Page 46 of Dear John
“Fair enough,” Cap said, taking a seat. “And you’re good for the transfer?”
I shifted uneasily. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it, but I didn’t have much choice. “Any chance you’re opening a branch near me?” I joked.
“Not anytime soon. Why?”
I rubbed the back of my neck uneasily. “Look, I’ll be honest. I didn’t want to leave OPS. I like where I live and I have a woman there who’s not quite sure she wants to move. But what’s done is done. I have to go where the work is.”
“And if Cash suddenly decides he wants you back?”
I huffed out a laugh. “That’s not gonna happen.”
Sinner leaned forward. “You never know. Maybe you’ll have some horrible job that ends you up in the hospital. That’s how I got this guy back,” he said, jerking his thumb at Cap. “Hell, he even cried when he thought I died not too long ago.”
A pencil flew across the room, smacking Sinner on the forehead. “Hey! What the fuck was that for?”
“When the hell are you gonna learn to keep your mouth shut?” Cap snapped.
I looked at the broken pencil on the table and chuckled.
“Something funny?” Cap asked.
“No, it’s just…” I waved my hand at the pencil. “It’s a Ticonderoga. Cash has a thing for them.”
“Aww, fuck. He’s gonna cry,” Sinner muttered.
“I’m not gonna cry,” I retorted.
“You know it’s just a pencil, right?” Sinner asked.
My eyes shot to his and I glared. “It’s so much more than a pencil. It’s a Ticonderoga. It’s the best pencil on the planet.”
“He’s right,” Cap agreed. “You can’t really go wrong with a Ticonderoga.”
Alright, this was getting a little weird, even by my standards. “Anyway…pencils aside, I think?—”
Alarms blared through the building. The lights flickered, then went out, plunging us into darkness. Cap was on his feet in a flash, dragging Sinner out of his chair as they ran for the doors, slipping through right before they slammed shut. I was already out of my chair and yanking on the handle, but it was too late. I was locked in. I slammed my fist against the glass, not that it mattered. Everyone was running around, trying to find out what the threat was. In the meantime, I was trapped in here with nowhere to go.
Sighing, I started pacing, trying to figure out how to get the fuck out of there. No one was paying a bit of attention to me, and frankly, if this was my building, I’d be doing the same thing.Metal clattered to the ground behind me and I spun, reaching for my weapon, but it wasn’t there. They’d taken it before I entered the building, and now I was unarmed.
I stared up at the ceiling, waiting for the intruder to break in. Grabbing the chair, I armed myself the only way I could in a room that locked me in with no way to defend myself. I tightened my grip on the legs just before a masked face popped into view.
“Hey, roomie!”
I flinched at the voice. “Fox?”
He yanked the mask off his face, tossing it to the ground, then flipped down, landing on his feet. “Yeah, it’s me!” he said, holding his arms wide.
“Why did you call me roomie?”
Rolling his eyes, he laughed. “Because we’re in the same room. Trapped. Well, you’re trapped, but I’m here to break you out.”
I frowned at his words. “I’m trapped—Fox, did you break in here?”
“Duh. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t come to the rescue?”
“I’m not being held hostage,” I said slowly.
“Clearly, you are, or you wouldn’t be here.”