around the gallery, I passed the office. Above the murmur of the crowd around me, I heard Lane’s voice. My initial confusion at hearing her voice coming from the office was immediately overshadowed when I heard the urgency and hint of fear undercutting her tone. I went into protector mode.

  “Lane, everything okay in here?” I rounded the corner and froze.

  Lane stepped in front of Laurel like she was shielding her. “She’s just leaving.”

  “No, I’m not.” Laurel tried to get around Lane.

  Lane’s jaw tightened. “Yes, she is.” She turned and forcibly pushed Laurel toward the back door.

  “Stop it, dammit.” Laurel planted her feet. “Cash, I’m sorry to just show up like this. I just need to talk to you for two minutes.” She tried to lean around Lane to see me.

  Lane leaned with her. “Tonight matters. You don’t get to show up unannounced and demand her time. You gave up that right.” She looked back at me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was going to show up here.”

  It took me that long to realize Lane was shielding me from Laurel. Not the other way around. It also took me that long to speak.

  “It’s okay. Thanks, Laney.” I reached out to her.

  Lane took my hand and squeezed. “It’s not okay. You don’t have to be nice to her.”

  “It’s fine. Give us a couple minutes. If I’m not out in five, you can come in and kick her ass.” I grinned.

  Lane rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She turned back to her sister. “You get two minutes.” She skirted around me to get out the door and I finally was able to see Laurel.

  I immediately wanted to leave the room. Laurel had two black eyes, a purple bruise along her jaw, and a dark line across her throat. Her arms were scraped and bruised.

  “So I see things are going well for you.”

  She took a shuffling step forward. She was favoring her left leg. “I didn’t know it was your opening night. I’m sorry.”

  “Laurel, what happened?”

  “Henry Brewer is back.” She held my gaze. “Reyes or Agent Michelson will contact you tonight or tomorrow. I just needed to tell you myself.”

  “Henry did this?”

  She took a slow breath and nodded. “He was trying to kill me. We don’t know much of anything so we—they—I mean. They have to assume you or Nate or Clive could be his next target.”

  “How bad are you hurt?”

  She half shrugged. Her T-shirt was thin and I could see the outline of a white bandage on her shoulder. “Mostly just bruises.”

  “It looks like more than that.”

  “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine. I just didn’t want you to hear it from a stranger,” she said as if she wasn’t a stranger. “That’s all.” She held up her hands in placation. The same dark line stretched across her left palm. Henry had tried to strangle her with something. “Lucas will make sure you’re safe.” She turned and headed for the door.

  “You know that’s not fair. You don’t get to stop by after seven months, drop a bomb like that, and leave.”

  She stopped but didn’t turn. “What else am I supposed to say?”

  I tried to come up with a rational answer. “Well, I don’t know. But that’s fucking shitty.” I didn’t know why I was surprised at that. “I guess that’s your MO.”

  “I guess so. I’m sorry.” She walked out. I saw her shadow blend into the trees out back before she disappeared around the side of the building.

  “You okay?” Lane asked from behind me.

  I turned toward her. “Not really.”

  She came all the way into the office and hugged me. “I’m sorry. I tried to get rid of her.”

  “It’s okay. Not your job.”

  “Yeah, but I’m the one who told her we were at the gallery tonight.” She squeezed me once more, then let go. “I mean, I didn’t think she was going to show up here but still.”

  “In that case, yeah, totally your fault.” I grinned.

  “You’re a dick.”

  “Did she tell you what’s going on?” I asked.

  “No. She only got here a minute before you came in. We were arguing over her barging into your opening with her face fucked up.” Lane hugged herself. “Is she okay?”

  I shrugged. “She said she was, but you saw her. Did you hear what we were talking about?”

  “Of course. I was eavesdropping. Someone tried to kill her? Who is Henry Brewer?”

  “My old business partner. He was a sheriff up in El Dorado County. He used to steal drugs from the evidence locker for me to sell.”

  “Oh, shit. Isn’t he the one who tried to kill Laurel last summer?”

  “Yep, that’s the one.”

  “So your ex-girlfriend just showed up after disappearing for months to tell you your old business partner is back and hasn’t gotten any less homicidal? Did I get that right?”

  I stared out the window at the darkened yard with its collection of romantic, terrifying shadows. There was a breeze picking up. Or maybe Laurel was still out there. Or maybe Henry was. “Also my mother showed up this afternoon and asked if she could get to know me.” I tore my gaze away from the yard. Lane was staring at me, stunned. “Hoo boy. I’ve been trying to say that out loud for the last”—I checked my watch—“six hours or so.”

  “Cash.”

  “It’s okay. I’m okay. It’s just been a long day.”

  “What are the chances I could take you home?”

  I forced a smile. “Slim. I have to be here until we wrap up.”

  “Yeah.” She pursed her lips and nodded. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  I shook my head. I just needed to get through the next few hours and then I could go home. Laurel hadn’t said it was unsafe to go home. “Shit. Yes, actually.”

  “What?” Lane perked up at the possibility of helping.

  “I need
to give Nate and Robin a heads-up, but if I go out there, I’ll never make it through all those people.”

  “I got you.” She pulled out one of the refurbished chairs in front of the desk and directed me into it. “Chill here for a minute. I’ll be right back.”

  I did as I was told. I slid down in my chair to lean my head back. It was stupid comfortable. When we were furnishing the gallery, I’d introduced Kyra to my former client Patricia. The gallery’s bank account took quite the hit, but Kyra and Patricia had chosen exquisite vintage furniture. Patricia said I deserved it for forcing her to buy from Jerome. She wasn’t wrong.

  “Congratulations, man.” A warm hand gripped my shoulder for a moment. I opened my eyes. Nate was pulling out the chair next to me. He held out a beer, which I gratefully took. “Lane said you needed this.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Xiao.”

  He laughed. “I told you to stop doing that.”

  “You told me to stop telling people. You never said I couldn’t call you doctor privately.”

  “You are exhausting.”

  “Aww, thanks.”

  “So what’s up? Lane said you needed to tell me something.”

  I took a drink of beer, but it didn’t give me courage. “Laurel just showed up to tell me Henry made an appearance. He wants revenge or something.”

  Nate looked at me. I looked back at him. The looking went on for quite some time.

  “What?” he finally asked.

  “Laurel had the shit kicked out of her by Henry. She said she was fine, but he was aiming to kill her so that’s not great. She said Reyes or Michelson would contact us soon because we might be targets too.”

  “Nope. Fuck all of that. I’m not doing this shit again.”

  “We could hop a plane to somewhere with warm beaches and fruity drinks.”

  Nate nodded and pointed at me. “I like it.”

  “Great,” I said.

  “Of course I’m moving in like a month and you hate fruity drinks.”

  “And there are a bunch of people we love who we would be leaving vulnerable to an unhinged ex-cop.”

  “But we could. That’s the important thing,” he said.

  “Exactly. We’re making the choice to stay. We have autonomy.”

  Nate nodded seriously. “Autonomy.”

  “Who has autonomy?” Robin asked.

  Nate and I turned to the open doorway. “We do, dammit. We control our own destinies,” I said.

  “Damn right you do, honey.”

  Nate stood. “Robin’s turn?”

  “Yeah, but stick around. We should probably game plan this.”

  “Right.” He pulled out the chair for Robin.

  “Is game plan a verb now?” Robin asked.

  “It is,” I said.

  Robin sat. “What do we need to game plan?”

  “Remember Henry?”

  She nodded. “Asshole cop who tried to kill Laurel and got you two arrested.”

  “He’s back and up to his old tricks. Well, not all of them. Just the attempted murder part,” I said.

  “Huh?”

  “Henry tried to kill Laurel again and now he’s probably gunning for us. Usual summer shenanigans.” Nate flashed an impish grin.

  “I’m not following. You guys are being too cavalier and I don’t know how seriously to take you.”

  “Oh, yeah, no. It’s real serious. Laurel looked like she’d been hit by a truck.” I started to point at my own body where Laurel was injured but gave up when it became a whole body thing.

  “You saw Laurel?” Robin asked.

  “Yep. She was here like ten minutes ago. Lane booted her ass.”

  “Aww. Your knight in shining armor,” Nate said.

  “Yeah, she’s my hero.” I smiled dreamily at him. He smiled back.

  Robin touched my knee. “Cash. Focus.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Henry attacked Laurel?” she asked. I nodded. “And he might want to hurt you or us?”

  “Yeah. Laurel didn’t have much info. Just that it would logically follow that if he wants to kill her, he might also want to kill me or Nate. She said her old Sac PD partner or her FBI contact would likely be contacting me.”

  “How worried do we need to be?”

  “I honestly don’t know. For now, just be aware. Make sure Andy is aware. As soon as I know anything, I’ll tell you.”

  “What about Nate?” Robin looked over at him. He was perched on the edge of the desk. He seemed surprised at her question.

  “What about him?” I asked.

  “Well, Andy and I have each other. And you and Lane are next door. But Nate lives alone.”

  Nate shrugged. “I’m fine. He doesn’t even know where I live.”

  I scoffed. “Yes, because finding out where someone lives is so difficult.”

  “I can take him.” He looked entirely unconcerned.

  “You can take a gun-loving, trigger-happy former cop who thinks you betrayed him?” I asked.

  Nate grinned nervously. “Maybe I should just stay at your place. You know, so the lady folks feel safe.”

  “Good idea,” I said.

  “Yeah, and you can reach things off high shelves and open pickle jars,” Robin said.

  “And take out the trash,” I said.

  “And tell us to calm down if we get hysterical,” Robin said.

  Nate wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “I don’t know. That seems like a lot of effort.”

  I shrugged. “Okay. You can drink beer and watch dumb movies with us.”

  “Much better.”

  “I better get out there,” I said.

  “Yeah, go sell some art.” Nate held up his beer. I saluted him with mine.

  ✥ ✥ ✥

  Robin texted ten minutes after they left to let me know there was a police cruiser outside our place. It was still there when I got home. Nate was parked in the street almost blocking my driveway, but not quite. I carefully angled into my spot. I walked over to the cop in the cruiser.

  “How’s it going?” I asked.

  “Everything is quiet,” he said.

  “I assume you’re here because of the whole death threat thing?”

  He looked at me strangely. Maybe Robin was right and I was being too cavalier about my imminent death. “Yes, ma’am. Sergeant Ionescu had me stationed here.”

  “Do you have any information on the threat level?”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t.” He turned his computer screen so I could see a photo of Henry in his dress uniform. “I was only given a name and a photo.”

  “All right. Have a good night.” I walked up to the house. I didn’t know what the protocol was when a cop was staking out your house to protect you. I was more familiar with the staking out to intimidate and subtly threaten you approach. Should I give him a bottle of water? A cookie?

  I let myself into the house. The TV was on and Lane was in her spot on the couch. I could see Nate’s feet hanging off the end. My spatial awareness suggested his head was in her lap.

  “Hey,” Lane said. She paused the movie.

  I came around the couch and saw that Nate was lying on a pile of pillows propped against Lane’s side. He had a bowl of popcorn on his stomach.

  “How’s it going?” I asked.

  “She’s way less freaked out by the cop babysitter outside than I am,” Nate said.

  “And he’s way less freaked out about the homicidal former cop who could be sitting in the backyard watching us right now than I am,” Lane said.

  “So you’re both indulging in irrational fears based on the weight of history but very little current evidence.”

  “Yep.”

  “Definitely.”

  “And that’s why you’re watching a slasher flick?” I looked pointedly at the TV.

  “Yeah, the only way to deal with fear is to lean into it,” Lane said.

  “And you aren’t going to have any trouble sleeping?” I asked. They looked at me like I was out of my mi
nd.

  “We’re not sleeping. This here is the beginning of a terror filled all-nighter, man.” Nate put up his hand.

  Lane high-fived him. “Terror. Filled.”

  “Are you guys just using this as an excuse to do the Scream marathon you’ve been talking about?”

  “How dare you, sir?” Nate did his best to look offended.

  “Yeah, basically,” Lane said.

  I laughed at them. “I’m going to bed.” I stood. “Don’t stay up too late.”

  “Okay, Dad,” Lane said.

  I flipped her off. They started the movie back up after I closed my bedroom door. Nickels was sprawled in the center of my bed. She stirred at the sound of the door closing, then put her head back down. I stripped to my underwear and climbed in bed. Nickels scooted closer until she was tucked in my armpit. She started purring.

  Lane had opened my window. A warm breeze floated through the room. I could hear faint sounds from the street. The white noise of traffic and music and voices blended with the movie playing in the other room until it was all just a pleasant hum.

  I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. What normally would have been peaceful wasn’t. My mother had tilted my world a scant inch and I was telling myself the resulting shift in gravity wasn’t catastrophic. But it was Laurel who had unapologetically fucked me right up. Because she cared. Like she always had.

  They were two women who should have loved me without reservation, but neither loved me enough to stay. And when I had made my peace, when I had started to do well, when I didn’t need them anymore, they sauntered back into my life.

  Chapter Three

  “No offense, but I was kind of hoping I’d never see you two again.” I sat across from Reyes and Duarte. They’d snagged a window table at Old Soul.

  “Rude.” Duarte grinned.

  “Who told you I was polite?” I asked.

  “You seem pretty chipper for someone who was just told their life was in danger,” Reyes said.

  I shrugged. “Living in the patriarchy means some dude is always trying to kill me.”

  Reyes shook his head, but I saw the grin he tried to hide. “This threat is a little more specific than that.”

  Nate sat next to me and handed me a cup of iced coffee. “What did I miss?”