Tell Me No Spies (23 page)

“No, thanks. I don’t
want to get caught with my pants down.” I struggled away and
stumbled gracelessly to my feet. “Shit. That was my last clean pair
of underwear.”

I heard the grin in
his voice. “Everybody needs a purpose in life. Mine’s makin’ sure
panties get wet.” A pause. “Shit.”

“What?”

“I think ya creamed on
the front a’ my jeans, too. They’re sticky.”

I let out an evil
chuckle. “Everybody needs a purpose in life. Mine’s getting your
jeans sticky.”

I woke to gray dawn
light, a kink in my neck, and scratching sounds from the driver’s
seat. I yawned and squinted over to see Hellhound scrubbing at the
crotch of his pants. He grinned at me as I sat up. “How’re your
panties this mornin’?” he inquired.

“About the same as
your jeans.” I yawned again and stood up to stretch, realizing as I
did that Dave wasn’t snoring. He met my eyes and glanced away
quickly to study the ceiling of the sleeper.

“Good morning,” he
mumbled. “You, uh, didn’t want the bed last night?”

“Um, no, I fell asleep
in the seat and just woke up now.” I felt heat rising in my face,
and turned back to the passenger seat to fumble in my backpack for
a fictitious something.

Hellhound rose from
the driver’s side and finished brushing off his jeans, completely
unabashed. “Ya might wanna go for a walk, darlin’,” he advised. “I
gotta take a dump.”

“On my way.” I reached
for the door handle.

“Jeez, too much
information,” Dave protested.

As I swung out the
door, I heard Hellhound’s retort. “What, like ya weren’t gonna
notice me takin’ a shit two feet away from your head? Just givin’
ya fair warnin’…”

I was pacing back and
forth, shivering and watching my breath plume in the cold morning
air when Dave climbed stiffly down from the cab a few minutes
later.

I shot him a grin.
“Decided to vacate?”

“Uh… yeah.” He
reddened, and I followed his gaze to the used condom peeking out of
the tall grass. We both turned away hurriedly. He scuffed a toe at
the gravel. “Aydan… why are you with a bum like him?”

“He’s not a bum. And
I’m not
with
,” I made air quotes around the word, “…him.
Arnie’s a good friend. I trust him more than… anybody…” I trailed
off as the memory of Kane’s betrayal sneaked up and sucker-punched
me.

Dave frowned. “You
should find a guy that won’t sleep around on you. Somebody who’d
always be there for you. Somebody with some manners at least.”

I heaved a sigh. “I
don’t want that kind of commitment. And Arnie’s completely genuine.
What you see is what you get. That’s worth more to me than any
fancy manners.”

“But… don’t you ever
want…”

“No, I don’t,” I
interrupted gently.

“Oh.” He stared at the
ground. “Well, guess I’ll stretch my legs a bit.” He turned and
limped away and I resumed pacing, trying to stay warm.

Shortly after,
Hellhound swung out of the cab. “Better give it a minute,” he
advised when I started toward the truck.

“I’m freezing my ass
off,” I complained.

“Ya need some
breakfast.” He nodded sympathetically. “Come here, darlin’.” He
unzipped his jacket and folded me in, wrapping his jacket and arms
around me. I snuggled close, soaking up his body heat.

The sound of the truck
door made me look up, and Hellhound shrugged. “Looks like you’re
last in line this mornin’. Might as well get breakfast.” We
rummaged through the remainder of the previous night’s groceries,
and by the time Dave emerged I was feeling much better. I dawdled
over the last few bites before taking my turn in the truck.

I hesitated over the
tiny sink for a few moments, contemplating the dirty clothes in my
backpack and trying not to look at my hair. Clean clothes and a
shower were beginning to take on an attraction of mythic
proportions. I rinsed out a few pairs of panties, cursing my lack
of foresight. If I’d done this last night, they’d be dry by now.
Dammit.

I regarded the cold,
wet handful with irritation. They were clean, but I didn’t know
whether we’d be coming back to the truck or not. No point in
hanging them to dry here. I pondered for a few moments before
sticking my head out the door. “Hey, Dave!”

“Yeah.”

“Have you got a tool
kit?”

“Yeah, what do you
need?”

“Wire, if you’ve got
it.” I climbed down as he extracted a box, and we surveyed the
contents together. “There, that’ll do.” I pointed to a small
roll.

“What’s it for?” he
asked as he handed it to me.

“Don’t ask.” I popped
the hood on the Caprice.

Naturally, both men
ambled over to take a look. Hellhound guffawed and Dave blushed
when I strung my panties on the wire and carefully secured them in
front of the radiator.

“Is that a good idea?”
Dave mumbled.

“It should be okay.
It’s a cold morning. They don’t take up too much area, so it
shouldn’t overheat on the highway. I’ll take them off before we get
into city traffic.”

Hellhound leaned
against the bumper, still grinning while he surveyed Dave’s red
face. “Maybe the car won’t overheat, but Dave might. ‘Specially
when ya show him your skimpy panties an’ start talkin’ about takin’
‘em off. Ya tryin’ to get his jeans sticky, too?”

Dave scowled and his
flush deepened as his fist clenched.

“I was talking about
taking them off the radiator, smartass,” I said. “Just ignore him,
Dave.”

Dave seemed
disinclined to let it go. His normally cheerful face was hard as he
turned to Hellhound. “Time you started showing Aydan a little
respect.”

Arnie sobered and
heaved himself off the car. “Ya know I respect ya, don’t ya,
darlin’?” he asked, eyeing Dave.

“Of course. Dave, it’s
okay, he’s just joking around.” When he didn’t respond immediately,
I laid a hand on his arm and made the most convincing appeal I
could think of. “Dave, I really need you guys to get along. You’re
all I have right now.”

He glanced down at my
hand and covered it with his own. “Okay. For you.” He shot another
hard look at Arnie. “Clean it up from now on.”

Hellhound’s shoulders
seemed to expand. Leather creaked ominously.

I hastened to
intervene. “Dave, I know you’re looking out for me, but Arnie and I
have been friends for a long time, and I like him just the way he
is. If you guys turn this into a pissing match, I’m going to end up
dead. So stop, okay?”

Dave dropped his gaze.
“Okay. Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay.” I turned
quickly to intercept Hellhound’s expressionless stare. “We need to
get going. Arnie, what’s your plan?”

He eyed Dave for a
second longer before turning to me. “Head into town. I’ll tell ya
where to drop me off, an’ we’ll set up a pickup point.”

We got under way with
only a brief moment of tension when the two men faced each other
beside the passenger door. “I’ll need Arnie in the front to give me
directions,” I said, trying for a casual tone. Dave grunted and got
in the back, and Hellhound remained impassive as he slid into the
front seat.

Once in Calgary, I
followed Arnie’s directions and pulled over beside the curb in one
of the seedier neighbourhoods, thankful for the camouflage provided
by the rusted-out Caprice.

Arnie nodded. “Pick me
up here at one. If I ain’t here, keep comin’ back every hour. If I
ain’t back by four, leave without me.”

“But…”

“Trust me,” he
interrupted. “If I ain’t back by four, I ain’t comin’ back.”

Anxiety chilled me.
“How dangerous is this for you, anyway?”

He shrugged. “Dunno.
Guess I’ll find out. See ya.” He got out of the car.

“Wait!”

He paused on the
sidewalk. “What, darlin’?”

I hopped out of the
car and came around to hold him. “Don’t go. It’s not worth it.
We’ll find another way.” I tried to guide him back to the car, but
it was like trying to move a boulder.

He leaned down to drop
a kiss on my lips. “It ain’t gonna be a big deal. See ya at
one.”

Fear squeezed my
heart, and I wrapped my arms around his neck to hold him when he
tried to pull away. Discomfort flickered in his eyes, and I
understood immediately. I quickly pasted on a grin before I kissed
him thoroughly and groped his ass with both hands. “Get your ass
back here in one piece. I’ve got plans for it later.”

He grinned and
relaxed. “See ya, darlin’.”

I made myself turn
away and get into the car. He was vanishing into an alley by the
time I turned to look again.

Dave climbed into the
passenger seat with a grunt and surveyed my face. “He’ll be fine,”
he said gruffly. “Let’s go.”

I put the car in gear
and drove blindly away, my mind racing. God, what if something
happened to him? Because of me. I endangered everybody. Everywhere
I went. Everyone I met. The horrible responsibility crashed over
me.

I hadn’t realized I’d
whimpered out loud until Dave’s hand closed over mine. “Hey, Aydan,
it’ll be okay.”

I looked into his
faded, concerned eyes and felt even worse. Because of me, he was on
the run from the law and his livelihood was parked out in the
middle of Bumfuck, Nowhere. He might end up in jail, or dead, just
because he was a nice guy who was trying to help.

“Jesus, Dave, I’m so
sorry,” I choked.

He frowned. “Pull over
for a second.”

I obeyed, steering
into a convenience store parking lot. When I put the car in park,
he took my hand and looked into my eyes. “What’re you sorry
for?”

“I’m sorry you’re
involved in this. You’re in deep shit because of me, and I feel so
bad, and I don’t know how we’re going to get you out of this…”

“It’s not your fault,”
he protested.

“Dave, it’s
all
my fault. You could end up in jail, or dead, Arnie could get
killed…” I tried to swallow the tremor in my voice. “Nichele might
die because I was too damn stupid and selfish to warn her off…”
Guilt suffused me as I remembered my drunken decision to give up
trying to convince her to dump James.

“Hey.” His hand
tightened on mine. “Hey, Aydan, this was my idea, remember?”

“I know, but you
didn’t know what you were getting into…”

“Yeah, I did,” he said
firmly. “You told me right from the start. Look, we’re in this
together, okay?”

“Yeah, that’s the
whole problem…”

“It’s okay.” He pulled
me into an awkward hug and patted me on the back. “It’ll be
okay.”

I dropped my forehead
onto his shoulder in resignation. He thought I was exaggerating. He
thought he was being a hero, and he didn’t have a punched-out
clue.

The smell of ripe
armpits brought me back to practicality, and I pulled away. Too
late to worry about what we couldn’t change.

“Thanks, Dave. We’ve
got a few hours to kill. Let’s go get a shower.” A flush crept up
his neck. “Separately,” I added.

“Where?” he asked.
“Thought you said we couldn’t go to a hotel or a truck stop.
Campgrounds are all closed by now, too.”

“But the gyms aren’t.
If you were hunting for a fugitive, would you think to look in a
gym? Who in their right mind would go and work out when they were
on the run?”

“Guess you’re right.
Good idea.”

At the YMCA, we paid
our cash drop-in fee and parted ways in the lobby. The bored clerk
paid us no attention, and I strode into the women’s change room
trying to look nonchalant, backpack in hand.

When I emerged
blissfully clean from a long hot shower, I poked through the
contents of my pack with distaste, selecting the cleanest of my
dirty T-shirts. At least I had clean underwear.

I hesitated for a few
moments, then shrugged and tossed my remaining T-shirts into the
sink to wash. If I spread them out in the car, they’d dry
eventually.

It was nearly noon by
the time I stepped out of the change room again.

I spotted Dave
immediately, in conversation with a heavyset, balding man at the
edge of the lobby. Both men looked up as I approached. Dave gave me
a nervous smile, and the other man eyed my snug T-shirt and jeans
with interest when I joined them.

“Jane, this is Randy,”
Dave introduced me. “We drive for the same outfits a lot of the
time. Randy, this is my girlfriend, Jane.” He slid an arm around my
waist, and I leaned into him and tried to act natural as I greeted
Randy. Shit, what were the chances that Dave would be recognized
here of all places?

“You’re putting me on,
right?” Randy demanded. “No way you’re going out with him.”

I felt Dave stiffen,
and I ran my fingers through his still-damp hair. “Of course I
am.”

I kissed Dave, and he
pulled me closer and took his time. Apparently he’d had a chance to
think about the tongue action. He was considerably bolder, and he
was only blushing a little when he pulled away. We were smiling at
each other when Randy snorted.

“Nice try, Dave. How
much did you have to pay her?”

Dave reacted so fast I
didn’t even have a chance to stop him. He bunched Randy’s shirt in
his fist and shoved the other man back against the wall. “Now
you’re going to apologize to Jane,” he snarled, his scowl inches
away from Randy’s alarmed expression.

“Jeez, relax,” Randy
stammered. “I was just kidding around.”

“Apologize,” Dave
grated, jerking Randy’s shirt for emphasis.

“Sorry, I’m sorry,
Jane,” Randy babbled. “I didn’t mean anything by it…”

“Dave, sweetie, it’s
okay, let’s go.” I glanced around at the interested bystanders and
the clerk, who was reaching for the phone.

Shit, shit, shit!

I pried Dave’s fingers
loose and tried to drag him away as unobtrusively as possible while
he glowered back at Randy.

“Dave, come on,” I
hissed in his ear. “You’re attracting attention. We’ve got to get
out of here.”