“Master said he was coming in tonight and wanted me here,” Steele said, looking at his watch. “I don’t like being away from home all that long. Did something happen that I should know about? He didn’t want me to bring Breezy.”
“Yeah, we ran into some trouble. We’ll fill in everyone at the meeting, but Master has a passenger with him; that’s why we were separated. We followed the Ghosts to New Mexico, straight to the diner where Breezy used to work.”
Steele’s head jerked up. “Is she in some kind of trouble again? Are they coming for her? Czar called me, left me a message and said it was important and to call him back, but I wanted to check on you first. Is this about Breezy? Is she in trouble, Player?”
“No. But the two we were following met up with four members of the Swords club in the diner. I had to work hard to build an illusion fast to keep them from recognizing us. They were very close to us. They were there to make a deal with the Ghosts. But more to the point, they found out Breezy worked there before she disappeared. They were trying to track her down. Delia Swanson, her former boss, told them she didn’t know anything more, but the apartment Breezy had stayed in was rented in Delia’s name. They didn’t believe her.”
Steele stood up and paced across the floor. “Please tell me they didn’t kill her boss. She loves that woman. And I owe her everything for taking care of Breezy and my boy.”
“She was selling the diner. Had a buyer. The fuckin’ Swords burned it down that night and made a try for her. We were waiting for them. Master and I took them out and had her throw a few things together. Master has her with him in her vehicle. We thought she could take the empty apartment over the bar next to Bannister’s apartment until she decides what she wants to do. She’ll be safe with us here. She has her retirement money, and Code and Absinthe can deal with the insurance company for her on the diner,” Player said. “At least that was what we thought. We couldn’t just leave her there. The Swords would have killed her.”
“No, no, you did the right thing by bringing her. We’ll talk to Czar. The club can protect her. The Swords don’t have a clue you have her?” Steele asked.
“No, they didn’t ever see us. Neither did the Ghosts. I held the illusion for over forty-eight hours. That’s the longest I’ve ever managed. I didn’t have a choice. We couldn’t afford anyone to identify us as being Torpedo Ink. We told her Breezy was with you and we would take her to you and Breezy. She wanted to come. She’s not without her own money, so she won’t be a burden.”
“You’re absolutely certain this isn’t a setup?” Code asked the question that Czar had already asked when they called him to report everything and ask him what he wanted them to do. “You’re sure you weren’t made and this woman isn’t here to kill Breezy?”
THREE
“Men are assholes, Mama Anat,” Zyah said. “In case you aren’t aware.”
“Zyah, language.” Anat had a small smile on her face when she looked up at her granddaughter. Although she was in her sixties, she didn’t look it. There were no wrinkles on her face, only a few crow’s-feet around her eyes and laugh lines around her mouth. “Although, I must say, there are times when I might agree with you.”
Zyah couldn’t help laughing. There was no way to be in the same room with her grandmother and not laugh. It had always been that way throughout the years, when her grandmother had raised her. She felt love welling up the way it always did when she looked at Anat—or even just thought about her.
“It is simply impossible not to love you. I can’t imagine a man being an ass . . . a jerk to you. Every man who has ever met you has fallen permanently in love with you. I know because I’ve seen them come around for years, courting you.” Zyah tucked a stray strand of her grandmother’s hair behind her ear. The hair, although streaked with gray, was still dark and thick, adding to her youthful appearance.
Anat laughed again and made a trilling sound through her pursed lips. She could make that vibration so many different ways. Throughout her childhood, Anat comforted Zyah or chided her or assured her using several different melodic pitches. Her grandmother portrayed dozens of emotions by using different melodic tones when warbling at her. She still did it in everyday conversation, and each time the habit warmed Zyah as nothing else could.
“You silly child.”
“You know it’s the truth. Who sent the roses in that blue vase right there on the bedside table?” Zyah asked wickedly.
Anat pressed her lips together, or tried to, in order to look stern. She’d never perfected the look, as hard as she’d tried. “Dwayne River is far too young for me. That would make me a cat woman or whatever you young people call an old woman who goes after a younger man.”
“He’s six years younger than you. That hardly qualifies you as a cougar, Mama Anat,” Zyah pointed out, turning away so her grandmother wouldn’t see her laughing.
Anat knew the term cougar. She’d called herself that more than once when they watched a movie and she saw her favorite movie star. For her movie star, she would forget her vow of living her life free of men and become a cougar. She’d made that statement each time she watched one of his films.
“I think both interviews went well today,” Zyah ventured, changing the subject. She sank into the armchair closest to her grandmother’s bed. “Your friend, Inez Nelson, was really nice. I think she’s going to put in a good word for me. There were three people sitting in on the interview for the grocery store manager position: Inez, a man they called Czar, and another one they called Absinthe. I think Absinthe could have been a lawyer.”
“I thought the position was a grocery store clerk.” Anat eased her body carefully to another position. “Why would they need a lawyer, and what kind of name is Czar? Or Absinthe, for that matter.”
Immediately, Zyah caught up the pillows that had been scattered around the bed and pushed them behind her grandmother’s back. “Czar and Absinthe belong to a club called Torpedo Ink. They own the grocery store with Inez. She wants to get back to her store in Sea Haven, and they need a manager to run the one in Caspar. I’m hoping they hire me so I can stay close to you. The pay is all right, nothing to get super excited about, but it really is the best for around here. I’m kind of looking forward to working there, so I really hope I get the job.”
Anat made another little trilling sound, but this time it signaled she thought her granddaughter wasn’t telling her the truth, and she wasn’t going to put up with it despite the fact that Zyah was all grown up. “You loved your job, Zyah. You traveled all over, which you love to do. You made good money, and you were very respected. Managing a grocery store in a little town is a far cry from what you went to school for,” she chided.
“I came home because I wanted to come home, Mama Anat,” Zyah said quietly and slipped back into the chair, crossing her arms and leveling her gaze at her grandmother.
“I love you, child, more than anything on this earth. You checked on me, and I appreciate that, but now you can go. I’m fine. I’ve got my friends here, and they’ll look after me. You may as well get that stubborn look off your face, Zyah.”