Tall, Dork and Handsome

by Remy Richard

  She nodded and turned to Lila. “if anyone asks, you’re the one who pepper sprayed the guy in the hall, okay?”

  “Sure. I’ll try to be convincing,” she said as she shot Sabrina a smile.

  Holden gestured for Sabrina to come to the closet so he could close the shelf behind her. As she got closer, she put her hand on his arm to stay him. “Holden, the guy I pepper sprayed…he recognized me. He thinks I double crossed them.”

  Holden stared into her eyes for a moment and then nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

  Sabrina let out a dry laugh. Not worry? Not likely.

  Holden laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Just trust me. I’ll do what I can to keep you safe.”

  “Okay.” Sabrina sighed as he started to close the shelf on her. “Thanks,” she said so softly she wasn’t sure he would hear.

  But he responded, “You’re welcome,” and shut the shelf on her.

  She could hear Lila and Sam talking, their voices getting softer as they got up and left the room. The only noise was the click-clack of Holden’s keys as he messed around with his laptop. The whir of his printer sounded a few times and then even he left the room.

  She slid down the wall and stared at the shelf blocking her in. It seemed like she couldn’t keep out of a cell in this place. At least this one was designed to keep her safe from being arrested. She hoped they could pull it off.

  She truly believed that Holden would do what he could to keep her safe. She just wasn’t sure that what he could do would be enough. Now that people suspected her of being a double crosser, there was no way she could move on from this job. She’d have to pick up and leave. Start over somewhere other than Portland, which was a shame since she loved the place.

  She wasn’t sure how much longer it took for the police to arrive, but their forceful knocks and strident voices were clear through the walls. She put her head down on her knees and waited for the inquisitions to be over.

  Chapter Nine

  Sabrina stretched her still-cramped muscles and shuffled into the kitchen. Someone had righted most of the furniture that had been overturned the night before and maybe taken a broom to the place. Otherwise it was still in shambles.

  She pushed her hair out of her eyes as she pulled herself up into one of the stools on the other side of the counter and waited for Sam or Holden to realize she was in the room. It didn’t take long. Holden’s eyes were drawn to her from the other side of the kitchen like he could sense her presence. Sabrina felt her face warm as he lost the thread of his conversation and stared at her for a moment.

  They hadn’t had much chance to speak the night before. The police had stayed for hours, taking statements and photographs of the scene and arresting the two that they had managed to apprehend. Sabrina had remained locked in the alcove behind the shelves until they had left and at that point, she had been too tired to do much more than mumble good night as she’d made her way to what she had started to think of as her room.

  Holden’s eyes were warm now although it didn’t look like he had gotten much rest at all. The stubble on his face was more beard than shadow and there were dark bags under his eyes. A bruise along the crest of his cheekbone blended in to make him appear to have a black eye. His gaze swept over her, or over as much as he could see above the counter, and she had the distinct feeling that he was making sure she was okay.

  Hell, she wasn’t in police custody; she was better than okay.

  “Did you sleep well?” Holden asked.

  “As well as can be expected, I guess,” Sabrina said around a yawn. “You?”

  “I kept waking up, expecting someone to be watching me from the armchair in my room, so I wouldn’t exactly call last night restful.” He grinned at her and turned his attention back to Sam. “Can you grab those photos from the security camera? They’re on my desk. I want to show Sabrina.”

  Sam saluted sharply and gave her a small smile as he passed. Sabrina just stared after him in confusion. “What’s going on here? I could have sworn Sam just smiled at me.”

  Holden laughed. “I guess we’re both more than a little grateful that Lila made it out unscathed last night. Something tells me it’s in large part due to your efforts.”

  Sabrina just shrugged and fiddled with the buttons on her shirt. “I don’t suppose that gratitude runs toward letting me take a shower, does it? I’m starting to scare even myself.”

  “Sure thing. First breakfast though,” he said agreeably as he ladled a liquid onto a hot griddle. “I decided that you earned your pancakes last night, keeping quiet in that closet.”

  “Jeez, if I have to work that hard to get pancakes, I shudder to think what a girl would have to do to actually impress you.”

  “Generally it’s complex mathematical equations or getting through the ice quest in Skyrim, but I’m thinking about broadening my criteria.” He grinned at her over his shoulder as he expertly flipped a pancake.

  “How’d you get so good at this cooking thing?” she asked curiously.

  “I wouldn’t say I’m a good cook necessarily. Just that I have some specialties. You’re not the only one who has a pancake fetish. Lila loves them. I used to make them for her all the time when we were kids.”

  Sabrina had little time to wonder about where their mother had been before Sam was pushing a stack of photos to her across the counter. “Holden pulled these off of the surveillance footage before he erased it last night.”

  “Why did you erase it?” she asked Holden.

  “We couldn’t let the police see it. You’re on it for the last two days.”

  Sabrina nodded and pulled the printouts near for a closer look. “Well, this one is Harry,” she said, pointing to a picture of the man she had fought with. “I could tell because of his voice. If I had to guess, I’d say this is George because he’s got a bigger build and this one is Stiles.” She flipped the third picture over to find a photo of the fourth man. “I really don’t know who…” Her voice trailed off as she got a good look at the picture.

  It was a grainy black and white of a tall man reaching to take a small vase off of a shelf in the living room. His instincts were right on, the vase would be the first thing she’d steal as well. Small, easy to conceal and easy to fence. Not the most expensive thing in the room, but it would certainly fetch a pretty penny. She was about to give the photo back when she saw the top of a dragon head tattooed on the man’s arm where his sleeve had ridden up. Her heart stopped beating and then started up again double-time.

  Mike. Why he was working with them, she didn’t know, but she would recognize that tattoo anywhere. No wonder he was choosing the same item to steal as she would. He’d trained her.

  Carefully she turned the picture over and handed the stack back to Sam. “I don’t know who the last guy is. Probably just another con they picked up when they thought I’d skipped out.”

  Sam eyed her strangely but didn’t comment on her long pause. She smiled weakly as Holden set a stack of pancakes in front of her. She dug in, pretending an absorption in her food she didn’t feel.

  Honestly, she just felt sick to her stomach. It wasn’t like Mike to participate in anything like a kidnapping. She would have bet her bottom dollar that he didn’t even realize there was a plan B when he’d hooked her up with those guys. So why was he helping them?

  Whatever the reason, Sabrina didn’t feel right about telling them about Mike unless it became absolutely necessary.

  She tuned into the conversation between Sam and Holden in time to hear them discussing where to relocate.

  “Last night didn’t really reveal anything more about our opponent, other than they aren’t afraid to try force,” Sam said.

  “We knew that before though,” Holden pointed out. “They’d already tried to break in here, plus they’d made one kidnapping attempt on Lila when you were there. The new information we have is solely about our own defenses and they’re sadly lacking. I mean, the police took twenty-five minutes to ge
t here.”

  “Fair enough,” Sam acceded, “but at least now the police have one of them in custody. Maybe he’ll flip on his friends and the police can take care of this from here on in.”

  “I doubt it,” Sabrina said before she could stop herself.

  Both men turned to look at her and she was forced to continue. “It’s just that I doubt they know each other’s real names any more than I knew them. They’ve certainly already moved their base too. They may even have done it after I was out of contact or they encountered Sam at Lila’s.”

  Holden nodded his understanding. “I think we should go somewhere different. A hotel or something.”

  Sam shook his head. “That’s just going to make it even harder for me to keep you all safe. We’ll be split up, in restaurants and the lobby, mingling with other people, any one of which could be the very man we’re looking for. It’s a logistical nightmare.”

  “So we’ll get suites and stay in our rooms. No trips down to the lobby. No hanging out in the bar. But we have to do something. I feel like a sitting duck staying here.”

  Sam blew out and exasperated breath. “You’re the boss here. I agree with you in theory but I’m not sure how we’re going to keep your sister confined for much longer than a day in this situation.”

  “I think Lila will be a lot more reasonable than you seem to think,” Sabrina interjected. “She was really shaken up last night. Now that she knows there’s a real danger, she’ll probably be more willing to go along with your plans.” She thought for a second. “And maybe get her a room with a balcony. She’s claustrophobic and I can’t imagine being cooped up in a hotel room with locked windows would help that.”

  Sam looked at her in shock. “I didn’t know she was claustrophobic.”

  She shook a pancake-laden fork at him. “Well, maybe you should start asking people before you shove them into tiny little closets.”

  Holden stepped in before Sam could respond. “Okay then, it’s settled. Sam, why don’t you go scout out the best location for us while I stay with the ladies?”

  Sam nodded, clearly not happy with the plan but unable to think of a better one.

  Lila walked into the room then, looking chic and polished in a black and white striped sweater and black ankle pants, if a little tired. She carried a piece of paper in one hand that she laid face down on the counter as she took a seat next to Sabrina. Childishly, Sabrina wished she would have sat somewhere else. She knew she wasn’t looking her best but she certainly didn’t need Lila’s pale beauty for comparison. Plus, Lila had clearly been allowed to shower and put on clean clothes so they weren’t even matched on the basics.

  “Hey, where’s my pancakes?” Lila asked brightly and got a grin in return from Holden. Sam showed no response.

  “Coming up!”

  Sam abruptly stood and started for the door. “I’ll head out now and check on those possibilities,” he said over his shoulder to Holden before disappearing entirely.

  Sabrina watched as Lila stared after him, crestfallen from his hasty departure. So she hadn’t been wrong the night before. There was something going on between the two of them, though she doubted Holden saw it. In fact, based on Sam’s over the top reaction, she doubted they were even doing anything about it.

  Strangely, she felt the need to comfort the young woman. “Don’t mind Sam. He was already leaving when you walked in. We’re relocating to a hotel for the time being and he’s going to scope them out.”

  Lila nodded but otherwise didn’t comment.

  Sabrina saw Holden’s shoulders relax out of the corner of her eye. Apparently he had been braced for a violent reaction from Lila. She wasn’t sure why the men thought that Lila needed to be handled with kid gloves. She seemed generally reasonable and when she wasn’t there was a pretty good explanation. Maybe if they stopped expecting her to act like a child, she’d stop acting like one.

  Lila seemed to shake off her disappointment and turned to Sabrina. “I’m not sure if I said it last night, but just in case I didn’t: thank you.”

  Sabrina tried to play it off but Lila grabbed her hand. “I’m serious. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there. Probably been kidnapped, I’m sure.”

  Sabrina had to smile at that. “I think you’re tougher than you realize. You would have figured it out. Plus, I think you more than paid me back by not telling the police that I was here.”

  “I wouldn’t do that. You’re one of us now.” Lila beamed at her.

  Sabrina waited for Holden to comment and when he didn’t she let out an uneasy chuckle. “For now at least.”

  Lila wasn’t paying attention though she had hopped off her stool and was fixing them all glasses of orange juice. She placed Holden’s on the counter next to where he was working on her pancakes and then made her way back to her seat.

  She handed Sabrina a full glass before pulling the piece of paper she had brought toward her. Lila flipped it over and handed it to Sabrina, who put her glass down to take it.

  It was a portrait of Stiles. His face perfectly drawn with neat pencil lines. Even the look in his eyes was perfect. Cool and menacing.

  “This is Stiles, perfectly.”

  Holden looked over in confusion and Sabrina held up the drawing so he could see.

  “Lila, this is amazing,” Sabrina said in a voice laced with awe. “How did you do this?”

  “I got a pretty good look at him when he came to my apartment. Believe me, his face is burned into my brain.” Lila blushed. “Drawing is kind of a hobby of mine.”

  “It’s not a hobby,” Holden chided from the stove. “Lila is working on bringing her art to the gaming world.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Sabrina took another sip of juice and studied the drawing. The likeness was uncanny. “Based on this, I think you’ll do great.”

  “Holden’s kind of my biggest fan. I’m not that close to making my mark yet.” She brightened as she warmed to her subject. “It would be a dream come true though. A few friends of mine and I are working on a game that I think is really going to change the Multiple Player Platform. We’re creating an entire world with a great story line. We’re putting a ton of time into creating scenery and backstory and learning how to code some incredibly real movements.”

  Sabrina watched in amusement as Lila got herself all worked up about the possibilities. It was funny to see someone so gorgeous and seemingly normal as Lila geek out over something so far out of the mainstream. But she could see herself coming to like the young woman. She had spunk and a good head on her shoulders, no matter what her brother might think. Actually, she could learn to like all of them. Sam, Dylan, Lila. And if she was being honest with herself, she more than like Holden already.

  All of which reiterated the fact that these were dangerous people to her and she needed to get out soon. But not yet. Now she had pancakes to eat.

  After a few minutes, Lila seemed to realize that she was monopolizing the conversation. “Sorry about that. I know gaming isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I just see it as computerized art. No better, no worse than something that hangs on the wall in a gallery.”

  “No problem. It’s a pretty cool idea. I don’t know a lot about it, but your game sounds like a ton of fun,” Sabrina said easily.

  Holden beamed from the stove. “She’s really going places. I keep telling her that doing a little name dropping is how everyone makes it in a super competitive business, but she wants to make it on her own.”

  Even though he said it with a mock frown in Lila’s direction, Sabrina could tell that Holden was proud of his sister’s choice. Proud of everything she decided to do actually. She couldn’t help but admire that and be a little bit jealous. After all, who had looked after her? Only Mike.

  Holden set down Lila’s plate of pancakes with a flourish and winked at Sabrina as his sister dove in. Sabrina couldn’t help but smile back.

  “Aren’t you going to make some for yourself?” she asked.

  He reached o
ver and gently tugged her fork from her hand. “Actually, you haven’t made a dent in yours yet so I’ll help you out.”

  “Hey!” She pretended to be angry as he ate her pancakes off of her plate with her fork. Inside she was fighting the waves of intimacy that rolled through her. Somehow even though they had kissed once before, the sight of him using her utensils was more intimate.

  To distract herself she picked up the picture Lila had drawn of Stiles. “Hey, do you think we could run this through that same photo recognition software you ran me through?”

  Holden chewed as he mulled over the question. “Maybe, but I don’t think the results would be anything but a long shot.”

  “How so?”

  Holden pulled the paper from her hands. “Facial recognition software works by using algorithms to determine the distance between features on a subject’s face. Even identical twins can have a few millimeters of difference in the placement of their nose, eye sockets, cheekbones, etc. The computer determines those distances and then compares them to all of the pictures in a certain data base that have similar distances between the same sets of features. Then it’s all comparing by eye to see if the person you were looking for is in the results.”

  He set the page down and took another bite of pancake before making a face and pouring another healthy dollop of syrup over her pancakes. Sabrina rolled her eyes but let it slide in favor of getting information. She tapped the picture to keep him on task.

  “Right. So with a hand drawn picture like this, kudos to the artist aside, there’s no way that the facial dimensions would be on par with a photograph for capturing the real distance between features.” He forked up a bite of pancake and held it up to Sabrina’s mouth. Face burning, she kept her eyes away from Lila as she accepted the bite.

  Considering his words as she chewed and swallowed, she decided that his explanation made sense. “You know what hand drawn pictures might help with though? Keeping you guys in the loop for looking out for Stiles and Harry if they try something again. Like Sam said this morning, part of the big deal about moving to a hotel is that anyone there could be the very people you’re trying to hide from. If you knew what they look like, they lose that advantage.”