“I will, but I’ve got information for you too. Rob’s dead.”
“Fuck. When did that happen?”
“I realized someone was after me when his body turned up in the trunk of a car Marley sent me.”
“Oh shit. Did you take care of it?”
I nodded. “Ambrose helped me, so he knows something’s going on. I thought about calling you that night, but I didn’t want to draw attention to you if this was solely focused on me.”
“Always call. We can take the heat, and we’re here to help. You’ll always be one of us.”
I took a deep breath. “Thanks. That means a lot. I would have passed the word onto you if I’d known the scope was wider. I thought it was personal. I’ve had other shit happening. Yesterday some asshole cut a hole in the fence and tried to burn the place down.”
“We’ve been dealing with shit like that too.”
“If it’s Guidry, why doesn’t he just make a direct strike?”
Louis shrugged. “Maybe he knows he can’t win that way. Even if he takes one of us down, he’s never going to get us all.”
“Especially not with the Theriots backing us if they do.”
“Is there a question about that?”
I thought about the way Corbin had looked all fucked out and dazed the night before. “I don’t ever like to count my chickens, you know?”
He eyed me in a way that said he knew I was hiding something, but he didn’t push me. “While I’m here, you could offer me a beer or something, and we could catch up on more than just people trying to kill us.”
I rolled my eyes. “Let me try to call Ambrose first. He doesn’t always answer, and the service out there is shit, but it’s worth a try.”
“And if you can’t reach him?”
“Then we’ll head out his way.”
Louis gave me a dubious look. “We?”
“You’re the one with the direct information, and you know you’ve missed the adventures we used to have.”
He snorted. “Not really.”
I pulled out my phone and dialed Ambrose’s number. It rang several times, then went to voicemail. When I started to leave a message, a robotic voice said, “The customer you are calling has a full voice mailbox.”
I called again, thinking if he was just ignoring me, maybe he’d realize it was urgent. Still nothing.
Louis groaned when I ended the second call. “If he’s as jumpy as I’ve heard, he’s likely to shoot us if we come out there unannounced.”
“Yeah, he is.”
“Then what the hell are we—”
“We’ve got to warn him. I owe him that and more.”
He sighed. “Yeah, me too, but can you even find his damn place in the dark?”
“Probably.”
“So you’re saying we might get lost out there in the swamp? Thought you grew up some place like that.”
“That doesn’t mean I know these bayous. Back home I could lead you around blindfolded, but this isn’t my territory.”
Louis exhaled loudly. “This is a terrible idea.”
We’d been driving for close to an hour. Louis had done a better job of trusting my navigational skills than I’d expected, but he’d kept quiet as long as he could. “We’re lost, aren’t we?”
“No. I just took one wrong turn. I’ll find it.” We continued on the winding road while I prayed I wouldn’t run off into the bayou. As it was, we were likely to get shot by Ambrose or some other crazy-ass recluse who lived out here, but that was better than being eaten by a gator.
Finally, around the next turn, things began to look more familiar. “We’re close.”
“You said that a while back.”
“Well, I mean it this time.”
“I hope to God you do and that the bastard will put us up for the night. No way in hell do I want to drive back out of here with you.”
“You’re still alive, aren’t you?”
He huffed. “For now.”
“Then I’ve done a fine job.”
“Actually get to his house, and—”
I pointed through the windshield. “It’s right there.”
Twenty-One
Corbin
When Beau left, I locked the door behind him and pressed my forehead against it. I couldn’t believe I’d told him I loved him.
What did he think? Would he just pretend it hadn’t happened? Had he actually not heard me? No, that was impossible. I’d been loud, really loud.
And now he’d gone off to get some intel from an old friend. Fuck. What if he didn’t want to see me anymore? What if I’d ruined it all?
I was probably an idiot to think whatever was happening between us was going to last. Was I really going to constantly put up with him telling me what to do? Was he going to put up with me when I used my brattiness as a defense? We’d been in our own little bubble for the last twenty-four hours, but we were going to have to face reality, and I wasn’t sure our relationship could hold up to that.