Jinx rubbed his chin. “Are we gonna talk about salt all night or are you two gonna tell me what in the hell is going on? You know, what with the whole bar that was attacking you, Odin? I swear, O, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times…If you can’t learn to play well with others, then you shouldn’t play at all.”
“The bar scene happened because of me.” Maisey’s voice was clear. Odin slanted her a fast glance and saw that her delicate jaw had tightened. “Odin had to fight tonight because I hired him. We’re hunting a killer, and the hunt led us to that bar.”
Jinx didn’t show so much as a flicker of surprise. “A killer, hmm?” He did a little bounce. Seemed to bubble with energy. “Then count me in.”
Chapter Eleven
“It’s not a game, Jinx,” Odin said as he walked Jinx to his motorcycle.
“Life’s a game, man. I’ve told you that very thing numerous times. We’re all playing, every single day. Whether we want to do it or not, we’re in the game.”
Odin glanced back at War’s cabin. Maisey was inside. He’d wanted to speak privately with Jinx. Don’t want to alarm her. “It’s just us, so you can cut the act.”
“What act?”
“The act where you pretend you don’t care about anything.” Everything. “This case is serious.”
“Three victims sounds very serious.”
“He almost took Maisey,” Odin snapped. “The bastard nearly had her yesterday. He was trying to load her into a truck and drive away with her. She’s his next target because Maisey was the one doing all the investigating—on her own until I took the case—and now he’s locked on her.”
Maisey and Odin had given Jinx a fast run-through of events. But what mattered most to Odin… “Look, if you really want to help on this one, then I could use you. Nothing can happen to her.”
Jinx slapped a hand on his shoulder. “It won’t. We got this.” His hand tightened. “You want me checking out her neighbor? The guy Maisey seemed so certain was guilty? I can tail him while you stay close to her.”
“That would be great. Thanks.” He could sure use another set of eyes. “Guess it was lucky you were in that bar.” His head tilted as he came back to a point that bugged him. “Exactly why were you in that bar? I get that you came down here after you got the invitation—hell of a wedding you missed, by the way, because War had an open bar—but why go to that dive?” Though Odin had a suspicion.
“What can I say? I was bored. Looking for something to amuse me.”
The amusements in that place weren’t exactly safe. And that was Jinx’s secret. The man had always been pulled to the dark. Safe and easy—not in his vocabulary. “Something illegal?” Now he was even more suspicious. “You are done with the freelance work for the government, aren’t you?” Jinx was good at undercover ops. Too good. Especially with those tricky hands of his.
“At the moment, I’m working with you. Your case is my priority.”
That wasn’t exactly a clear answer, but Odin decided not to push for more. “You got a place to crash?”
“Well, I was intending to stay at War’s place. You know how he said his guest room was always open…”
War had said that, numerous times. Until recently, Odin had been crashing in that guest room, too. But then War had gotten married and War’s new bride, Rose, had wanted to sell her condo. Since Odin had decided to stay in the area, he’d jumped in and purchased the place from her.
The condo wasn’t exactly Odin’s style, but he’d fix it. Eventually. At the moment, it was just filled with boxes he’d finally had moved in and furniture that had recently been delivered. He reached into his pocket. Pulled out—
“Those had better not be panties you are handing me.”
“Shut the fuck up.” He pulled War’s spare key off the ring. “I’m taking Maisey with me tonight. You can have War’s place.”
“Yeah, so…first, I think I’ll get started with a little digging.” He did a quick maneuver with his fingers—one of those sleight-of-hand magic tricks that he was always showing off with—and made the key vanish in a blink. “I won’t be back until later. You know, as in much, much later. Plenty of time for you and Maisey to finish up what…” He ahemed. “Whatever you started earlier.”
He didn’t want plenty of time. Odin wanted the whole freaking night. “Maisey will be at my place tonight.” His place. In his brand new bed. “And don’t worry, I absolutely intend to finish what we started.”
“Oversharing.” Jinx jumped on his motorcycle. He started the engine, but didn’t leave. “Be careful with her.”
Odin’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He would never physically hurt her. He’d never hurt any woman.
“She likes you. I mean, really likes you. It’s not one of those things when we get the women who just want to screw around because they think we have a dangerous edge, and they like that freaky thrill.” His head turned toward Odin. “She was ready to tear into me because she thought I wasn’t being a good friend to you.”
About that… “You need to stop testing people.”
Jinx revved the engine. “When people fail you often enough, you can’t help but test them.” His voice roughened as he added, “You never failed me. So know that I’ll always have your back. If things go dark, call me. I’ll be there in an instant.” Another rev of the engine before Jinx drove away.
For a moment, Odin just watched him go. Then he turned back to the cabin. His steps were slow and certain as he headed back to Maisey. He found her waiting for him on the screened porch. The waves were thundering and he and Jinx had kept their voices low, so he didn’t worry that she’d overheard them.
He did worry about what the hell he was supposed to say to her.
I want to fuck you and I’m barely keeping my hands off you. We need to get to my place, or I will take you right where you stand.
“So…Jinx, huh? Is that his real name?” A pause. Her arms had wrapped around her stomach. “Is Odin your real name? Because I just realized that maybe it’s a code name. Maybe I almost had sex with a guy and I don’t even know his real name, and you should know the real name of your lover. That’s important information.”
He closed the distance between them. “Odin is my real name. My parents are Scandinavian, and my dad was big into the Norse myths.”
“Good to know,” she murmured. “Because if your real name was something like Burt, then I’d need to make sure I called it out at the right ah, moment.”
His lips were pulling up. She was doing it again. Making him want to smile. To laugh. His chest warmed as he gazed down at her.
See, Jinx, I do have a fucking sense of humor.
“Odin? You’re looking at me oddly. Is something wrong?”
He shook his head. “Jinx isn’t his real name. But we don’t use his real name. Ever. The last two guys who tried? Jinx made sure they didn’t repeat that mistake.” He wouldn’t go into specifics. “We should go.”