Page 36 of Crowe
I’d asked a few questions, and he’d answered them. Then I’d said okay. He’d nodded, and that had been that.
What I noticed was that after he’d shared all that information, I felt steadier than I expected to. Not because the information wasn’t frightening—it was—but because he’d given it to mestraight. He didn’t soften it or try to manage my reaction. Instead, he just gave me the truth, which told me he believed I could handle it.
After a minute, he smiled at me and said, “So, I was thinking maybe we could walk over to the bookstore across the street. I need something to read, and they have a decent selection of puzzles.”
“It’s okay for me to go over there?” I asked.
“You aren’t a prisoner here, Noah. You just need to be careful, so no going out places on your own, but if you want to go somewhere, I’m happy to go with you.”
I thought about it for a second. I felt safe here in the Three Bears HQ, but I also knew that if I stayed cooped up here for too long, I’d get serious cabin fever. From my last stay here, I knew there was a gym downstairs, but a trip to a bookstore sounded way better than a workout right now.
“A puzzle sounds good. Mika offered to teach me to crochet, but I don’t think that’s for me.”
Jackson chuckled. “Mika believes crocheting and baking are the answers to all life’s problems.”
“He does seem to think that. Let me call Carina real quick and update her on the situation, and then we can go.
We spent a good hour in the bookstore and then stopped at Goldie’s for sandwiches on our way back. The line wasn’t too terribly long, and I was thrilled to see they still carried my favorite sandwich. We placed our order, then Jackson directed me to a seat away from the window but near the door that led into the building.
“Man, between their Brie and Bacon Panini and Mika’s baked goods, I’m going to have to spend a lot of time in the gym,” I said.
“We’ve all had to add a few reps to our workouts since Mika arrived.”
The girl behind the counter called out our name, and Jackson stood up. “I’ll grab it.”
A few minutes later, he came back with our food. I took one bite and moaned. “Oh my god, this is so good.”
“I haven’t tried that one, but it sounds like it would be good.”
“What did you get?”
“The ultimate meat sub,” he said. The sandwich was so fat I wasn’t sure how he was even going to fit it in his mouth, but I watched as he bit into it.
I glanced over my shoulder at the door that led into the Three Bears building. “I bet the guys all eat here a lot.”
“They do. Partly because it’s super convenient, but mostly because her food is top-notch.”
“Now all they need is a coffee shop, and the guys would be all set.”
“There are a couple of empty storefronts still, but Wolfe’s really picky about who he lets lease a spot in the building.”
We finished our lunch and then headed back upstairs. Once we got there, I expected him to leave, but he sat down on the couch and reached for one of the books he’d purchased and settled in.
“Don’t you need to go back to work?” I asked, not that I wanted him to leave, but I also didn’t want him to get in trouble.
“I’m on vacation, remember?”
“Seriously?” I couldn’t believe he was wasting his vacation time here with me.
“Nah, Wolfe put me back on duty, but since I was supposed to be off, I don’t have anyone scheduled out at the camp this week, and Bobby’s staying out there taking care of everything for me, so no need for me to go out there.”
“So you get to just hang out with me?”
“Until next week. I have a group coming in on Wednesday. They’ll be there for a few days.”
I sat down next to him on the couch. “What exactly do you do with these groups?”
“It all depends on the group. This one is law enforcement, so we’ll do tracking, weapons skills, and I’ll have an expert coming out to talk to this group about de-escalation and hostage negotiation.”
