Brain(42)

Why was I telling him all of this? I shook my head and went back to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

He followed me in, leaned against the door, and watched.

I ignored him, but when I finished, he said, “I’ll stay away during the day, so the original Harmony doesn’t see me, but you’ll stay with me at night until you move into the new house. My hotel will be safer than this one, for both of us.” He had a point, but I wasn’t ready to agree to it. Before I could say anything, he added, “Once Harmony’s gone, I’m with you. I’ll take you to wherever the surgery is happening, stay with you until they send you home, and help the nurse take care of you while you recuperate. I’ll dress so I match however you’re dressing, and I have an older model BMW I can drive to keep from drawing attention to us, like my bike will.”

I shook my head. This was too much. All I could come up with to say, though, was, “You aren’t part of the plan, Brain.”

“I wasn’t, now I am. We’ll brainstorm, make sure I don’t open any loopholes, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”





Chapter Twenty-Four




Brain



I checked out of my hotel and into another, as I didn’t want my Buttercup to know I’d been able to see into her room from mine. I got the penthouse, dressed in socially acceptable clothes, and swapped out my bike for the BMW. We were both going to be incognito for a few months, and as much as I’d miss my bike, having Ice in my life was more important. People remembered a roaring Harley, and it was important she manage to be as invisible as possible for a few months. I couldn’t do anything to draw attention to her.

I’d brought her luggage to my suite, but I resisted the urge to look through it. I knew she’d likely done something so she could tell if I’d snooped, and I was trying to gain her trust.

A trip to the liquor store netted me the ingredients for Long Island Iced Tea, and I procured fancy bar glasses, a beautiful shaker, and some shot glasses at a high-dollar kitchen supply store. The suite had a full-sized fridge with a freezer, so I also bought a bag of ice, just in case. I talked to room service, planned our meal, and the snacks for later, and worked it out so they’d start bringing snacks two hours after they delivered dinner.

Tonight, I was going to woo her with food, drink, flirting, and intelligent conversation. Tomorrow, she was going to tell me what the bastards had done to her.



* * * *



Ice



Harmony was pathetic — and not just because she happened to be dying.

I’d come close enough to death, or rather, wanting to die, and being certain I would, soon, to have to evaluate my life. Not just my life, but life in general, and what it meant. It’d changed me, made me grow up in a way I don’t think most adults do until they’re middle aged. Or, in some cases, even older.

But Harmony didn’t appear to be smart enough for the insight I’d assumed most people gained when faced with the end of their life. For her, nineteen thousand dollars was nineteen million dollars — so much money she thought it would last forever. She had no idea how fast she was going to go through it.

Spending the better part of the day with her exhausted me, and I was happy to hide behind my oversized sunglasses on the bus ride from her apartment to Brain’s hotel.

Okay, so I didn’t go straight from one place to another. I rode the bus to the hotel my alter ego was staying, opened the door, grabbed a larger bag from just inside, and closed the door without going in, so it would look like I went in and stayed. I hugged the side wall as I walked around a corner, so no cameras would pick up on the fact I hadn’t gone in, and made my way down the hall the other direction.

While still out of shot of the cameras, I put my outer blouse in my bag, revealing a different colored tee. I removed the sunglasses, pulled my hair into a ponytail, and pulled a smartphone from my pocket, so I’d have a reason to keep my face down as I walked through the hotel. My purse went into the larger bag, and I moved to the middle of the hall and walked to the elevator.

I went out a different entrance, and put huge pink sparkly sunglasses on this time, instead of the brown leopard ones I’d worn earlier. A quick taxi ride four blocks over, and then a two block walk, going into and out of a few stores to be sure I wasn’t followed, and I finally made it to the hotel Brain was staying.

I couldn’t wait for the plastic surgeon to rearrange my face enough so I didn’t have to worry about facial recognition picking me up on random street cameras.

Also, I was debating the merits of living in the sticks where a stranger following you is immediately noticed, but it would be harder for me to disappear. I had a few months to decide where I’d want to settle down. I’d never considered it a true possibility, but now… the idea appealed to me. Of course, if I was going to follow through with my restaurant idea, I’d need to live near a population large enough to support it. And if I was going to go all the way to the strip club, I’d have to be in a large city. One preferably not in the bible belt.