Page 67 of West Bound

“Me too,” I agree. “I can get you a warm washcloth. Clean you up.”

“In a minute.” Her fingers dance over my arm absently as we both let our breathing slow and stare into the darkness of the room.

“That was sexy as hell, by the way.” I grin at the ceiling.

“What?”

“That bit at the end. I think you might be good at this whole talking thing, too, with a little practice.”

“You’d like that, would you?” she muses.

“I told you. I like everything you do.”

When she starts to drift to sleep, her breathing getting slower and heavier, I sneak off to get her a washcloth. Cleaning her up while she lets me move her limb by limb as she fades into sleep, little grunts of approval as I kiss every part of her I touch. Then I climb in next to her, wrapping my arm around her waist anddragging her close to me, surprised when I can barely keep my eyes open.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Zephyrine

In the morning,there’s a spread of eggs and toast and bacon that he’s fried up in the cast-iron skillet alongside fresh coffee and plenty of cream. He fills my mug with a fresh cup of coffee and drops two spoons of sugar and a heavy splash of cream in mine and one short one in his before pulling it up to his lips. I grin at the way he knows how I take it. I’m not saying stalkers are healthy, but I am saying it’s nice to wake up to my coffee exactly the way I like it every morning.

“Morning.” His eyes meet mine over the rim of his mug.

“Morning,” I answer. “Quite the spread here.”

“Yeah, I went a little overboard. It feels strange to be so well rested in the morning, and I wanted to get an early start on things.”

“You have a plan in mind?” I nibble a bite of my toast.

“You still know where the ranch Corey was talking about is?”

“Yes. I know it well. Or I did. It’s been a while, but we vacationed there in the summer when I was younger. It’s a ranch in the mountains. There’s an old western mining town at thecenter of it. He built a large house there. Said he needed a quiet retreat away from the city.”

“Fortified?”

“Not back then, but I could see how he might be able to. Although it’s huge. He’d only be able to protect the house and some of the outbuildings that are close. Not all of it. But if the vault is in the house, it makes sense that he would.”

“So you haven’t been there recently?”

“Not for a few years before I left the country. The security measures at the time were minimal. That was before he was governor.”

“What about the house?”

“I know the house pretty well. Or again, I remember it well. If he changed things, it’s possible it’s different. He was still finishing it. There was always some new project going on there. He was always planning new things. He said he wanted to retire there someday. Make it his own personal resort.”

“If I could get video of it, could you make it out still do you think? Help sketch a floor plan?”

“Maybe. But how would you get video?”

“Leave that part to me. I have a few ideas, but I need to try some things first. I just want to make sure whatever we get is useful.”

“Are you planning to go up there?”

“Possibly. We need the relics out of that vault. Something as leverage.”

“Since he doesn’t care about me, you mean?”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m still hoping he'll do the right thing and confess to my parents' murder, then I can release you back to the real world early. You can start your life over without that useless piece of shit hovering in the background.”