Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
“Hence the charming and lovable!” I exclaimed.
He sighed through a chuckle. “Fine. If you want to call yourself a dick, by all means. I just don’t see it.”
He was reading too much into it. I only meant that we could have a sort of harsh jargon, my brothers and I. Uncles too.
“You can see whatever you want, buddy. What I wanna see is your Instagram,” I told him. “It’s completely unfair you have all this access to shit about me, and I know fuck-all about you.”
After finishing my second pancake, I went for eggs and bacon.
The bacon just had to be perfect, didn’t it? Christ.
When I got home, I was installing a hot plate on my tiny-ass balcony. Then again, my tiny-ass balcony faced the freeway, and it just wouldn’t be the same as a luxury yacht in the Med.
To my surprise, Adrien pulled out a phone. A satphone, more accurately.
I kinda wanted to get my hands on it.
I wasn’t new around those. Most civilian-used satphones only had coverage on the continent you were in at the time, but I didn’t need to call anyone in the US. I needed to call Elliott. And did I know his number by heart? Of-fucking-course not. Shit. I did know Javier’s number—to his private cell. Had he brought that, by chance? Otherwise…hmm. There was a slight chance the phone would have coverage in the Democratic Republic of Congo. If Roe and Jake were there right now…
Who else could I call?
Call yourself, dumbass.
I chewed quickly on a strip of bacon. Of course. I would call my own cell. Ryan would have it on, wouldn’t he? Man, he better.
“Here. Enjoy all nine of my updates on my incredibly active Instagram account.” Adrien handed over the phone, with the Insta page up on a regular browser.
His account was set to private. No surprise there.
A dusty account or not, those nine photos made me smile. Six of them showed a young boy, Jack, with goofy grins—actually, a furious scowl in one. I pressed that one and read the caption.
I made the mistake of telling Jack he has a dentist appointment tomorrow.
I grinned and scrolled to the comments. Half of them were in Spanish. They seemed to be from family members, and judging by the emojis, they were sending love. And a few LOLs.
The other photos seemed to have been taken in the same location. The background was a backyard—maybe Adrien’s dad’s place? Jack playing soccer, Jack cuddled up in a chair with his tablet, Jack with half a donut crammed into his mouth. He actually resembled Adrien a little. I recognized the grin.
One photo of Adrien’s father, wearing a straw hat, as he pruned a fig tree. Mid-smile, mid-eye roll. I definitely saw the resemblance there.
The most recent photo was from last year, and it was of both Adrien and Jack. So the boy had to be around ten there. They were standing outside a café with a bunch of alien signs. Adrien had his arm around Jack’s shoulders, and they looked very happy.
“What’s with the aliens, Agent Mulder?” I handed back the phone.
He smiled to himself and pocketed the phone. “Jack is obsessed with space and all things Area 51, so Dad and I have taken him to Arizona a few times. We always stop at that place for souvenirs.”
Cute.
I did remember something about space camp.
I also remembered saying Jack was better off without Adrien.
Fuck me.
I wiped my napkin over my mouth as guilt filled up the last space that should’ve been room for more food. “Remember back in the day, like ten minutes ago, when I insisted I’m a lovable dick?”
He chuckled quietly. “Don’t forget charming.”
“Right. The less charming part is when I tell a rusty old fucker his son deserves better. That was uncalled for.”
He sobered and leaned back in his seat, but the last traces of his smile remained in his eyes. “I don’t know about uncalled for. I’d just betrayed you, and I was in the middle of taking you against your will.”
“I’m not sayin’ you can’t be a big fucking dick too,” I retorted. “Whatever. I just—” I waved a hand in the general direction of where he’d stashed his phone. “I didn’t mean what I said. It’s clear he’s your world.”
Something softened in his eyes, and he averted his gaze to…evidently fold his napkin over his thigh. That required his full attention, no doubt. Important stuff.
“I appreciate your saying that.” He cleared his throat. “I’m all right, but I intend to do better once this case is over. I’m gonna walk away for good. I have roughly two weeks till Jack comes home from camp.”
That was his deadline? Two fucking weeks to bring down a cartel?
He had a better shot at seeing aliens take off from Area 51.
I raked my teeth across my bottom lip and stared at him.