Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

the hospital, because if anyone found him they would kill him."
    "Jesus." Rachael somehow made that one word carry buckets of pity, horror, and a little irritation.
    He finally looked up at her. "I could have left him where I found him, or ignored him and called an ambulance. He was barely conscious those first few days. I could have dropped him off at a hospital any time. He's only barely on his feet now. I could pick up the phone, dial 911 and take a long walk, let the cops and hospitals deal with him. We should all be lucky enough to do one decent thing in our life."
    "Well, aren't you the White Knight."
    "Rachael."
    She held up her hands. "No, I get it. I do. You have the chance to go after bad people, which is probably a whole hell of a lot more satisfying than being unemployed or guarding coked-up B-listers. Just… You could get yourself killed."
    "Says the Marine. Besides, that's why I came to you."
    Rachael shook her head at him. "Okay. I think you are probably a dumb fuck but at least you're not going into this completely half-cocked. Tell me when and where you need me."
    "Thank you."
    "Don't thank me yet. We could all end up getting whacked. And you better believe I will be having a discussion with this kid of yours."
    "Go easy on him."
    "Just eat your lunch, sailor."
    ****
    "It's me," Sebastian called out as he shouldered his way through the door, his hands loaded down with bags.
    "In here," Daren called back from the bedroom.
    Sebastian kicked the door shut behind him. "I got everything on your shopping list, plus some extra stuff we might need."
    Daren was sitting in the chair with a notebook in his hand. He didn't look pleased. "Why did you do this?" He held up the medical notes Sebastian had been keeping diligently updated.
    "Because I thought you'd come to your senses once you were out of shock and let me take you to a hospital. I wanted any doctor to know what I had already done. When you obviously weren't going to relent on that one, I kept up the notes in case you ever wanted to file charges against your cousin and his thugs. Now I keep it updated, so if I can ever get you into an orthopedic surgeon, or even a proper physical therapist, they'll know where you started from rehabilitation-wise and what kind of injuries were involved."
    He dropped the notebook into his lap, his face dropping with it. "Sorry," he mumbled, and Sebastian suddenly felt like he'd just kicked a puppy.
    "It's okay."
    "I just don't remember a lot of the stuff in there."
    "That might not be a bad thing." Daren set the notebook aside. "I got you stuff." Sebastian held up the bags.
    Daren instantly perked up. "I like stuff."
    "I'm sure you do. I got us four phones. Made two stops on opposite sides of town for those. Got you a USB stick as requested. And…" Sebastian handed a Macy's bag to Daren. "Probably not as fine as you're used to, but I thought you could use some other clothes." Daren dove into the bag and pulled out a pair of jeans and a zip-up green hoodie. "I think I got the size on the jeans right and I got the hoodie a little larger so you'd have an easier time getting your arms in and out."
    "Thank you. No offense to your sense of fashion, but I was getting a little tired of the shorts."
    "Thought you might be."
    "And…" Sebastian handed over a smaller plastic bag. "I thought you might be tired of sleeping in those T-shirts as well." Sebastian had seen the dark charcoal grey pajamas on a mannequin as he was about to leave the mall. They'd looked loose, comfortable, and if Sebastian was brutally honest, not entirely unattractive.
    Daren all but clutched them to his chest. "Of all the things I thought I might miss being on the run, I didn't think my pajamas would be one of them."
    "Let me guess, yours were silk."
    "Maybe. But that seems really unimportant at this point."
    "Glad you like them. I also had lunch with Rachael and got her on board. She thinks my boyfriend is with the mob and I'm an idiot."
    The smile on Daren's face fell away. "The mob would possibly be safer."
    "I'm just trying not to think about it." He sat on the bed across from Daren. "So, have you worked out the next part in our great scheme?"
    "Yeah. I've got Agent Kim's private cell number. I can't just call him from here."
    "He could trace the phone, get at least a general area."
    "Right, so the best thing is for you to take a nice long drive, call him, have a short conversation, dump the phone, and drive back."
    "And what am I supposed to say?