Page 61 of Down & Dirty: Reaper

He responded to Vi with: Heading back now.

It wasn’t smart to return to the Warehouse because the Russo-provided Glacier phone was most likely being tracked. The Russos would be fools for not doing so.

And, assuming he was, that would allow the farm and Warehouse to be put at risk.

Fuck.

After considering his options, Reaper parked the old Chevy in a strip mall parking lot, used the Russos’ “spy” phone to call for a ride share, then locked the phone in the trunk, and had the Lyft driver drop him off a block from the Warehouse.

He hoofed it the rest of the way on foot, grabbed his Bronco, along with his wallet and dog tags, and headed home.

He’d dig out a Faraday bag tomorrow from the storage closet at the Warehouse. The bag would prevent the Russos from pinging the phone when he didn’t want to be tracked. He doubted they’d bitch about the spotty service because then they’d have to admit they were keeping an eye on him.

Not having his own cell phone with him on the drive home was strange. He needed to pick up another one for his personal use, along with transferring his phone number, because the hell if he wanted to use the Russos’ for normal, everyday shit.

When he pulled up to his cabin, the porch light was on and from what he could tell, maybe one interior light, but he knew Vi was waiting for him since the UTV was parked in a spot no one would notice it unless they drove all the way up the lane to his cabin.

He sure as fuck hoped she hadn’t sent out the calvary to find him when she didn’t get an answering text in a reasonable amount of time.

He tried the front door, only to find it locked.

Good. The property might sit along a sparsely populated road but evil could be lurking anywhere.

He dug out his keys and let himself in, only to find his cabin cloaked in complete silence.

Both strange and a little concerning.

With a frown, he kept his boots on in case he needed to gather the troops and go track down Violet. Because if someone fucked with her, he wouldn’t sleep until she was found or vengeance was obtained.

Relief washed through him as he opened his bedroom door to find her crashed in his bed. She was sprawled out on her back with her long dark hair fanned out over his pillow and her mouth hanging open.

He wouldn’t be surprised if the pillow she was using was damp from drool.

While this wasn’t the first time she slept in his cabin overnight, it was the first time he’d heard her snoring. The sound wasn’t obnoxious, but more like a kind of cute, soft purring.

She definitely had a more peaceful night than he’d had so far.

Being as quiet as possible, he stripped down, then headed into the bathroom for a quick shower, to brush his teeth, and empty his screaming bladder. It had been a long damn night.

After drying off, he headed buck naked back into the room and dropped his weight on the edge of the bed, making sure the mattress bounced enough to wake the dead.

With a snore-snort, Vi jackknifed straight up, pinning the sheet to her chest, and glanced around with wide, unfocused eyes. Once she realized who had joined her and knew she wasn’t in danger, relief replaced the confusion filling her face and she flopped back onto the mattress with a groan. “Holy shit. I can’t believe I fell asleep. At least you’re okay.”

“Barely.” He stroked the dark, silky strand of hair lying closest to him.

“What happened?” She rolled her head to glimpse at the digital clock on the nightstand. “You’re getting back later than normal.” She punctuated that with a loud yawn.

“Yeah. I’ve got an interesting story to tell.”

“Oh no,” Vi moaned, slapping a hand over her eyes.

“It’s both bad and good.”

She peeked through her fingers. “What do I want to hear first?”

“How fucking hot you are?”

“No. Well, of course, but also no. I want to hear what happened. Compliments can wait.”