Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“Probably,” I said, pulling out almond milk, eggs in a carton that was hand stamped with a label claiming they came from ‘happy free range hens,’ some veggies, and several almond-based yogurts into bags.
She didn’t keep much in her fridge, actually. Probably because she spent most of her time at work.
“You know what the two of you are like?” Aurelio asked as he grabbed the bananas, pears, and apples out of a bowl on the counter and put those in another bag.
“What?” I asked, having a feeling I wasn’t going to like his answer.
“Like two grade school kids with a crush. But to cover it up, they tease each other and put gum in one another’s hair.”
“It’s not like that,” I insisted as I heard Traveler zipping her suitcase in the other room.
“Yeah, sure it’s not,” Aurelio said, shaking his head as he took the bags of food, and made his way toward the front door.
Traveler moved out of her room then, glowering at me, but not saying a word as she moved toward the front of the house.
I found myself watching her ass as she went.
Okay.
Maybe it was like that.
CHAPTER SIX
Traveler
“I don’t understand,” I said back at the hotel when I powered up the laptop to access my saved camera feed from the night before.
The ones facing the front of the store and in the alley were all static. The ones inside had all been turned to face the walls.
I could sense August and Aurelio sharing a look over my head from either side of me.
“Out loud, please,” I grumbled.
“Seems like they knew what they were planning and likely knocked out the outside cameras. Likely from above, so the camera didn’t catch it. Then had someone go inside and fuck with those ones,” August said.
“But I would…” I started, then stopped. Maybe I wouldn’t have. Sure, I knew a lot about the local crews, but that didn’t mean I knew everything.
It was entirely possible that if one of the members came in wearing something similar to the developers, I wouldn’t have looked twice at them. Or they could have come inside when I was in the back, or taking out the trash, that kinda thing. And because this area was very “mind your own business,” if there wasn’t a friend of mine like Sheryl in the store at the time, no one would have said anything.
“Damnit,” I grumbled, slamming the lid of the laptop closed, and pressing the palms of my hands into my eyes.
I was tired.
Bone-deep tired.
Despite having gotten my usual couple of hours of sleep.
Sheryl told me all the time that the chronic lack of sleep was going to ‘catch up to me’ someday. Maybe that was what this was. I finally wasn’t running around busy all day long, and my body had a chance to realize how worn out it was.
Then again, I also had a busted up business, a target on my back, and a father in a coma in the ICU. So, yeah, maybe the stress was just getting to me.
“Hey, look. This isn’t the end. It would have made life a fuckuva lot easier if the cameras were working, but there are other ways to figure out information,” August said.
“How? This isn’t your town. You don’t have contacts all around that you can go to for information.”
“No,” August agreed. “But you do.”
“I get to actively be involved?” I asked, looking up at them. “This doesn’t fall under that mafia ‘protect the little lady’ rule?”
August snorted at that.
“We can still protect you and have you participate,” Aurelio said.
“Besides, if we left you alone in the hotel too long, you’d likely get us kicked out after bitching to the staff about all the waste here.”
This time, it wasn’t just me annoyed by August’s constant need to needle at me. Aurelio sighed and walked toward the kitchen.
“By any chance, would your head explode if you kept in some of those nasty-ass remarks about me?” I asked.
“Nasty-ass, or completely accurate?” he shot back.
And, fine. I could be a pain in the ass. I did sometimes lecture people about the surplus of waste in things like hospitality or just general businesses. I mean the amount of food that gets thrown away instead of donated…
“I mean, you’re thinking it now, aren’t you?” he asked, smirking down at me.
I half-sighed, half-laughed at that.
“I was thinking about the food waste,” I admitted.
“Isn’t it against the health code to donate it?” he asked, likely knowing about that since some of his cousins ran restaurants and event venues.
“And that’s where you say Fuck the law, pack up the food, and hand it out to the homeless. Guerrilla charity is better than no charity at all.”
“I have to agree with you on that, I guess. But I wasn’t wrong on the original point.”
“I’m not that insufferable,” I said, actually finding myself a little insulted. Which was weird. I never really gave a damn what people thought about how dedicated I was to my causes. What the hell was the point of a life if you didn’t, in some small way, try to make the world better?