By the time the doctor was done, stitching my arm in what was almost a zig-zag pattern, talking to me about rabies shots - which I declined. The dog wasn't rabid, just spoiled and badly trained.
I did take the prescription for antibiotics, though.
"And once that whiskey wears off," she added, giving Pagan and I a knowing smile, "you might want something to take the edge off for the first day or two," she told me, handing me a script for painkillers. The good kind.
I didn't need to fill them.
With all the injuries Pagan had gotten over the years - and everyone else for that matter - there was a big enough supply of pain meds to last a few years at the compound locked away in the vault.
"I'll take them out," Pagan said as we climbed back into the SUV. "The stitches," he clarified when I stared at him blankly. "No need to go back unless you get infected."
I wasn't worried about the stitches getting pulled out.
That was a problem for two weeks from now.
When I was hopefully done tracking down leads, had the guns safely in Henry's hands, hopefully without getting mauled again.
Back at the compound, Jstorm and Alex were set up in the living room, legs crossed on the couch, the coffee table lined with coffee and energy drinks, ready to pull an all-nighter if necessary.
"I kinda like that it was a woman," Alex mused as I walked up to them.
"It would be boring if it was a guy," Janie agreed, shrugging.
"Did you say she got into the passenger seat?" Alex asked, looking up from her fancy glowing laptop.
"No. She got into the backseat behind the driver."
"So, it's not a one-man operation then," Jstorm mumbled, typing. "Interesting. I wonder if the girl who snatched the package was the one in charge or simply the least likely to get noticed and fastest runner."
She was fast.
From me to the SUV in seconds. And it was a long ass driveway.
"You seriously can't give us anything more than long, dark hair and a great ass?" Alex asked, brow quirked up in a way that suggested she thought I was being a ridiculous man, only noticing the sexy parts of her.
"I never saw her from the front or side. I'd say five-six maybe. Not skinny like you two, but not heavy either."
"So she is average height and average build with the most common hair color," Alex mumbled, shaking her head.
"We're better off going on the cameras in the town," Jstorm shot back.
"Yeah, I mean... great ass isn't going to help us track her down," Alex agreed, and I had a feeling I was being excused.
Knowing that until I had a direction to go in, it was useless to sit around worrying about it, I got up, moving toward the kitchen, making myself a sandwich, aggravated each time the gauze wrap around my arm rubbed against the edges of each stitch.
"Ugh, that bastard," Lou grumbled, walking into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.
"Boss again?" I asked, knowing that if she was grumbling, that was usually who it was about.
"He has an issue with the fact that my newest catch had a broken nose. Like it was my fault he accidentally got his face slammed in the door. What happened to you?" she asked, jerking her chin toward my arm.
"Dreadlocked dog," I grumbled.
"Oookay then," she said, shaking her head as she made her way toward the doorway.
And just like that, I remembered something.
Something Adler said about Lou having her own contact for weapons, someone with a smaller operation.
"Hey, Lou," I called, making her turn back, brow quirked.
"Yeah?"
"Your arms-dealer," I started, watching her stiffen, knowing she didn't like being a rat, "wouldn't happen to be a woman, would she?"
The surprise in her eyes was all the answer I needed.TWOLiviannaAdrenaline was sparking off the edge of each nerve ending as the door slammed behind me, the boxes thrown carelessly over the back seat and into the trunk, landing with a thunk and rattle as the guns found their new resting spots in their taped-together boxes.
Taped together.
What luck, huh?
I'd been expecting to have to fumble with a bunch of separate boxes, slowing me down, making an actual altercation a real possibility.
It wasn't that I was worried about one per se, but whenever possible, I liked to avoid black eyes and busted ribs.
The car peeled off, making my stomach drop down even as Astrid half-turned from her position in the passenger seat, smile tipped up slightly.
"He was kind of cute, don't you think?" she asked, head tipping to the side to watch me as I righted myself in my seat, flattening my hair as the heat from the vent made my cold cheeks, nose, and fingertips prickle and ache as the chill warmed out of them.
"I didn't really notice," I told her, shrugging.