Page 83 of Constantly Cotton
“I can’t tell,” Ernie said, also fretting.
Burton had left that morning, and that had sucked. But Ace, Sonny, and Jai had enjoyed the donuts, and Ernie always felt a very satisfying sort of pride about that. It was like he did have a life skill—baking (or deep frying, because that’s what donuts were!) really had been how he’d made his living before Burton had saved him from assassins. His life may be better now, but a little bit of autonomy was nice.
Still, Ernie had been half-expecting the moment when Ace looked across the street, where a filthy RV had been parked, and peered into the back window. One at a time, peaked little faces had pushed up against the glass. The RV had been left sweltering in the sun, and the guy driving had been disreputable to say the least.
After Jai and Ace had counted more than ten children, all about the same age, in the RV—and the driver had gotten into the vehicle without so much as a water bottle for the kids in the back—Ace and Jai had gone off in pursuit.
Sonny had asked Ernie before they’d left if Ace and Jai would be okay. Ernie had said yeah, sure, the blood would happen to someone else.
And then Ernie had called Jason Constance to make sure that’s how it went down.
Jason had the kids now—he’d gotten a military-issue transport to take them to Sacramento, where they’d been kidnapped from. Ace and Jai had brought the RV back to the garage, souped it up a little so it wasn’t burning quite so much oil, and then taken off again.
Ace had grabbed Sonny before he left and disappeared into the back corner of the garage. Ernie couldn’t hear what he was saying to calm Sonny down, but he apparently hit the magic words. The roiling mass of explosive confusion that Ernie had sensed from Sonny’s slight, wiry body had faded, leaving the usually volatile man sad and still.
“Think it was the right call?” Sonny asked. “Sending them off with that Constance guy?”
Ernie gnawed at his thumbnail. “Jason’s good,” he replied. “He’s brave and kind. I just… it’s like all the stars in his sky just changed. I can’t explain it. But I think sending them to Jai’s boyfriend was a good idea.”
Sonny let out a frustrated groan. “What do you suppose Ace and Jai are going to do now?”
Ernie sighed. “I think tonight they’re going to get to Vegas and sleep, then figure out a plan in the morning.” He brightened, and like his gift sometimes manifested itself, this came out of his mouth before he knew he was going to say it. “I think Burton’s going to be there to meet them.”
“Burton?” Sonny said, perking up. “Really? Aw, Ernie, that makes me feel a helluva lot better.”
“Well enough to bring Duke with me to go feed the cats and check on the kittens?” Ernie asked kindly.
Sonny’s entire countenance melted. “Think maybe if we locked Duke in the house, I could pet the kittens?”
“Yeah, Sonny. I think that’s fine. I think locking Duke in the house would be really courteous to the mama cat. I’m glad you thought of that.”
Sonny sent Ernie an unguarded smile—the kind of smile that let Ernie see what Ace saw in him—and Ernie breathed a sigh of relief.
His job was to keep Sonny calm. He was pretty sure he could do that—until tomorrow night, at the very least.
Unfortunately, as he and Sonny locked up the garage and got ready for Sonny to drive Ernie home for an hour, Ernie got glimpses of what else was going on that night, and it wasn’t nearly as peaceful.
“YOU’RE JASONConstance?”
Jason looked at the very average-looking man in scrubs, his blond stubble unimpressive, his gray eyes mild. He was hovering in the bay of a hospital, where Jason had been instructed to drive the shuttle-style bus filled with recently rescued, mostly preadolescent children. George was supposed to meet him and give all the kids the once-over to make sure nobody was sick or spreading something hard to cure, but looking at this small, very average man, Jason couldn’t possibly believe he was at all related to the disreputable lot of Burton’s hidden friends—
“You’re George?” he asked. “Jai’s George?”
—particularly the seven-foot Russian with the scary smile.
But Jai’s George apparently didn’t see it that way. His averagely pretty face split into a blinding smile. “You’ve seen him? He’s okay?” George asked, standing on the ground in front of the steps up to the bus. “He said he had something important to do and the kids needed me.”
Jason nodded and flashed his military ID. He’d changed into civilian clothes when the bus had arrived—he was currently wearing faded jeans and an OD-green collared shirt. George frowned and studied the ID and then pulled back, his smile just as pretty as it had been before.
“Great! My friend Amal is here to help—”
“Nobody is supposed to know we’re here!” Jason hissed.
George scowled at him crossly. “Jai said we needed to hurry, so you get two of us. Amal is my supervisor, and he’s promised not to document this. I need his help to get it done. You understand?”
Jason closed his eyes, feeling keenly that he’d been awakened at four a.m. with news that a rogue operative that they’d been tracking might be ready for retrieval. Actual retrieval and not assassination, which was a plus—that’s why he’d called Burton for the job. Killing people who’d been warped by their own military didn’t sit well with any of his crew. He tried to spread out the captures as opposed to the kills equitably. Everybody needed a win.
“Yeah, sure,” he muttered. “Doesn’t matter. Do you have anyone you can send to get them food? They’ve had water and peanut butter and crackers earlier today, but I have the feeling they’re going to need more than that.”