She laughs lightly, coming in closer to me. “I love you, Rose.”
And perhaps, I hope, on top of her undying love for James, our friendship is another reason for Beau to stick this out. “I love you too,” I whisper.
I chew on the inside of my lip as Beau fiddles under the hood of Dolly, trying to get her started. Her denim shorts are riding up her ass, her long, smooth legs glimmering in the sun. “If I were a man, I’d be wolf-whistling at you right now.”
“I think the battery is dead,” she says over a laugh, coming up for air, oil smeared across her cheek. She wipes it and considers the engine for a few moments. “Are any of the cars here?”
“There’s one out front.”
“Wait here,” she orders, jogging off. I check my phone, as if I wouldn’t hear it if it rang in my hand. Damn that kid. Just a call, that’s all I ask. A check in.Anything. I exhale and start a slow wander down the pathway, eventually reaching the stream that leads to the pool. I look down into the water at my reflection staring back. My hair falls forward, covering my face. It needs cutting. Maybe I’ll book Beau and myself in for a pamper day. I smile at the thought of Fury having a pedicure alongside us. It drops when I consider the fact that despite being unreasonably gorgeous, Beau is also the least girlie girl I know. Not that I know many girls. Still, it isn’t about being girlie. It’s about rest and relaxation.
Calm.
I shake my head to myself as I pull my hair back and fasten it with a tie. I’m not sure any amount of pampering could rest or relax us. Stress is inbuilt now. We just condition ourselves to handle it. Soak it up. Or not so, as Doc kindly pointed out. But I must, or the alternative will be Danny caging me.
I hear a car and turn, seeing Beau pulling up with Otto. “What are you doing here?” I ask as I approach and Otto goes to the trunk of Dolly. I thoughtallthe men were out on business.
“I needed to pick up something.” He appears a few seconds later with some leads of some kind.
“What?” I ask, watching as he flips the hood of the Mercedes and squeezes some metal claw things.
“A few grenades and a harpoon.” He bends over the engine, and I roll my eyes as Beau collects the other ends of the leads.
“Then you’re in the wrong place. I believe all weapons are now stored in the swanky new bunker buried underground at the boatyard.”
He exhales and unbends his body, looking at me tiredly, and I smile sweetly.
“I just spoke to Esther.”
His face becomes thunderous, and he goes straight back under the hood.
“Haveyouspoken to her?” I ask.
“Little point, isn’t there?”
“Why?” I press. “I thought you two were getting along nicely.” Too nicely for Danny.
On an impatient grunt, Otto straightens again. And smacks his head on the underside of the hood. “Fuck!”
I flinch, and Beau flies around, still armed with the claw clips on the cables. “What happened?” she asks.
“Fuck!” Otto yells again.
“Shit!” I rush over as he rubs his head. “Is it bleeding?” I take his hand and check, seeing his palm smeared with blood. “Ouch.” I look beneath the hood and spot a catch on the underside. “Of all the places you could hit your head, you hit it on the only spot with a metal catch.”
“Rose,” he hisses, looking at his bloody palm. “Oh fuck.”
“What?” I ask, assessing him. “Shit, Otto, you’re pasty white.”
Beau drops the cables and hurries over. “Otto?”
“I think I need to sit down,” he mumbles, his speech becoming slurred, his eyes starting to roll.
“Oh my God,” I cry, as he starts to sway. “He’s going to pass out!”
Beau hooks an arm through his on one side, and I take the other, just as Otto becomes a dead weight between us. “Fucking hell,” Beau gasps, as we both crumple to the floor under the strain, unable to hold Otto up, not surprising really, since he’s probably double our size. “Get Doc,” she orders urgently, having me making a mad dash for the house, yelling as I go.
“Doc!” I shriek when I make it into the hallway, out of breath, my throat scratchy. “Doc, where are you?” I run into the kitchen, the TV room. “Doc!”God damn it.I pull my phone out and dial Danny, and he answers in just one ring. “Is Doc with you?” I ask urgently.