I Know Lucy (The Fugitive Series) (11 page)

Lucy let the tears keep flowing, feigning speechlessness as she touched her chest. “Thank you,” she mouthed. She swiped a few tears away. “That is so kind.”

“Hey now, your brother helped me today. I owe him a lot more than that.”

She opened her arms wide and Lucy fell into the hug. The woman’s arms were warm and motherly, squeezing Lucy tight before gently rubbing her back. It felt so good to be held that way again, it reminded her of home, which Lucy hadn’t thought of in a while.

Blinking at her tears, she pulled herself free and shut off thoughts of her mother before she turned into a genuine blubbering mess.

Food. A bed.

She said the words inside her head, killing off any emotion. Swallowing, she gifted the lady one last smile as she walked away, calling out yet another thank you.

Marlin wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her across the street, keeping up their brother/sister persona until they were around the corner.

Peaking over his shoulder, he saw they were in the clear and tugged Lucy into the alley.

“How much?” She dabbed at her blotchy cheeks, forcing her shaking innards to be still. She couldn’t believe they’d actually pulled it off. Lucy leaned towards Marlin as he finished counting.

“Four hundred bucks!” He whooped. “I told you she was loaded.” He slapped Lucy on the arm with an elated grin.

She tried to match his enthusiasm, but couldn’t quite manage it.

“So what do you want to do first? Eat? Sleep? Shop? What?”

“I don’t—”

Her reply was cut short by the slow clapping of hands. Marlin’s pale eyes jumped with fright before he pulled Lucy behind him and backed up the alley further.

“Bravo.” The black man smiled, his white teeth shining. “Excellent performance.” His British accent sounded posh, but a practiced posh.

Lucy frowned, eyeing him over Marlin’s shoulder.

“Who are you?” Marlin’s voice had a hard edge to it.

“The name’s Shorty.” The man bowed, the posh accent slipping to reveal a street British that seemed to suit him better. He wasn’t a large man, but his personality made up for it. His long skinny legs matched his knuckley fingers. His wide nose and full lips almost made him look like a caricature, but he had a class about him…a flair. His thick gold ring caught her eye as he pointed at them. “What I just saw you kids do, was stella’. Absolutely stella’. How long you been conning then?”

“We…” Lucy looked to Marlin. “We don’t con.”

“Sweetheart, I just saw you do it.”

“No, we…that wasn’t.” Lucy shook her head then sighed. Shorty’s dark eyes were staring her down, turning her lies to ash.

“What do you want?” Marlin stood tall. The guy might be skinny, but he had good height.

Shorty wasn’t intimidated in the slightest as he sauntered towards him. “I, my little friends, want you.”

He pointed at them.

“Us?”

“You pulled off that con without even breaking a sweat. You, Princess Helen, or whatever your name is, was brilliant. I could use some talent like yours.”

“Who are you?” Marlin repeated the question, but his voice was softening.

“I am a con-artist. Moved here a few years back. Been working the area. Lot of money to be made in these parts, but only so much when you don’t have a team. Come work for me.”

Lucy’s first reaction was a shake of the head. “We don’t even know you.”

“So get to know me then. I can tell you one thing, you’d be making a lot more than four hundred measly bucks with me. I’m wanting in on some big scores. I got some good plans going. We join forces and it opens up a whole new ball game.”

Marlin glanced at Lucy, raising his eyebrows. She frowned and shook her head.

“You want to eat a decent meal and sleep in a bed
every
night?”

Her face dropped.

That sounded divine.

“I can make that happen for you. I can set you guys up for a future off the streets. I ain’t sayin’ it’s risk free, but it’s worth a shot. Am I right?”

“How can we trust you?” Marlin jutted his chin out.

Shorty shrugged, stretching his arms wide. “Well, I let you in and you let me in. It’s a two way street.” He pointed to himself then back to them. “How can I trust you? We’re all thieves here, let’s be honest. But I’m willing to take a risk on you two.”

“The four hundred’s ours.” Lucy’s voice was much colder than she meant it to be.

“Too right. I didn’t earn a penny of that. It’s all yours.”

That made her feel slightly better, but he was a con-artist. He might be lying about it.

“Look, I spotted your con, others probably could too. I can teach you things. I can help you get better. I can make you some decent cash.” He slapped his hands together. “Come on, I’ll show you my place and then you can decide.”

Lucy still felt unsure, but couldn’t really argue when Marlin grabbed her hand and tugged her down the alley. “We just need to get our stuff first.”

Shorty nodded and followed them to a second alley, where they’d hidden their two duffle bags. Marlin carried both of them, Lucy trailing behind, trying to figure out if Shorty was leading them to a death sentence or a whole new future.

Chapter 13

April 2014

I tapped my pen against my textbook, knowing I should be studying the text like Dani was, but I couldn’t stop looking at her. My eyes would hit the page then immediately bounce back to the way her blonde hair curled into a U behind her ear or the way her nose twitched just before she quietly sniffed, or the way she brushed her bottom lip with the end of her pen as she was reading.

I think she could tell I was looking at her because occasionally she’d glance up, hitting me with those blue eyes and making me blush.

She’d gotten prettier, I swear.

Before I left for spring break with Elliot, I would have raised my right hand and told the world I was 60% more intrigued by Dani than I was falling for her. But being away from her, thinking every blonde girl I spotted at Venice Beach was her…it made me realize I was kind of obsessed. I found myself pining for my morning swim and desperate to get back to school just so I could pass her in the corridors or sit next to her in class.

I missed her smile.

I wanted another Sociology assignment to work on. I wanted any excuse I could get to hang out with her. I wondered if she’d missed me too, because the first Monday after spring break I invited her out for coffee and she said yes without skipping a beat. Since then we’d started doing a lot more after school stuff. We saw each other most days and she regularly hung out with my crowd on the weekend now. This afternoon we were sitting in Vincenzo’s studying, supposedly studying, for our upcoming Sociology test.

“Okay, try these.” AJ swung into the room and placed a plate of steaming meatballs in front of us.

“Where’s the sauce?”

“I’m trying out some different flavors. I need you to taste them sauceless so I can get an opinion on if you like the cilantro or you think it should go.”

I wrinkled my nose at Dani, feeling way under-qualified for the task. She giggled and grabbed her fork. We’d been taste-testing stuff since getting here. AJ had skipped last period and come to the restaurant early. Wednesday afternoons were often quiet and the boss let him experiment in the back corner.

The meatball was so hot I had to spit it out and grab my glass of water. Dani, the sensible one, had blown on hers and nibbled the edge. With a chortle she passed me a napkin, then looked at AJ seriously.

“The cilantro works. I really like it. You don’t need sauce with these, they’re delicious just like this.” She took another bite.

AJ’s eyes lit up, his hands jerking into the air. He jumped on his tiptoes with a gleeful grin. “Wait till you taste the sauce.” He rubbed his hands together and practically skipped back to the kitchen.

I shook my head with a snicker. I loved how excited he got over food and I was really glad Elliot wasn’t here to put a dampener on things with his ketchup antics or ruin my time with Dani. He was still wary of her and he’d noticed how much we’d been hanging out together. The girls seemed to like Dani, but Elliot would always be cautious.

I guess he had a right to be, but the more I hung out with this girl, the more I realized how cool she was. Sure, she had a few little secrets, but I was beginning to not care what they were. She was intelligent, great to talk to, she put up with all my ridiculous observations about the world. Heck, she had noticed over half of them anyway.

“I noticed that too,” she’d softly murmur.

The more time we spent together, the more relaxed she was and I liked it. I really, really liked it.

My need to figure her out was fading by the day. I wanted her to be good and trustworthy. I didn’t want to know if her secrets were dark and dangerous. I just wanted her to be Dani, the beautiful girl sitting next to me, studying for tomorrow’s test.

“Would you stop.” She looked up at me, her lips quirking to the left. “You’re supposed to be studying. If you keep looking at me, you’re gonna fail the test tomorrow.”

I gave her a cheesy grin, which made her chuckle.

“I’m serious, Zach.” She shook her head and glanced at her watch. With a sigh, she flipped her textbook closed. “I should go.”

“Why? It’s only just five.”

“My dad.” She shrugged, shoving her things into her bag.

“He’s really strict, huh?”

“He can be.” Her voice was light, but also strained. Whenever he came up, things got like this. No one else would probably even notice, but I’d been studying her for several weeks now and Dani’s voice was definitely more tense when she talked about her father.

“He…I’d like to meet him sometimes.”

She sniggered. “Not in a million years.”

“Why not?”

Zipping her bag shut, she tucked it under her arms, hugging it close as she faced me. “He likes me to stay focused on my work. I can’t afford to let anyone distract me.”

“And I’m a distraction?” I pointed to myself, openly hopeful.

She grinned, biting her lip. She didn’t say anything, but her soft blush told me what I wanted to know.

“I take it he doesn’t know about me.”

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she looked to the tabletop. “I’m not at this school to score myself a boyfriend.” A sad wistfulness crested over her face.

Unable to help myself, I leaned forward and took her hand. She let me gather up her fingers and I ran my thumb over her knuckles. I didn’t know what to say, but just touching her seemed to make her feel better. Her smile was soft, her blue eyes shining with a longing I knew all too well.

I could have kissed her right then.

In fact I would have if AJ hadn’t burst through the door with his damn meat sauce.

He made Dani stay and taste it. She said all the right things to satisfy his culinary aspirations and he flounced off happily.

“Let me drive you home. I’ll drop you round the block so your dad won’t even see me.”

“I’m fine, Zach. I like to walk.”

“Well at least tell me where you live.”

She gave me a droll look and crossed her arms.

“Why won’t you tell me?”

“Why do you have to know?”

The question stumped me. The truth was I didn’t. I just really wanted to. I was guessing she didn’t want to tell me so I wouldn’t be tempted to drive by some day, which I totally would. Her dad must be really strict if she wasn’t even willing to risk that.

“You’re eighteen. You’re old enough to make your own choices, you know.”

I didn’t want her to play the rebel and get her in trouble, but I had a damn good point. Her father was being way too protective. No boyfriends in high school? Come on.

Her eyes said something I couldn’t decipher and her words were spoken with a softness that pierced me. “Some people don’t get as many choices as others.”

As if realizing she’d suddenly gone too deep and serious, she forced a bright smile over her lips. Leaning towards me with a playful grin, she touched her lips to my ear. “But I am eighteen and if I really want something, I won’t let Daddy stop me.”

Her breath was warm and tickled my skin, making goosebumps rise over my forearms. Her soft lips pressed against my cheek before she leaned back with a smile. Her eyes were dancing as she bit her lip. “See you tomorrow, Zach.”

She made a little nervous, excited face before slinging her bag onto her shoulder and heading towards the door.

I touched my cheek, my insides glowing as I replayed her words. I watched her walk to the door then lean against the glass. She glanced my way one last time, her expression wavering from a giddy thrill, then flashing with a moment of regret before ending on a forced smile.

Oh yeah. She liked me. She wasn’t supposed to like me, but she did.

I sat back in my seat feeling triumphant and a little sad. It was so my style, falling for girls with complications, but this time more than any others, I felt like the fight was worth it.