I Know Lucy (A Fugitive #1)(50)

Finally spent, she sat back from her sick and leaned her head against the couch. She didn’t know what her eyes were saying when she looked over at Shorty, but his face softened with sympathy. Taking a wide berth, he skirted the mess on the floor and perched on the edge of the couch, gently resting his hand against her forehead.

“I’m not going to let that wanker touch you. You can’t let him win this way, Cy.”

“I don’t know how to beat him.” Her voice shook.

“You figure out what you want in this life and you take it. That’s how you win.” Shorty’s voice was strong and hard, his dark eyes gleaming. She’d never seen him like this before.

“How do you figure out what you want? It’s not like I’ve had much choice.”

“You rise above those circumstances, love.” He gave her a closed mouth grin. “I was a down and out pauper. My dad left me and Mum with nothin’. She died when I was sixteen, having lived a miserable, bitter life. I quit school and I tracked my dad down.”

Lucy turned her head so she could see him better. “Did you find him?”

“You bet I did.” His smile was hard. “He didn’t even know who I was and like hell I was gonna let him find out. I studied him, followed him, worked out what his weakness was and then I played him for all he had.” His voice grew distant. “It was the biggest thrill of my life and I decided then that I was going to make it my living. Conning rich bastards out of their money. It’s the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done.”

“But I hate it, Shorty,” she whispered after a long pause.

His eyes shot to her. “You’re so good at it though.”

“Only because you want me to be.”

“We’ve done so well.”

“We’ve hurt people.” She pulled herself up onto the couch. “Howard, Tori, Mr. Derwin, Miles…to name just a few. How can you not be wracked with guilt?”

“Because, Howard was a sniveling prat who was using you to gain popularity and sex; Mr. Derwin was a dirty old man; and Miles was a rich, arrogant prick who once again was only being nice to you because of your luscious tits and arse.” Shorty touched her face. “I’ll give you Tori, but everyone else deserved to go down. You’re like Robin Hood.”

Lucy scoffed. “I don’t see us giving money to the poor.”

“We’ve been the poor. We’ve been the robbed and the cheated. Don’t you see it, Cyan?”

She shrugged, giving a reluctant nod. “Yet here I am, having been robbed once again. Robbed of the only person left on this planet who actually cares about me.”

“What you talking about?” He pointed to himself.

Lucy rolled her eyes and stood. “You like me because I’m good at what I do, but do you honestly care?”

Shorty went very still, making Lucy feel bad. She probably over stepped the mark on that one, but her emotions were strung so tight, she could barely control them.

His deep voice dropped to a whisper. “I may not have the finesse of our Marlin, but you two are family and I ain’t gonna let some crooked copper, take either of you away from me.”

“How are we gonna stop him? He’s too big. He’s too powerful.”

“Don’t you start talking like that. Who says he’s powerful then, eh?” He pointed at her.

“He got away with murder. He somehow managed to make me a prime suspect. I know it was him. It makes perfect sense, Shorty.”

Rubbing his long fingers over his head, Shorty blew out a sigh. Pressing his lips together, he shook his head. “Alright, alright then. We may not be able to bring this arse to justice, but we sure as hell can dent his bank account. He’s gonna hurt one way or another. He’s a greedy fool and we can use that to our advantage.”

“I’m not going near him, Shorty.”

“You don’t have to. He doesn’t know who I am.”

Lucy’s insides settled to a simmer as she watched Shorty’s brain tick over.

“I just—”

He held up his hand to silence her. “You just lay low for a couple of days, love. Give me time to make some calls and work out a plan. First, we need to figure out who this guy is. We should’ve done it months ago, worked out exactly who he was so we could avoid him. If I’d known he’d show up in San Francisco, I never would have brought us here.” He shook his head, regret cresting over his expression.

Lucy forgave him with a closed mouth smile.

“If we can work out exactly who he is, then we can figure out where he’s got Marlin. We rescue our boy and then strip that snake of everything.”

“It’ll be dangerous.”

“Oh yeah.” Shorty chuckled. “But won’t it be fun.”

A trembling laugh scuttled from her mouth. She pulled in a quick breath, sucking it back. The tendrils of fear inside her began to loosen and the anger splurged forward again. The idea of taking down that man made her insides tingle. Maybe it would be fun.





Chapter 24





ZACH


May 2014





I sat in a small cafe on the outskirts of town. I didn’t intend to work here, my car just kind of stopped outside. I had spent the morning at home, trying to work out everything I’d digested the day before. I’d driven back from San Fran in a blur and rushed up to my room the second I got home. I wrote for an hour, jotting down everything I could remember. It came back to me in flashes, my brain being whipped by the different comments. I fell asleep at my desk and woke up stiff and sore. I could barely make out my scribbles and had to start afresh.