“It’s a good idea,” Axel said. “Do it now, while you can.”
I grunted, but I really was tired. Stress was weighing heavy. I wanted to stay awake for Brandon. He was more than likely terrified in some trunk, or held at gunpoint to break into a core that he had no idea how to begin. How long could he fake being Corey? I felt like I should stay awake for his sake.
I also knew that if I was too tired to kick someone’s butt, I’d be no help at all.
As I started to pass out, Marc kept his hand by my face, and a gentle thumb traced a soft spot right behind my ear. When I split my eyes open just enough to peek up at him, he was staring out the window, his head propped up in his other hand. Something was bugging him.
As I drifted off to sleep, I knew he was worrying about Brandon.
HEAT
When I woke up again, the sun was up. The car was parked and my face was buried in Marc’s thigh. I was tempted to remain. Numbness was welcome when I was sure chaos would follow. One more moment lost in the fog of sleep was tempting.
Marc’s hand was pressed against my face and at first, I thought he was trying to wake me. But as I stretched and got up, he moved quickly, breathing in sharply and turning his head. There was a red mark on his cheek. He’d been asleep, too.
“Some lookout you are,” I croaked, and then swallowed thickly.
“Your hair’s a mess,” he said. He stuffed his fingers into my hair and shook it around to tangle it more.
I slapped his arm away and wiped the sleep out of my eyes. The driver’s seat was empty. We were alone in the back of the car. We were in a parking lot, with other cars on either side, making it harder for me to figure out where we were and what was going on. “Where’s Axel?”
Marc sat up more, scanning the area. He pointed. “Over there.”
It took me a minute to figure out what he was pointing at. We were surrounded by a strip mall I hadn’t been to before. Different sections of the Charleston area had different styles and feelings. By the look of the brightly painted architecture and the ritzy signs and all the palm and palmetto trees and sand in spots, it felt like Isle of Palms.
I could see through a big window that Axel was inside the rental office we’d been on the hunt for. The sign overhead read “New Palm Realty” and displayed pictures of fancy beach homes in the front window. The office was lodged between a Chinese restaurant and a designer handbag store.
Inside New Palm Realty was a plump woman sitting behind the desk. Axel was standing in front of her, talking and motioning with his hands. He was wearing a black jacket and jeans that showed off his butt. We were dozens of feet away, but I could tell the woman’s line of sight was currently fixated on Axel’s crotch.
“What’s he doing?” I asked.
“Scouting,” Marc said. He slumped back. “Must have spotted an opportunity. We’ll have to wait here until he’s done.”
The woman’s eyes lifted from Axel’s waist to his face and her face became animated as she spoke to him. There was no way to figure out what they were talking about from this distance.
My flip-flops had fallen off. My body was sore. I tried to find a comfortable position without lying down again. I stared out the window, watching Axel continue his conversation. The woman he was talking to was in her mid-forties, looking none the worse that her boss wasn’t there. Business continued without Mr. Jones. I wondered if his wife owned it now.
I swallowed hard and stretched again, blew out a breath and sat back. I didn’t like waiting. I was hungry, and needed coffee to wake up. I wondered where Brandon and Corey were. I was paranoid that Brandon was already dead. Maybe the German figured out they’d made a mistake. Maybe he had them both and was torturing them.
Marc leaned against the far edge of the seat, looking out the window, avoiding me.
I may have rested and gotten some energy back, but I could tell something was still bothering him. I was ready to get this part over with. “I give up,” I said. “What’s going on?”
Marc turned his head and did that wrinkle between the brows look. “What?”
“You’re mad about something.”
He cocked his head. His mismatched eyes confused. “I’m not mad.”
“Yes, you are.”
He grunted, scrubbing a palm over his face. “If you mean having to sit in a car while someone has Brandon over a barrel? No, I’m not happy.”
“Is that all?” I asked, staring him down. I was willing to believe that was all it was, but I wanted to be sure.
He faced me full on, his eyes searching me, like he wasn’t sure how much to tell me. His lips tightened.
“You’re angry about something. You’ve been glaring since...I don’t know. Since the fountain,” I said.
Marc’s face froze then, like he wasn’t sure. “I don’t need to fight with you.”
“About what?”
“Nothing.”
I made a loose fist and then punched him in the chest. “Tell me.”
His mouth tightened. He acted like the punch didn’t do anything to him. “Bambi...”
“Don’t call me that.”
He smirked and then when I tried to punch him again he captured my wrist. “Stop that.”
“Tell me or I’ll do it until you tell me.” I wasn’t going to let him hang something over my head, dangling it just out of reach. Something was off and I wanted to find out what or I wasn’t going to be able to concentrate.
He groaned. “You are a pain until you eat.” He held onto my wrist and then flattened my palm against his, holding on to it while interlacing our fingers. “I’d been out all night when your friend showed up. I’d just gotten into bed.”
“What were you guys doing?”
“Looking for Wil,” he said. He pressed his palms together against my hand he was holding, warming me. His mismatched eyes darkened as he looked at me. “Corey and I went out scouting some of his classmates’ homes. We didn’t bug anyone. We were trying to figure out the most likely people he could be staying with, narrowing the list.”
My mouth fell open and my heart fluttered for him, and Corey, too. “I thought we were waiting until....” I wasn’t sure what we were waiting for. My brain was foggy. We had visual confirmation that Wil was in school, even if he wasn’t attending his classes. Our next step was to figure out the best way to establish contact without scaring him or getting him into trouble.
Part of me hesitated, too, because the longer my brother went without contacting me, the more I stressed that he didn’t want to talk to me. Wouldn’t he have found a way, even if he was in trouble for some reason?
Marc rolled his eyes and smirked. “I’m not very good at waiting. Corey felt the same. He wanted to go.” He sighed and then lifted my hand up, kissing my palm. Before I could comment on that, he shook his head. “Then while we were out, Corey was texting with Raven. Corey said Raven was telling him that you and Raven are going out. But that Corey wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. Corey checked with me to see if it was true or not. I told him Raven was being an ass, but it still kind of pissed me off.”
My eyes widened, my heart stopped. I swallowed. I didn’t know what I was most surprised to hear. Raven confessed to Corey. Marc dismissed it so easily. Was Raven kidding with Corey? And why was Corey concerned?
Marc took a look at me and then smirked wider. “Yeah,” he said. “I thought the same thing. Corey was all worried, so I told him there was no way. Raven must have been fucking with him. I was angry with Raven. The next thing I know, I’m waking up to the doorbell and now I’m here. And Raven keeps trying to check in with me about where you are now. I can’t tell him to fuck off because I know it’s Corey asking about you, too. I want to talk to him about screwing with Corey, but it isn’t the time.”
My confused look must have been throwing him off on what I was thinking, because I was mostly concerned he was jealous of Raven. But he was dismissing it as impossible. That seemed more dangerous.