“So. Gin?”
“Met her my first week here. God, that’s going on two years ago, now.” She took a long sip. “She took me under her wing, so to say.”
“Good friends?”
“Umm, sort of.” She shifted in her seat. “More like she helped me get on my feet. I came here…well…a little out of sorts.”
“You said you picked it by spinning a globe.”
“Came with only the clothes on my back for the most part and she helped me out…she runs the mission down on Fifth.”
“Oh.”
“I stayed there a little bit and Gin donates food to the mission. She was serving one day and we hit it off. I waitressed for her a little bit in exchange for a room for a couple weeks. Then I met…Bill.”
“Hard to miss him, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. He got me set up with a job and…a place.”
“Your place is Bill’s?”
“Yep. He…well, I live off the grid, so he’ll take cash. His name is on the apartment.” She bit her bottom lip.
I wanted to ask a million questions, but I kept my yap shut. She was starting to finally tell me something…Come on, just a little more…
“And pays me in cash.” She shifted in her seat and checked her surroundings.
It was then that I noticed she always did that, no matter where we were. And if she was off the grid…that meant people might be after her.Shit.
“Why off the grid?”
“The past has a way of tracking you down, and that’s never a good thing.”
“Depends on the past.”
“Trust me. You do not want my past rearing its ugly head here.” She gulped. “I can’t let that happen. And Bill understands.”
“Better than most, considering his history. You know it?” I took a drink of wine, settling into my chair.
“I do. Never would have guessed that.”
“Nope. But he’s a good guy. You know he got me out of my gang. Went to blows with Walker over it, even. Risked his safety to get me out.”
“Why?”
“Bill’s just that way. The shit he’s seen, been through; freedom is worth everything to him. He’s willing to risk it all to keep it and help anyone else who needs it.”
“Connections don’t hurt either,” she said, smiling.
“I’d say. He doesn’t tap into them a lot. Actually, he keeps quite a distance from that side of his life for the most part. But…well, he’s like a father to me…took me in, too, even kicked my ass when I was screwing up.”
“Literally?”
“Broken arm and all. I was mad as hell, but nobody’d ever gotten that upset over something I’d done…and it felt good, believe it or not.”
“Like you mattered.”
“Exactly.”