Desolation Road (Torpedo Ink 4)

“Fuck.” He whispered the obscenity out loud.

“What is it, honey?” Lana had the binoculars back up.

“Look around that room. That restaurant is filled with suits. Men on the rise. Salesmen. Stockbrokers. Hungry for power. You can see the way they’re talking to each other, their conversations, but most of them are looking at my woman.”

“Babe, I hate to break it to you, but she isn’t yours yet.”

“She’s going to be,” he said with confidence. Because she had to be. But she was up to something. “You notice anything else?” He didn’t wait for her answer. “There’s security cameras everywhere. Lots of money comes to that place. They aren’t risking their customers. Scarlet’s making sure she’s seen on camera. By the customers. Anyone walking in the gardens or the parking garage. She wants to be seen.” Which didn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense when she was always so careful. And now, when she was helping a woman leave the country, and he was half convinced she was, why would she choose to be seen?

“Lana, what the hell is she up to?” Absinthe was intrigued, worried and annoyed all at the same time.

He was good at puzzles. Even brilliant at them. His mind moved at a very high rate of speed and little pieces of information clicked into place for him fast, forming a much larger detailed picture until his mind grasped exactly what he needed. What was she up to? It was beginning to drive him crazy, looping in his mind over and over.

“You’re going to have to tell me what you’re worried about, Absinthe. At the most, I see a woman who might be helping another woman get out of a bad situation. That’s my best guess and you know I’m rarely wrong.” Lana turned to him, her dark eyes focused completely on his face. She couldn’t see anything to set off her warning system, but she was willing for him to convince her.

“Scarlet is behaving entirely out of character. She isn’t like this. She’s cautious. So much so that I thought she was in trouble, that she might be in hiding from an ex-husband, boyfriend or stalker. She stays away from windows; she doesn’t sit in front of them. She’s looking right into those security cameras. She deliberately chose this place so she would be seen, and the other men here would remember her. She wants the waiters to remember her, she’s engaging with them. That woman she’s with is covering her face, avoiding the cameras. She’s letting Scarlet do all the talking with the waiter. When she went out with me, she barely looked up at the waiter and she definitely didn’t want him touching her.”

Lana frowned and glanced back toward the restaurant. “Okay, I can see why that doesn’t follow that she’d bring someone here if she’s getting her out of the country. I could be completely off track. They’re taking their time with dinner and Scarlet’s doing almost all of the talking. She’s looked at her watch a couple of times. Just glanced at it, but I caught it. I thought she might have a partner and sitting there was a signal.”

“I considered that, but it doesn’t make any sense. None at all, Lana. This place? Cameras? No, she’d do a better job of hiding that woman. Something else is happening that we’re not catching.”

Absinthe didn’t like anything he couldn’t figure out. His mind liked intrigue and puzzles and continually needed new learning experiences to keep him from boredom. Knowledge was power, and power meant Torpedo Ink would always be safe.

“Don’t do that to her,” Lana cautioned.

“Do what?” Absinthe studied the restaurant again, looking for anyone in the background that might give him a clue to what Scarlet was doing.

“If you’re really interested in her, you can’t make her into some giant puzzle, Absinthe. I know you. You’ll obsess over her, figure her out and then you’ll drop her and move on. I thought you wanted her because she quieted your mind and she was all about making your body come to life. Don’t make it about solving some ridiculous riddle that probably doesn’t mean a thing. We’re so used to intrigue and everyone having some kind of hidden agenda that we forget most of the real world is made up of nice people. She’s a librarian, for God’s sake.”

“She’s a librarian who carries guns.”

“Women believe in protecting themselves.” Lana sighed. “So, okay, I think, based on what I’ve observed of her, that she’s probably better than most women at it, and she’s had training, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t a normal person, Absinthe, not some crazy assassin running loose. You’re most likely looking for trouble where there isn’t any.”

Was he doing that? He shook his head because even she sounded doubtful. “I want her, Lana. I know that she’s the one. I think about her so much I can barely go to sleep at night. She’s the first thing on my mind when I open my eyes. She makes me laugh. She’s so damn smart. I like her. I like just watching her, knowing she’s in the world. I like hearing the sound of her voice. No, this isn’t about mystery or solving it, although I have to know what she’s up to, but I’ll figure it out. I always do. I need this woman. There’s something with the way her brain tunes to mine and when she’s with me after a certain length of time …” He trailed off. There was no explaining what it was like to anyone, not even to Lana.