Davis spoke up from the love seat he and Ridge had settled on. He had his leg up on Ridge’s lap and an ice pack on his knee. Even though we’d had a golf cart, shooting an entire eighteen holes had taken a lot out of him. “But then Operation Get Carson Laid would be a failure, and if I’m following correctly, your band of merry men has a one hundred percent success rate so far.”
“One of those ‘successes’ resulted in your family losin’ a shit ton of cash,” Steele pointed out. “I still don’t get why you’re here.” Steele didn’t trust easily, and I think he saw Ridge as a kind of brother-in-law. Protecting people was at the core of who Steele was.
Davis swung his knee off Ridge’s lap, wincing with the pain. “Not feeling too close to my family, right now, Steele. Plus, I think they’ll be okay with only the few billions they have left.”
“Still don’t answer the question. I know these Pfeiffer boys are pretty but there’s gotta be a better reason for a man to quit being a Fed and join the bad guys.”
Diplomatic security wasn’t exactly the Feds, but I wasn’t going to split hairs with Steele. The fact was that Davis had been a law enforcement agent not three weeks ago, and now he was for all intents and purposes living on the run with us. Which was unnecessary since, as far as I knew, no one was after him.
“You’re not the bad guys,” Davis said. “I know bad guys.” He threw a quick look at Leo. If anyone would understand, it might be Leo, who was still, technically, a special agent with the FBI. “I got tired of the bad guys getting away. I think I can do more good in the world with you.”
“There isn’t going to be an us soon,” Wesley said quietly. “The deal was one job for each of us. All that’s left is Leo’s and then we’re done. Free to go our separate ways. Personally, since it was Leo’s townhouse that got blown up, I might feel a little safer alone.”
Danny gave a small gasp and grabbed for Breck’s hand. “No. I don’t want to leave.” Wesley looked at him with an expression I couldn’t read. The quiet hacker had a great poker face. If I were setting up a crew of my own, I would want someone like him on my side.
Silence fell on our little group. It seemed nobody wanted to think of the implications of that pronouncement. What would happen after Leo completed whatever wild goose chase Charlie had for him?
“In the meantime,” Leo said. “Let’s work on what we’re here for. I, for one, am happy no one will be shooting at us this time. So what’s our first step?”
“Get rid of Ryan,” I said, feeling my mouth twist as I said his name.
“Obviously,” Breck said.
“I love the way you say his name,” Ridge said. “You sound just like the hyenas in the Lion King when they say Mufasa.” He laughed wildly in demonstration.
Steele laughed. “I loved that part. Love those hyenas.”
“Davis, he seems very taken by you,” I said. “How do you feel about being friends with Ryan?”
“Slimy, but for true love, I’ll wade in a little slime.”
“You say the nicest things, babe,” Ridge said.
“Even if he doesn’t, well, if things don’t work out for us, getting Ryan permanently away from Eric would be a high point of my career. Wesley…”
“I’m on it,” he said waving his highly customized phone at me. “Shoot me any information you have on him.”
I nodded. “I also think we need a man on the inside. Someone close to Eric who can find out what he thinks about all this. Danny, it looked like you bonded during the tournament. Think you could get a job as his assistant?”
“How do we know he's looking for an assistant?” Steele asked.
“I know Eric, and I guarantee you he is trying to do too much. He needs an assistant.”
“He already told me to call him about it,” Danny said smugly.
I gestured at him in a “what did I tell you” gesture. “Excellent.”
“What about us?” Breck said. “I want to help!”
I met Leo’s eyes. He shrugged slightly. We had to find something for them to do. The thought of an unsupervised, bored Ridge gave me the shivers. Breck and Steele would, I’m sure, find ways to enjoy themselves. But since Ridge’s plans might involve him helping himself to the jewels of La Crosse’s hoi polloi, such as it was, it would be better to find something to keep him occupied.
“Don’t worry. I’ll find something,” I promised. “Give me a day or so. Can you stay out of trouble that long?”
“What’s there to do in La Crosse?” Wesley asked.
“Nothing,” Breck answered. “TripAdvisor lists twelve things to do in La Crosse. Twelve. And number eleven is the Amtrak station.”
“You could always hang out in the woods and drink and have a bonfire,” I suggested. “That’s what Eric and I used to do.”
“Awesome. If I was twelve,” Ridge said.
“I’m sure we can think of something to do, babe,” Davis said. “I have a really nice apartment.”
“There’s gotta be a frat party we can crash,” Breck said. “Let’s find somewhere to drink cheap beer out of red Solo cups.”
“Good luck,” I said. “Please don’t get arrested. If you do, forget you ever knew my name.”
Two by two, they dispersed until it was only Leo and me left. “Another round?” he asked. At my nod, he waved down a waiter. We sat in companionable silence until the drinks arrived. Leo held his glass out for a toast. “To second chances.”
I touched my glass to his and took a sip, then stared into the dark liquid as if it held the answers to all the questions of the universe. “Do you think I’m a fool?” I asked him.
He didn’t answer immediately, something I appreciated. If he had said “of course not” too quickly, I wouldn’t have believed him and the conversation would have been over. He exhaled heavily, uncrossed his legs, leaned back in the chair, and re-crossed them. “I don’t think you’re foolish for wanting a relationship. Or even for wanting that thrill of first love back.”
“But…” I said with a tight smile.
He gave me a wry look in return. “But a relationship between someone like you and a civilian, for want of a better word, how is that supposed to work? Are you going to tell him the truth about what you’ve been doing for the last fifteen years?”
I took a much larger sip of my drink. “How can I, Leo? He’s a good guy. Honest. There are things I’ve done that would send him screaming away.”
Leo frowned and tilted his head in a small shrug.
“What?” I asked. “And don’t tell me I was some kind of, of…” I leaned towards him, waving my glass around as I searched for the right word. I tried not to let it be public knowledge, but when it came to alcohol, I was a bit of a lightweight. Two drinks were enough to make me tipsy. “Of a Robin Hood or a good guy. I wasn’t. I swindled greedy people, yes. People looking to make a quick buck. Stupid people, smug people. And I will probably continue to do so after this ridiculous situation is over with.”