Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Southern California
Shaun left the highway behind and followed the two-lane road toward the small town he hadn’t seen in eighteen months.
Nothing much had changed from what he could tell, which suited him just freaking fine.
He’d bought the place because people around here knew how to mind their own business, and until today, he’d never brought anyone here with him.
“Okay, babe, where the hell are you taking me?” Zenko looked through the passenger window as the first buildings came into view. “Because you’ve been avoiding that question since San Diego, and we’ve officially reached the point where ‘trust me’ is starting to sound suspicious as fuck.”
“Home.” He heard himself say it and almost laughed.
Apparently, bringing Zenko here had changed the fucking definition somewhere between San Diego and the edge of town.
“Or as close as I’ve got to one, I suppose.
I haven’t been here in quite a while, so there’s every chance we’re about to discover I’ve been paying utilities on a very expensive home for mice. ”
“Home, huh?” Zenko shifted in his seat, and Shaun caught the look coming his way without taking his attention off the road. “You’ve spent the last several hours calling it a bolt-hole, and suddenly we cross into town, and it becomes home. That’s interesting, Shaw.”
“Don’t fucking start.” Shaun pointed toward the cardboard drink carrier wedged between them, because Zenko was already far too good at hearing the things he hadn’t meant to say.
“Drink your coffee and appreciate the fact I found you something resembling caffeine before you had to face whatever might be growing in my refrigerator.”
“Already finished it.” The empty cup appeared in his peripheral vision when Zenko gave it a shake before dropping it back into the carrier.
“I also ate half the barbecue while you were driving, so I’m caffeinated, fed, and completely free to annoy the shit out of you for however long it takes us to reach this home you apparently have, but never mentioned. ”
“Okay, we’re here.” Shaun turned off the road a few minutes later and slowed when the familiar entrance appeared between two stretches of scrub.
The gate, fence line, and drive looked exactly as he remembered them.
“Let’s see how much work ignoring the place has left me with.
” He lowered the window and punched his code into the keypad beside the gate.
“If this doesn’t open, you’re climbing over. ”
“Fuck you.” Zenko waited until the gate began sliding aside before leaning forward enough to see past the scrub toward the house.
“You have got to be kidding me. This is your idea of a bolt-hole? I was expecting some shitty little cabin with boarded windows and a mattress you could burn when we left.”
“I have standards.” Shaun drove through and checked the mirror until the gate closed behind them before following the drive past the house toward the detached garage.
Seeing the place again felt strangely familiar considering how long he’d stayed away from it.
“Besides, if I’m disappearing for a while, I want hot water and a decent fucking bed while I’m doing it. ”
As the garage door rose, Zenko leaned forward in his seat, then went completely still when Shaun’s Kawasaki Vulcan came into view.
“Oh, fuck no. Tell me that fucking death trap belongs to whoever checks this place while you’re gone.”
“Watch your mouth.” Shaun drove the truck into the empty bay beside the bike and killed the engine, already fighting a grin at Zenko’s reaction. “That beautiful piece of machinery has never done anything to you.”
“Yet.” Zenko pointed toward the Vulcan as though Shaun might somehow have missed the large black motorcycle sitting ten feet away.
“You own that fucking thing, don’t you? Of course you do.
I fell in love with one man in nearly twenty years, and he turns out to have a goddamn death wish sitting in his garage. ”
“Death wish?” Shaun couldn’t hold back the laugh as he nodded toward the Vulcan.
Zenko hating motorcycles was one thing, but apparently that hatred extended to Shaun’s bike before he’d even gotten within touching distance of her.
“Babe, I’ve had her longer than I’ve had this house, and she’s never put a fucking scratch on me. Show a little respect.”
“Her?” Zenko unfastened his seat belt and looked from Shaun to the motorcycle again. “Oh, this keeps getting better. Does she have a name too, or am I supposed to spend the next however long competing with an unnamed piece of machinery for your attention?”
“You’re jealous of my bike.” Shaun climbed out of the truck and grabbed the takeout from the footwell before shutting the door, enjoying this far more than he probably should. “We’ve been here thirty fucking seconds, and you’re already threatened by something that hasn’t moved in eighteen months.”
“I’m not jealous of it.” Zenko got out and came around the truck, giving the Vulcan plenty of space as he passed it. “I’m questioning the judgment of a man who voluntarily gets on something with two wheels and calls that transportation.”
“We jump out of perfectly functional aircraft for a living.” Shaun punched the button to lower the garage door, more than happy to keep the argument going when Zenko scowled at him. “Your opinion on acceptable methods of transportation has been officially rejected.”
“Rejected my ass.” Zenko gave the Vulcan one last suspicious look before turning toward the door connecting the garage to the house.
“You get one thing straight right now, Shaw. If that death trap is your preferred transportation, enjoy the fuck out of it. I’ll drive something with doors, airbags, and enough metal around me to stand a fighting chance when some idiot runs a red light. ”
“Works for me.” Shaun collected their bags from the truck before crossing toward the interior door, ignoring the fact that he’d already started thinking about where Zenko would get a vehicle when they’d been on the property for less than five fucking minutes.
“Sooner or later you’re going to need something of your own here.
I’m keeping the truck until we sort that out, but I’m not giving up the Vulcan because you’ve got an irrational fear of motorcycles. ”
“I do not have an irrational fear of motorcycles.” Zenko followed him toward the door, irritation sharpening every word.
“I have a perfectly rational understanding that motorcycles offer absolutely no fucking protection when things go sideways, which means I’m smarter than you. There’s a difference.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, babe.” Shaun entered the code into the keypad beside the door and heard the lock disengage.
Coming back here should have felt weird with Zenko standing beside him, but somehow it didn’t.
“Come on. You can meet the female in my life properly later. Right now, I want to see whether neglect has turned my house into a science experiment.”
The door opened into a short mudroom, and he stopped long enough to disarm the alarm before hitting the switches beside it.
“Well, we have power. That puts us ahead of where I thought we might be.” He nudged the door closed behind Zenko and glanced toward the kitchen beyond the mudroom. “Water should be on too, unless something went spectacularly wrong while I was gone.”
“You really haven’t had anyone inside here for eighteen months?” Zenko followed him into the kitchen and stopped beside the island, taking in the room before looking toward the living area beyond it. “Because this place looks like you walked out yesterday and forgot to come back.”
“That’s pretty much what happened.” He set the food on the counter and left their bags near the mudroom before opening the refrigerator.
The light came on over completely empty shelves, exactly as he’d left them.
“Empty fridge, no biological weapons growing in the vegetable drawer, and I’m calling that a fucking win. ”
“You cleaned it out before you left.” Zenko eased onto one of the stools at the island and rested his forearms against the counter.
“You keep the utilities running, your bike in the garage, and enough furniture in here to actually live like a human being. I’m starting to think your definition of bolt hole and mine are very fucking different. ”
“It is what it is.” He opened the freezer and found the vacuum-sealed bag of coffee shoved exactly where he remembered leaving it, then held it up for Zenko to see. “And look at that. Emergency caffeine survived. Now I know we can stay.”
“Stay?” Zenko caught the word immediately and gave him a look over the island. “That sounds suspiciously less temporary than ‘I’ve got somewhere we can crash until Noble stops being pissed at us.’ How long are you planning on keeping me hidden out here?”
“Until you’re cleared.” He put the coffee on the counter and started opening cabinets until he found the mugs where he remembered leaving them.
“Noble made it pretty fucking clear you’re not setting foot on Stromboli until somebody signs off on that neck, and I’m not interested in arguing with him when, for once in his life, the asshole is right. ”
“Careful, babe, saying shit like that could ruin your reputation.” Zenko eased off the stool and crossed toward the doorway leading into the rest of the house.
“So, where am I sleeping? Because if you point me toward some sad little guest room while you disappear into the master, we’re going to have our first domestic argument before I’ve even seen a bed. ”
“You’re sleeping with me.” He abandoned the mugs and nodded toward the hallway.
“There’s one bedroom I actually use, another one that mostly exists because it came with the house, and an office.
You can inspect the accommodations after I get the water running long enough to make sure nothing starts leaking where it shouldn’t. ”