I wasn’t a puppet, though. Not any longer. This gig blew. I needed something better. One with guns and shit. Not females who were too needy.

When I looked toward my truck, I saw an empty spot where it had once been parked. Shit. They’d taken my vehicle, too. What did they expect me to do, walk?

A familiar truck pulled into the drive, and I could see Captain behind the wheel. They’d called him and sent him to get me. Great. I guessed they figured he had to clean up his own mess. Me.

I walked over to the passenger side and climbed in.

“Hey, guess you’re the welcome wagon,” I said as I set my bag between us.

“They were going to send someone else. I offered to come. Told you this wasn’t something you’d like.” He had warned me a couple of times, but he felt I was hard-core enough to handle it and be a deadly weapon with my pretty face. Those were his words, not mine. Although I did like my face. He hadn’t been wrong to assume that.

“Can’t work with Cope,” I said.

“Cope is a master. You failed because you couldn’t stay focused on the job.”

Fine. He loved fucking Cope. Whatever. “Nan is a bitch. You try and stay focused on one woman who is a raging bitch.”

Captain glanced over at me. “She wasn’t a bitch to you last time I spoke with you. She was all about you. You pissed her off with your man-whore ways, and the bitch came out like it does in all women. So you failed.”

I didn’t feel like arguing. He was going to win. “This wasn’t the kind of job I signed up for,” I grumbled.

Captain laughed. “Hell yes, it was. You liked the idea of chasing a hot tail around. You thought it sounded like fun. You failed, Major. Admit that shit.”

Fine. I failed. I had to eat that and deal. “Doesn’t matter. I’d never be able to work with Cope. He’s a bastard.”

Captain nodded. “That he is. Never knew his dad and was kicked out on the streets at ten by his junkie mother. That’s all DeCarlo has told me about Cope. And that wasn’t until recently. Copes a mystery to everyone. He has no soul. Hes a god in this world, though. He can’t be killed. He can track like a motherfucker, and he is brilliant. Speaks ten different languages and taught himself how while living out of Dumpsters. He is the only real badass. You’ve made him an enemy. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Great. Now I had to worry about the genius multilingual psycho killing me. “If I disappear like he told me to, won’t that save me?”

Captain shrugged. “I don’t know. No one knows what Cope will do next. But stop pissing him off. DeCarlo is surprised he’s let you live this long. Now, I am done with this world. Only came to get you because I owed it to them. I got you into this world, and it was time to pull you out. They’ll find you and give you an ultimatum. Do whatever you must to live, and then walk away.”

That was his advice? Peachy. “Got it. Where do I go now?”

“Mexico,” Captain replied, then pulled over just outside the Rosemary Beach town limits. “Good luck.”

Frowning, I looked at him. “You kicking me out?”

He nodded. “Yup. Told you I don’t do this world anymore.”

“How the fuck do I get to Mexico?”

He shrugged. “Not my problem. I’m sure they’ll show up to get you, eventually. For now, start walking.”

“Are you serious?”

“Completely” was his only response.

Nan

Going to the grocery store wasn’t something I usually did. I had people who did that for me. So when I walked into the Whole Foods, I was a little lost. I wanted more yogurt, but I also wanted to walk around and pick out things for myself for a change. Being cooped up inside my house all the time was driving me crazy. I needed to break free from the four walls I’d been hiding behind. My thoughts stayed locked on Gannon whenever I was alone.

In order to preoccupy myself, I’d decided that grocery shopping was something I needed to do. I had never actually done it before, and honestly, all the choices were overwhelming. My mind wasn’t going to have time to think about jumping on a plane to Vegas. It was too busy taking this all in.

The choices of organic vegetables had my head spinning, as did the fruit. I chose a few I knew I liked and a couple I wanted to try out. I thought about taking up cooking. That would be a great way to distract myself. Especially if I burned the house down, which was a possibility.

I skipped the nuts, because although they were delicious and healthy, they had more fat than I was willing to put into my body. Even if it was good fat. No one could argue with me about it. It was just a no-no for me.

The Greek yogurt options were more than I could have hoped for. I spent more time there than anywhere else. My calcium was going to be fine. I bought enough to keep the town in yogurt if they came for a visit. Which wouldn’t happen, because I’d probably kick them out.

I had turned to head down the cereal aisle when I spotted a man at the end of the aisle, just as he was turning the corner. I recognized him. The familiar color of his hair pulled into a man bun. The beard. His jeans were fitted just like I remembered, and he moved like Gannon. It made no sense that he would be here in Rosemary Beach at the Whole Foods store, but I had seen him. Hadn’t I?

I left my cart right there in front of the cereal and took off running to the aisle five rows down to catch him. No man could be that similar to him. He was unique. My long legs ate up the ground fast, and I was aware that people were staring at me, but I didn’t care.