Chasing Silver

by Jamie Craig

  “They live in Palm Springs,” Nathan answered mildly. “I guess Dad never wanted to experience temperatures below eighty degrees again.”

  “Can’t say I blame him.” She looked out the window, at the crystal blue skies overhead. It still shocked her to see such vivid brightness.

  The absurdity of their conversation struck her as soon as the words were out of her mouth, but when Nathan glanced curiously in her direction, her slight chuckle turned into audible laughter. “We’re talking about the weather,” she offered in explanation. “I mean, I can’t figure out how I’m going to shake Kirsten, and here we are, discussing the benefits of living in California.” She shook her head. “That’s weird, even for me.”

  “There are many benefits to living in California.” As the car moved forward a foot, Nathan sighed. “However, the freeway system is not one of them. Well, you more or less know my life story now. What about yours?”

  Remy shrugged. “Boring. My parents split up when I was born, and then my mom took off when I was fourteen. I’ve been pretty much on my own since then. The state tried to stick me in foster homes, but none of them took. So I tested out to get them off my back. Once I got my equivalency, it was hard for them to use my education as a reason to keep me in the system.”

  “Not boring. More common than it should be. I can’t even tell you how many times I saw something like your story play out. What did you do after the state got off your back?”

  “Anything I could.” It was pointless to try and whitewash her past. Remy was convinced Kirsten had been more than blunt with the details she’d shared. “I bounced around a lot until about four years ago. That’s when I fell into a gang that didn’t expect me to sell myself in order to have a place.” She looked out her window, unwilling to see the disappointment in his face. “I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of, but that is not one of them.”

  Silence met her words. She didn’t know what he was thinking, and she didn’t risk a glance over her shoulder. The soft brush of his knuckles against her cheek shocked her, but she still didn’t look at him. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, his fingers trailing down her neck and shoulders before he pulled away. “So they became your family.” His voice was gentle, free of condemnation. “And now they’re gone because of this Kirsten Henryk?”

  “Yeah.” When the tears sprang to her eyes, Remy didn’t know if it was because of the sudden memory of what she’d lost or Nathan’s unexpected tenderness. Either way, she kept her face averted while she rubbed the traces of them away.

  So much for not thinking about Kirsten. But better to get this out now before the truth came back to haunt her later.

  “She’s a cop,” Remy explained. “But her dad’s one of the most twisted senators on the Hill, and he likes to use her as his personal bulldog. We never knew why, but he targeted my gang about a year ago. Kirsten started hunting us down, one by one. A group of us tried going legit, but that wasn’t good enough, and we ended up going underground to try and stay alive.” She could still smell the smoke and burning flesh from the fires, and a rash of goose bumps erupted along her bare arms. “It didn’t work.”

  “If you’re worried she’s going to finish the job here, don’t. Isaac isn’t going to tell her anything. And if she does manage to track you down…” Nathan didn’t finish his sentence, but he didn’t have to.

  The implied threat against Kirsten shook Remy even more than his gentle reaction earlier. There was no doubt in her mind he would do exactly that. He would stand in front of Remy and shoot point blank at anybody who dared to attack her. It was the why of it she didn’t understand.

  Why did she trust Nathan? Why did he trust her? Why would he be so protective of her, even with the partner and friend he’d had for twelve years? Why did the thought of Kirsten hurting Nathan fill her with such dread?

  She wasn’t accustomed to having a world in such turmoil. In D.C., life was simple. Everything was about survival. Staying ahead of the Henryks. She had worried about her adopted family then, too, but once they had been slaughtered, Remy had closed off her heart. It was too hard to think you could make a difference, only to lose in the home stretch. She wasn’t going to watch people she cared about die again.

  How had Nathan fallen into that category so swiftly?

  “So has Oakland ever made it to the Super Bowl?”

  The question came out of the blue, and Remy grinned at how absurd it was in the grand scheme of things. “Football’s not my sphere. But the Super Bowl’s still around, if that means anything.”

  “Well, I guess I won’t ask about the World Series, then. Unless baseball is your…sphere?” He flashed a grin at her. “What’s the deal with cars? I’m thinking your reaction to my Mustang wasn’t because of the paint job.”

  “More eco-conscious. You have to have special tags for gas-powered cars.” Remy laughed. “When I couldn’t find one on your plate, I figured I could trust someone who didn’t give a fuck for legal. Guess I got that wrong, huh?”

  “You can still trust me, though.”

  Her smile softened. “I know.”

  Nathan tapped the wheel thoughtfully. “What about that chip? Was it just for tracking, or did they use it for…behavior modification as well?”

  “You watch too many movies. It’s mostly just for ID. They tried making them street common, but they’re not cheap and people screamed about Big Brother and all that shit. So the only ones holding aces for them are juvies, cons, immigrants and legals, federal employees—” She paused, a sudden thought striking her. “Kirsten has one. Here.” She pointed to the fleshy pad at the base of her thumb. “Cops have them in their hands because they have to have them scanned all the time. Instead of carrying badges.”

  Nathan shook his head. “I’d rather just deal with the inconvenience of holding a badge.”

  The memory of his reaction to her chip made her pause. “Does mine bother you?”

  “No. Well, the idea of a chip bothers me. For a lot of reasons.” He touched her hand. “But it’s not a big deal. I would just be one of those people screaming about Big Brother.”

  Lacing her fingers through his, she watched him divert his attention back to the moving traffic. She knew how much had to be going through his head, but the fact of the matter was Nathan looked more relaxed than she’d ever seen him, a long hand resting on the wheel, his mouth soft and at ease. In that moment, all the questions that had plagued her almost seemed inconsequential. It didn’t matter why they were together, at all.

  Just that they’d somehow managed to find each other, amidst all the chaos that could have kept them apart.

  The traffic didn’t thin once they exited, but Remy figured that was because the day was gloriously beautiful. Santa Monica sparkled. Beautiful men and women with tan, taut bodies lined every sidewalk, while slender teenage girls with wide smiles and blond hair navigated through the mayhem. Nathan patiently moved down narrow streets to a dark parking garage, fishing out a handful of ones to hand to the parking attendant.

  “Eight dollars,” he muttered. “Better be worth it.”

  Her eyes shot to him as he maneuvered into a tight space. “You’re not having doubts, are you?”

  “What? No.” He slid the parking pass onto the dashboard. “I just hate paying this ridiculous price for parking. It’s the biggest scam in the city.”

  As he led her through the murk out into the brilliant sunshine, Remy had to bite her tongue to keep from teasing him further. Eight dollars for parking? If Nathan had any idea how much it cost in D.C. in seventy-five years, he’d probably have a heart attack.

  She couldn’t help but glance at all the people they passed as they made their way to the shop. While many of them had to be tourists, there were enough on the perfect end of the spectrum to be considered locals. Self-consciously, she pulled herself straighter, tugging at the bottom of her top as if that would make her stomach look flatter.

  “Is this guy buying any of the other coins? Because I�
�m thinking we can use the money right about now.”

  “I’m sure he’ll make an offer we can’t refuse,” Nathan said, his hand a light touch against the small of her back. He guided her down the busy block, expertly winding his way through the crowd, to a shop so small she wouldn’t even have noticed it. The narrow door and blackened window were wedged between a juice bar and a Starbucks.

  Cold air blasted across her cheeks as soon as she stepped through the door, and Remy paused in the entrance to let the fan overhead blow across her sweaty shoulders. She hadn’t realized how hot she was until faced with the alarming difference in temperature, but when she caught Nathan’s amused glance, she hastily moved on, flushing with embarrassment.

  The shop was even smaller inside, glass-covered shelves lining each of the walls. Dust clung to every crack, but when she stepped close enough to try and peer through the grimy glass, the assortment of oddities on the other side made her wrinkle her nose. All that was missing were the monkey paws and shrunken heads.

  Nathan was not fazed. He went straight to the low counter and rang the bell sitting next to the register. Through the door on the rear wall, a tiny Hispanic man with a humped back scurried in, but the moment he saw who his customer was, his lined face lit up and a fluent torrent of Spanish came flooding out of his mouth.

  Her brows shot up when she heard Nathan respond in the same language. Huh. Is there anything he can’t do?

  Remy couldn’t follow the conversation at all, but she caught the gist. Nathan handed the other man the silver coin, his brow furrowed, his words soft. The shopkeeper nodded enthusiastically and, after pulling on a pair of latex gloves, took the coin. She watched, fascinated, while he put it beneath a piece of paper and rubbed a pencil against it. As soon as he passed it back, Nathan fished out two of the smaller, silver coins and slid them across the table.

  The atmosphere seemed tense, even solemn, as the man put on a pair of thick glasses and studied the coins. After several beats he looked up and said what sounded like a number. Nathan smiled and nodded. As the little man scuttled into the back room again, Nathan looked over his shoulder and asked, “So…you want to go shopping?”

  * * *

  After the mall’s air conditioning, the sun felt glorious on her chilled skin, prickling it to life as she leaned against the pier’s railing. Remy pushed her new sunglasses more firmly into place, then tilted her head back to expose as much of her face and neck to the heat as possible. Her long hair tickled down her spine. A contented sigh escaped her parted lips.

  A low chuckle alerted her to Nathan’s arrival, but she didn’t turn around as his arm wrapped around her waist. Pulling her against his chest, he gently kicked the bags at her feet with the toe of his boot. “You didn’t spend all that money, did you?”

  Remy nestled into him, relishing how he tightened his arm when the space between them lessened. “Not even close.” Her fingers strayed up and down his strong forearm. “What have you been up to? Get an answer yet about the coin?”

  “No. Manuel said he’d ring as soon as he had the answer. Knowing him, that means we can expect a call at three in the morning.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with you.”

  She stiffened. Twisting in his arms, Remy looked up into Nathan’s face, wishing he didn’t wear sunglasses that hid his eyes from her. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I could take you to the Barn to meet with Isaac, but I don’t feel like listening to his doom and gloom. Unless you want all-you-can-eat ribs, then I don’t mind. Or I could take you over there.” He pointed over the golden beach to a small restaurant. “It has great crab cakes. Or, and this is the one I’m partial to, I could just take you home, and we can worry about dinner much later tonight.”

  The moment he started talking about food, she felt ridiculous for jumping to any kind of negative conclusion. After those first few hours on their first night together, Nathan had done nothing but accept her for who she was. Just because she was worried about what Kirsten was going to do, how he was going to get hurt, didn’t mean those same kinds of doubts plagued him.

  “You’d cancel out on your buddy to spend the evening with me?”

  “I’m sure Isaac will get over the heartbreak of being stood up. Besides, we were supposed to compare notes, and I didn’t learn anything today…” Nathan smiled. “Well, nothing that would be appropriate to share with him.”

  Stretching, Remy caught his bottom lip between her teeth and tugged playfully. “And we’ll have a whole ride back to your place for you to learn something else,” she said before taking his mouth in a short, demanding kiss. Her lips were tingling when they parted, and she slipped away before she jumped him then and there. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter Nine

  “We’ll go to the Barn tomorrow. It’ll be on me, all right? All right. See you then.”

  Nathan hung up the phone, shaking his head. Isaac had seemed pretty annoyed. He hoped that was because Isaac really wanted those ribs, and not because he was upset Nathan had somebody else to spend time with. Though after five years of only spending time with each other, Nathan supposed the new situation was a little unsettling.

  “Come on,” he called out. “They’re not going to hold our table.”

  He glanced up as Remy stepped into the room, then froze as his surroundings tunneled around him, focusing in on her. She had done her hair and make-up much as she had for Rojo the night before. Dark waves tumbled down her back, while smoky eyes and a scarlet mouth highlighted her features. It was the dress she had chosen and how it clung to her curves, however, that left him speechless.

  The deepest of blacks, its design was simple, with thin straps curving to a deep vee at the neckline. With her full breasts so deliciously accentuated, the dress then tucked in at her slim waist before flaring out again, ending at mid-thigh in a swirl of fabric that drew his gaze down her toned legs. Three-inch heels completed the ensemble.

  “What?” She fidgeted as she tried to smooth down the skirt. “It’s not too bad, is it? I don’t do dresses.”

  “No,” Nathan rasped. Clearing his throat, he added, “You should do dresses more often. Wait, you’ve got a little something.” He reached out and picked a piece of lint off her skirt.

  “Are you sure?” She sounded unconvinced. “Because I can always change. It’s got to be easier to get out of than it was to get into.” Sweeping her hair aside, she twisted her upper body to show him the back and the slight gap in the fastenings near her neckline. “I couldn’t even finish the zipper. And I know there’s a hook or something there, but damned if I can put it together.”

  Nathan fingered the smooth material. “Yeah, there’s a hook here.” He didn’t make any effort to fasten it; the bare bit of skin just below her neck was a much stronger distraction. Unable to resist, he leaned over to brush his lips against the small patch. She shivered against his mouth, a slight tremble that echoed in him. Holding her hips, Nathan guided her to turn around completely. “I don’t want to see you out of it,” he murmured, moving his hands down to the hem of her skirt.

  Her head tilted to the left, the soft waves of her hair falling away to expose the delicate line of her neck. “And yet, we’re not leaving. What happened to worrying about our table?”

  “I’m sure it’s not going anywhere.” His hands snuck beneath her skirt. The tips of his fingers scraped against the lacy tops of her stockings. He couldn’t even remember where they had reservations. Some restaurant in Pasadena. It hardly seemed to matter now. His hands moved higher, sneaking over her inner thighs, each whisper of touch eliciting the softest moan from her throat.

  With one hand still beneath her skirt, he slid the other up her back to snag the tip of the zipper. “Unless,” he said, as he pulled the zipper down, “you’re worried about it.”

  Her no came out as a mere breath. Slowly, Remy reached back to run her hand up the front of his thigh, brushing against his erection but not stopp
ing until she found the top of his waistband. There, her fingernails traced inward, causing the muscles in his stomach to twitch, coming to a rest on his belt.

  “You’re the one who said he was hungry for food now.” He heard the smile in her voice. “I was more than happy to stay in bed a little longer. But if I get to get out of this dress, I’m definitely not going to complain.”

  “I was hungry.” Nathan smoothed his fingers down her spine, smiling as she arched toward his touch. Skimming his mouth across her shoulders, he inhaled deeply, catching the subtle aroma of honey and flowers. “New soap, too? It’s nice.”

  But it was more than nice. The soap had mingled with the natural musk from her skin to create something sweet and enticing, and entirely new to him. Curious, he buried his nose in her hair, enjoying the way the heavy silk strands brushed against his face and throat. He couldn’t distinguish a single scent, just the combined perfume of soap and shampoo and water.

  Nathan moved closer, folding her body against his. Sliding his hands over her breasts and along her stomach, he freed her upper body from the loose material of her dress.

  Remy’s sigh of relief resonated through her. “You like that word a lot.” Her deft fingers had managed to undo his buckle, and now they pulled his shirt from his pants, sending shivers along his skin from their heat. “Nice. That’s what you said last night, too.”

  “Hmm. What about some of your favorite words? Royal? Sauce? I don’t know what you’re on about half the time.”

  “You’re just lucky you’ve got a killer accent. A girl can forgive anything when you put it to work.”

  He pushed the dress past her hips to pool at her feet. “I can think of words besides nice. How about delicious? Enticing?” Nathan cupped her breasts through her lacy bra, fingering her nipples until they were hard. Moaning, she dropped her head forward. She felt both supple and tense. Her muscles tightened as she grew more aroused, but he knew she could melt around him like butter.