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“Okay, first of all? Please stop calling me ma’am. That’s nice and all, but unnecessary.”

“But, ma’am—”

I hold up a hand.

“Seriously? I am going to have to insist. Please don’t tell me about your training or your manners or how you were brought up. Call me, um, Tammy.”

They glance at each other, eyebrows raised. I snap my fingers in the air between us.

“Yeah, can we agree that is okay? It sounds like an acceptable compromise to me. That way none of us have to think about anything too hard.”

“Do you have a plan then, Tammy?”

I shrug, bouncing several scenarios through my mind. I could go home, I could sneak out, I could try to find Mona… What the hell happened to Mona?

But it doesn’t matter right now. Right now there is literally nothing that I can do but wait.

“At some point, I will have to retrieve my ID. Right? At some point I have to go home.”

“If he has your ID, then he knows where you live,” the first one says. “You can’t go home until we figure out how to handle the situation.”

I nod. My cheek still stings where Ty slapped me, and I have to admit I’m not eager to run into him again, alone. I at least want a moment to piece this out.

“We can make sure he doesn’t do anything to you,” the other one offers.

He doesn’t give any details, and I don’t feel the need to ask. I am positive that

he could make sure in a number of different ways that the threat of Ty has been eliminated. Better not to ask.

“I also need to make sure that Mona is all right. My friend. Who works there. She left earlier tonight. I will call her tomorrow.”

They look at each other again.

“All right… Well, then, we have some time to kill. Looks like everything is okay for now.”

“Right,” I agree. There is so much more that we could say. So much more that needs to be said.

“I’m Cass,” the first one says, then jerks his thumb in the other direction. “That’s Will.”

It seems ridiculously awkward all of a sudden, and I can’t help but giggle.

“Those are our real names,” Will shrugs.

But I can’t help it. Suddenly it’s sort of funny, no, really funny. Downright ridiculous. Kind of hilarious. The movie that was playing in my head has gone completely off the rails.

“You know what? Those are wonderful names. Those are perfect names. Thank you for saving my ass, I really do appreciate it. So, can we back up to where we were?”

Cass raises his eyebrows. I see him flare his nostrils as though sniffing the air.

“And where exactly were we?” he asks in a low, careful voice.

“We were just getting to know each other,” I answer, calling up Tammy again.

That was good. Tammy was good. Letting nature call the shots was good. I want that back.

“Are you sure about that?” Will asks, leaning forward only slightly.

I can sense it again, the force that is holding back everything in his mind. Such a strong sense of self. Such a force of nature.