to stay behind and hate me for it or let him go and risk him getting hurt.
“He doesn’t want to kill me. The funny thing is that I’m the safest one out of all of you,” Finn says.
“That is true,” Claude says as he watches us. “And… it’s clear I can’t protect him, so are you going to leave him here with me? I was practically useless. And the man was just waiting for you to leave.”
“What is this?” I ask as I wave between them. “Why do you two now get along and try to annoy me together?”
“He saved my life. There was no choice but to get along with him,” Finn jokes. “I’m going to go get ready.”
“Get your protective gear on too. Claude, can you move the car into the garage?”
“Sure.”
Once everything is situated and Finn can barely bend from protective gear, I look over at Claude. “I need your clothes. At least the top half because I am not wearing those jeans. Can your balls breathe in those jeans?”
“Quite well, actually.” He pulls his hot pink jacket off before looking down at his shimmery undershirt. “These are precious, and you cannot get anything on them, understood?”
“I don’t need the undershirt,” I say as I reach for the godawful jacket.
“What are you going to wear under it, then?” Claude asks, like this is the biggest concern of the evening.
“The T-shirt I currently have on.”
He jerks away from me. “God, no. You can’t do that. That doesn’t match. They’ll instantly know it’s not me!”
I stare at him in disbelief. “They will not! Just give me the jacket.” I take it from him and stuff myself into it since his frame is a little smaller than mine.
“Sexy,” Finn says with a sarcastic smile.
“Shut it and stuff yourself in the back seat of the car,” I order.
He heads off while snickering as Claude smacks my hands away and buttons the jacket. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink,” he says.
What is he even going on about? “What does that have anything to do with anything?”
“I can put you in an expensive and gorgeous jacket, but I still can’t make you look good,” Claude says like that’s a direct comparison.
I sigh as I grab the keys and get into the car.
“Be safe, both of you. I kind of like you both. Finn, you a little more than Marcus.”
“I like you too, Claude!” Finn says from the back seat.
I ignore them, put a hat on that makes Claude cringe, and open the garage door as he heads into the house to hide from any windows. We also left him to tell Orin what’s going on if he asks, seeing as Orin would probably skin both of us for being reckless.
And then I start driving.
“Doing good back there?” I ask.
“Amazing. You two are similar in more ways than you’d think,” Finn says.
“I need proof,” I grumble.
“Well, you’re both so neat all the time. This floor is spotless!”
I sigh because I really, really don’t think that’s proof.
About halfway there, he climbs into the front seat and opens up my laptop to see if Miller’s car has moved.
“He’s still there. What’s our plan for when we get there?”
“It all depends. If he is there, I really don’t need to take on him and Miller. So I think we should just sit back and watch from a distance to see if anyone else leaves. Just try to get some intel. Maybe proof that Miller is working with him. Pictures if we can.”
“I agree.”
Finn checks his guns again, like the bullets he stole from evidence might have evaporated at some point.
“Are you good?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Are we being dumb going alone?”
He shakes his head, face filled with determination. “I’ve dragged too many people into this. I don’t want anyone else hurt because of me. And you promise that if it gets too much, you’ll back off, right? You have to remember he doesn’t want to hurt me, or he’d already have hurt or killed me.”
I nod even though I think we both know I’d never back off. “Of course.”
When we reach the old grocery store that’d gone out of business when this area turned more into large factories and industries, I park where I can see Miller’s car. We’re back far enough that a quick U-turn would put me right back on the road.
And so we wait. Finn pulls out some binoculars, but they don’t seem to be helping him much in