Page 102 of Tested

Epilogue

Connor

I wake up about an hour before sunset, surprised – no, shocked – to have slept that well and for that long. David’s on one side of me, propped on a pillow, playing a game on his laptop. Trajan’s still out, but I’m not surprised.

“Your phone keeps buzzing,” David murmurs without looking up from his game.

“Neat.”

He grins and I do too, though he doesn’t see me because he’s too busy whacking zombies or whatever. I reach over him to the nightstand, planting a kiss on his shoulder on my way by.

“Hey, you made me miss a shot.”

Rolling onto my back, I laugh at him. “Sorry not sorry.”

“Hmph.”

Still smiling at his pretend pique, I swipe my phone’s screen. A message from Sam Kowalski comes up.

Went by the address you gave me but no luck. Looks like someone burned the place to the ground.

“David?” I do my best to hide my bad feeling, but it’s a very bad feeling and I’m not sure I’m successful.

His hands go still. “Hmm?”

“How long do you think it’ll take us to pack up and get out of here?”

There’s no disguising it now, and he looks up from his game. “Depends on how bad we need to get gone.”

I glance over at Trajan, then back at David. “Sounds like Betancourt is in the wind, and I have the feeling we should be, too.”

Shutting his laptop, David swings his legs to the side of the bed. “We can have our stuff in the Range Rover by the time Trajan rises.”

“Good.” I scramble behind him, sliding to the side when he stops dead.

“If Jacques isn’t around, will Trajan still feel like he has to kill you?” David catches his bottom lip in his teeth, a surprising show of uncertainty.

I right myself. “In the first place, I don’t think he can, but our only other option is to separate, which sounds even more dangerous.”

David nods, his expression firm. “Then let’s bounce, babe.”

I squint at him. “Did you just call me babe?”

“Aw why, do you like pookie better? Okay, I’ll call you pookie.”

Shaking my head, I wave him toward the door. Trajan’s still out, but David’s right. If we apply ourselves, we can be ready to leave when he rises.

Though I’m not at all sure where we’re going to go. Between the three of us, we’ll think of something, because yeah, while I can’t say why, down deep I know we were meant to be together.