He named a price that made me wince. “That’s for the first month, for two of us, my brother and me. Room and board is included in the price, along with a few upgrades on the house—easily secured windows, better doors, and a security system.”
“I don’t cook.”
“I do. But you buy the food.”
I took one hand off the weapon and reached up. Flipped on the light. Younger and I were aiming directly at each other, except his aim was a little high. Above my head. I chuckled softly. Eli frowned.
CHAPTER NINE
If I Lose, the Kid Eats Like a Soldier
Eli Younger was my height, give or take an inch, solid as an oak, fast on his feet, maybe mid-thirties, and not what I expected at all. All Derek’s men were black and former marines. The Ranger was probably at least half white, and . . . Different was too ordinary a word. He had dark gray eyes that might have a blue haze to them in direct sunlight, dark hair cut military short, skin as brown as mine, and a still-healing, jagged scar that started at his left jaw and ran down his neck to disappear into his shirt collar. It didn’t look like a knife wound. Shrapnel, maybe. No tattoos that I could see.
I took a beer from the fridge and passed it across to him. Eli grinned at the fridge, twisted off the top, and drank. I was pretty sure he was smiling because the inside light no longer functioned. Security. Or maybe it was the stack of steaks inside. He seemed like a man who’d like steak.
I prepared tea for me, boiling water, pouring dried leaves into a strainer. Setting an antique pot in the sink and filling it with hot tap water to temper the old ceramic. We studied each other as we worked—him on his beer, me on my tea. I was tired, so I chose a strong Irish breakfast blend and got out the sugar. I worked in silence. It didn’t seem to bother him, which was nice. I never knew what to say to men who needed chitchat. While the water heated, I sat and said, “Tell me about your brother.”
His eyes shifted for a moment, and I figured I was about to get a portion of the truth. “Alex is my height, just turned eighteen, a graduate from MIT. He’s on juvie probation, but if you hire me, you hire him. We’re a team.” I thought about that for a moment, then nodded, waiting for more. “He got caught hacking into the Pentagon.” A smile pulled at my lips and about a hundred emotions flitted across Eli’s face before he settled on wry. “Yeah. He wants to know what happened.” Eli touched his scar. “He hates secrets. I wouldn’t talk, so he tried hacking in, looking for my records. He’s good. Arguably one of the top ten hackers in the country, not that they call it hacking anymore. But he made a rookie mistake, probably because he’s worried.”
I raised my brows. Eli went on. “Alex says I’m different since it happened. He doesn’t like it.”
“So different you can’t do the job?”
“So different I wanted out. I was a career soldier. Then I wasn’t.”
Cub, Beast thought at me. It seemed like a good guess. I went with it. “Your parents are deceased.” Eli’s eyes dilated a bit in surprise. Bingo. “You nearly died, and Alex would have been alone. You quit for him, and if he knew that he’d be ticked off.” Surprise and irritation leaked from Eli’s skin. He’d not be happy to know he was giving away the good parts of his personal story by his olfactory tells, but I wasn’t sharing that. Let him think I was just that smart, or that Derek had told me all. “So, with your injury, whatever the service gives you to retire early, good contacts, and a pocketful of medals, you hope to start a business—one where you can keep an eye on your brother—with your hard-won skills and your brother’s genius IQ and computer flair.” I nodded slowly at what I was reading in the tension of his jaw. Yeah. I was betting I had it all straight. “But you have to stay in Louisiana until his probation is over, and I’m the fastest job possibility you have. I have a big house at my disposal and you think you can bunk in here for a month or two, make good cash, and look around for better things. Anything I get wrong? Anything I need to know different?”
“No. And?”
“I’ll think about it.” I took the simmering kettle off the fire. Emptied the pot and set the strainer inside. Poured the steaming water over the leaves and set the top on with a little clink. I swathed the teapot in a towel and left it to steep. I walked into my bedroom and right back out with the sheaf of papers and the Apple I had taken from Seattle. “Small test to see if you are what you say you are. Get your brother to see what’s on this computer. I want a list and summary of all files. I want the e-mail address book. I want to read every e-mail sent in the last month. I’m looking—”
Eli held up a hand, pulled out a cell, and hit a button. We both heard it ring. Right outside. “I told you to stay put. Get your sorry ass in here.” He closed the cell. I laughed. Eli shook his head and sighed. “Crazy kid. He was supposed to stay in the truck.”
A knock sounded at the front door. Eli got up and stood to the side of the door, checking out the window before opening it. A kid came in, looking much younger than eighteen, gangly, gawky, and carrying a slim electronic device about the size of two hands, and at least three electronic devices under one arm—an e-reader, a tablet, whatever. Eli pointed to a chair at the table. The kid seemed to melt into it, the electronics in his lap. He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
Thief, Beast whispered to me.
What did he take of mine? He didn’t have time to steal. I turned my back on the pair. Not a dominance action this time, but a chance to think. I got out two mugs and spoons and poured tea. Added sugar to both and stirred, putting two and two together.
I walked around the table and put one cup in front of the kid. Beast-fast, I yanked the electronic tablets off his lap and put the table between us again. I set the fancy electronics on the table just out of his reach. Eli started to react and stopped himself with a jerk, only his eyes showing a reaction to my speed and my thievery. “Are my financials okay, kid? My background check out? Did Reach burn your little butt for going deep into my life?”
The kid looked up at that. He was going to be a lot prettier than his brother, if he ever got over the sullen glint in his eyes and the stubborn grinding of his teeth. Then his mouth dropped slowly open. “That was Reach? The Reach? Like Reacher Reach?” He looked at the small e-tablet and cussed softly.
His brother slapped the back of his head. “Lady here.”
Alex rubbed his head, looking at me under too-long bangs. “Bugger’s not a bad word, and she’s no lady. She’s a rogue-vampire killer. She’s got more kills under her belt than any other licensed hunter in the business. She’s also the Enforcer for Leo Pellissier, and no one knows how she got the position. Half of the fanghead hunters think she’s his blood-servant. The other half think she’s got a legal writ on him and is getting into position to take him out. She’s got more money than Midas.”
Eli rumpled his brow, and I knew he was thinking about the muffler company rather than the mythical king. I laughed, half wondering how I could read the man so well. It had to be more than his musky undertone. He was like a pheromone factory, every emotion immediately available to my nose, but even that shouldn’t make him so transparent. “And Reach burned a hole in your system for looking?”
“Fried my ass. Fried my Teckton.”
I didn’t know what a Teckton was, but it sounded expensive. After checking to make sure his devices were all off, I pulled my cell and hit Reach’s speed dial. “Evening, Money Honey,” he said.
I snorted. “The kid you just burned getting into my records. Is he dangerous? And can he be trusted as an employee?”
“Yes and yes. Him and his Ranger brother. And for that and for taking care of you when you weren’t looking, I just earned a crisp five hundred of your money.”