Stephanie stood in the cold heart of Olesk’s crew and had to pretend that she belonged. Even if she could inform Frontier Justice of her location, it would take someone hours to arrive. Any trouble, she had to handle herself. Although it seemed from her confrontation with Thom that Arash had her back. He’d stood at the ready, hands flexed and face scowling. It had given her more of a flash of appreciative heat than she wanted to admit. But where would Arash’s loyalty come down when the battle lines were finally drawn?
She ignored the question. The time frame stretched out beyond her knowledge and she could only deal with surviving the here and now until she had more information. At least Olesk was loosening up. He’d shown Arash and Stephanie their rooms on the second floor of the sprawling house, then they’d all reconvened in the white-tiled open kitchen.
The oven ticked and clanged as it worked on a frozen pizza for Arash and Stephanie. Her stomach was ready for it, but her taste buds were hoping for more savory satisfaction than the thin disc would provide. The house was warm, comfortable enough, but she kept her jacket on to obscure the pistol she’d holstered at the small of her back as soon as she’d had a second alone in her new room.
Thom and Hector sat at a small table tucked into a bay window with a view of the dirt field and barns behind the house. Hector nursed a beer and Thom toyed with the condensation on a tall energy drink can as they murmured sporadically.
Arash stood on the opposite side of the dining area, with Olesk at a different window with the same view. They talked and pointed at various things in the back, but Stephanie didn’t feel shut out. She’d already proven her worth, and when something important was on, they’d come to her.
She pulled off a bottle of sparkling water and leaned against the counter as Ellie rummaged through the refrigerator next to her. With a slam, Ellie closed the door and twisted the cap off a bottle of beer with that perpetual judgy look on her face. Like she was wringing someone’s neck. Instead of skulking off to a dark corner in the barely decorated house like Stephanie expected her to do, Ellie sat back against the counter next to her and looked out of the kitchen and dining area.
She took a pull off her beer, then spoke low with her lips still near the bottle. “I wish you’d torn Thom a new one.”
“I still might, depending on his manners.” Stephanie checked her watch and saw there were still a few minutes left for the pizza.
Ellie smiled wistfully, then grew serious again. “Don’t worry about the information flow. Just a bit of initiation.” She toasted Stephanie’s water with her beer. “I got to move that Merc you brought in. You definitely passed the test.”
“Someone’s going to miss that car.” Part of her longed for the simplicity of taking that car along the coast down Highway 1 and through the Monterey Bay. Without danger, or pursuit. Or Arash confusing everything.
“I miss it after one drive.” Ellie drained half of her beer. “He’s legit?” She stared at Arash, who continued his conversation with Olesk.
“He doesn’t play it safe.” Which had turned out to be way too exciting. “But he gets the job done.”
“That’ll do.” Ellie set her empty bottle on the counter and retrieved a fresh one from the fridge. “We drive hard, we get paid.” She pulled a thick white envelope from her back pocket and handed it to Stephanie.
“Do you drive?” Stephanie thumbed over the stack of cash. All the blood money she collected from Olesk would go into making Frontier Justice stronger.
Ellie quirked her matte plum-colored lips into a wry smile. “Only on the left side of the road.” She leaned off the counter and walked away to Arash and Olesk. Pulling another envelope from her pocket, she toasted Arash with her beer. He answered with a tip of his head and took the envelope from her.
“You didn’t bring me a beer?” Olesk spoke a little too loudly and his voice echoed off the hard bare surfaces of the kitchen and dining room.
“Sorry, hon.” Ellie took a long pull from her bottle, not breaking eye contact with him.
Arash ducked the interaction and walked toward the kitchen area while glancing down at the cash in the envelope. If the eight thousand dollars impressed him, he didn’t show it. A shadow crossed his face for a moment, angry and dark. It was gone by the time he pocketed the money and reached Stephanie next to the stove. “How much longer on the pizza?”
“Does it matter?” She checked her watch.
“No.” He opened the oven and used a kitchen towel to pull the tray out. “Need to eat hot food.” Cheese bubbled and sauce spattered and it didn’t look as bad as she’d made it out to be. He put it on top of the stove, shut the oven and collected two paper plates from a stack on the island. “You guys have a pizza cutter?”
Thom laughed. “We’re not fancy like that.”
“It’s not fancy, it’s a freaking pizza cutter.” Arash tugged drawers open.
“Get a knife,” Hector called out.
Stephanie turned the oven off and pulled a cheap serrated knife from a knife block on the counter. Arash stopped his search and squared up with her, gaze flicking between the blade and her face. He balanced on the balls of his feet like a fight was coming and the darkness glimmered in his eyes again. “You know how to use that.”
“I can cook.”
“That’s not what I mean.” He glanced at the knife block, his hands empty, but open and ready.
She laid the knife down on the counter. “Did some courier work in the city.” Her father had never been so furious than when he’d learned that she’d convinced some of his runners to let her take over their routes collecting and delivering stacks of cash. “Didn’t lose a single package.” But her regular bank account had been frozen for two months and she’d had to rely on the online money market accounts she’d created for herself.
“No doubt.” He took up the knife, segmented the pizza and slid the slices onto the paper plates. There were open seats at the table with Thom and Hector, but Arash and Stephanie leaned against the island to eat.
Ellie sauntered back into the kitchen, collected two beers from the fridge and returned to Olesk. He clinked his bottle against hers and spoke to the room. “The plan so far—Hector and Thom are starting the van makeovers with the goods we got out of Sactown.” Stephanie chilled. Those vans were made for moving people. “Arash and Stephanie, you two break down the tuner that got you here.”
“How far down?” Arash asked between bites.
“All the way.” Olesk made a spiraling motion with his beer. “It’s a donor now. Without a trace.”
“Ready to get greasy with me?” Arash flicked her a look.
Her body responded to his wicked grin with a needy hunger, deep in her chest. It was impossible to shut down, no matter how much logic she threw at it.
Olesk sauntered through the dining area. “There are more local jobs coming, so settle in and don’t worry about hopping too quickly. I’ll let you know this time.” He saluted with his beer. “As soon as the tuner’s in parts and in boxes we’ll throw Arash and Steph at the van project.”
“Stephanie,” she corrected him. Ellie smiled to herself.
“Stephanie.” Olesk threw her name over his shoulder as he wandered into another part of the house with Ellie, probably one of the two living rooms with gigantic TVs.
Arash ate in silence. As soon as Stephanie took a bite of the warm food, she didn’t care how it tasted and just knew she needed the sustenance. Hector finished his beer, laid it on its side and tapped Thom on the shoulder. They wordlessly agreed to head out and stood together. Hector pointed toward a side door out of the dining area. “There are disposable coveralls in the mudroom.”
“All the tools are in the barn?” Stephanie asked.
“With power and a compressor.” Hector nodded. “You two come find us if things get too complicated under the hood.”
“Don’t forget,” Thom added with a watery smirk. “Righty tighty, lefty loosey.”
Arash mocked a smile, but his eyes remained hard and cold. Deadly with the darkness she still hadn’t figured out in him. Thom had no answer for the malice and hunched slightly as he exited to the rest of the house with Hector. Arash muttered, “Could break him like chicken bones.”
“Not your favorite?” She’d eaten all she could of the pizza and threw the crusts in the trash.
“He’s definitely not invited to my birthday party.” Arash pulled away from the island.
Her laugh echoed louder than she expected through the kitchen. The meanness in Arash’s smile disappeared when he looked at her. The warmth tugged too strongly at her. She tried to cut it off and walked to the side door Hector had indicated. But she still felt Arash with her, even though he was a few strides behind her and hadn’t pressed the moment any further.
Through the door was a mudroom with high cabinets over a washer and dryer, along with a utility sink draped with rags. Several bottles of bleach stood under the sink. The whole area was so sterile she knew it had been used to clean up very illegal messes. Arash’s face drained of any warmth, going blank as he opened the cabinets. He pulled down two pairs of Tyvek coveralls and handed one to Stephanie before opening a heavier door to the outside.
Cold air swept in on a dry breeze, and she didn’t know what was more inhospitable, the winter chill of the high desert or the company of the heartless criminals within the house. She was the first outside and Arash closed the door behind them.
Hector might’ve puffed up and postured plenty against the new blood in the gang, but he hadn’t lied about the gear in the garage. She’d been too focused on what it meant to be on the compound to take stock of what tools and equipment were laid out for use. It was everything she’d need to turn any nut and bolt on a car.
“I’ve worked in pro garages with less tech.” Arash also checked it all out, hand hovering over the tools like he was sensing their auras.
“You don’t need tools. You just use your ear and your nose.” She pulled the coveralls over her clothes and rolled the cuffs and sleeves to fit.
He pulled his hair back into a ponytail and donned his own coveralls. “Tell me you smelled that faulty turbo charger, too.” The white material accentuated the wide plane of his chest and just how broad his shoulders were.
“Hell, yeah.” She found the switches for the overhead lights and turned them all on. “Like someone was frying doughnuts.”
He laughed and dragged a pair of ramps in front of the car. As he leaned down to line them up with the tires, she glimpsed the shape of his tight butt. She looked away and tried to reset her mind by calculating the proper order of disassembly. He tapped the hood. “Want to bring it up?”
She climbed into the car and turned the engine over. He motioned her forward, checking low as she eased up the ramps. His closed fist told her to stop and she set the brake and shut the car down.
He kicked a low rolling platform out from under a shelf and nudged it toward the front bumper. While he rummaged for tools, she got out and found a fluorescent work light among other flashlights and headlamps. The greenish glow took her back to the first nights under a car in the maintenance department of her friend’s father’s auto dealership. Arash took the light from her and lay down on the platform with an array of tools and an empty container for oil on his chest. The work light carved him in half, bright and black. She focused on the shadows to remind herself he wasn’t to be trusted.
The glow of the light spread out under the car when he shoved forward on his heels and disappeared beneath the chassis. Metal scraped against metal and the work began. She knew the processes, but not the shop, so it took a moment before she located a siphon and gas can.
While she pumped the fuel out of the car, Arash’s voice rang metallic from below. “They had auto shop in private school?”
“My friend’s dad had a dealership.” The Japanese American girl’s relationship with her father had been more stable than Stephanie’s family life, leading to many evenings hanging out at the Hirais’ house. “We’d wrench on Julie’s Civic in the last bay while the real mechanics were working late.”
“Sounds way better than getting crabgrass up your ass while doing neighborhood oil changes in the front yard.” He grunted with effort for a second and she heard oil spilling into the receptacle. “I’m going to guess that Julie’s out boosting high-end cars, too.” His voice boomed, overdramatic. “Your best friend is now your greatest rival.”
“She’s flying all over the globe as an art dealer.” All the gas was siphoned out of the car, so Stephanie capped the can and stowed it with the others.
“You’re the one at the reunion with just a photo that says ‘Whereabouts Unknown.’” He shifted under the car; more metal clanked.
“A lot of shady kids from shady families at that school.” Julie would hate to see Stephanie’s performance right now, back on the wrong side of the law. “We only hold reunions on the dark web.” Leaving her father’s business behind had changed a lot of Stephanie’s friendships. She still had her network of information, but it existed with a cool detachment. Julie was one of the only people to stick close with her. College had been a fresh start, though Stephanie had met her fair share of crooks in the economics department.
“I’ve got a few friends doing a permanent high school reunion at Solano.” He dragged himself out from under the car, bringing the tools and full oil container with him.
Because he’s a criminal, she reminded herself as she climbed back behind the wheel and tugged the shifter into Neutral. She nodded to Arash when she had her foot on the brake and watched him place his hands on the front of the car and push. The work light shining from the ground carved him into a devil. His muscles flexed, as if he was on top of her, with her legs spread out before him.
She gasped a quick breath and turned her gaze to the interior gauges she would have to dismantle, then released the emergency brake and eased off the pedal. The car rolled backward off the ramps and she locked it down once it settled. Arash rapped his knuckles on the hood, snapping her attention back to him in front of her. She reached under the dash and tugged the hood release.
By the time she came around to Arash, he was stretched out with the hood high. Her shoulder slid against his firm side as she unclipped the support. Swinging it up brought her very close to his face. Close enough for her to stare at his sensuous lips and wonder how damned she’d be if she tasted them.
His eyes burned intense as he stared back at her. And that darkness flickered deep again. Or was it just a trick of the light?
She latched the support into the hood, he released his hold and the two of them parted quickly. It would be easy to blame the Tyvek jumpsuit for the sultry heat that covered her body, but she knew it had more to do with how solid he’d felt against her. And how hungry he’d looked gazing into her eyes.
A sweet aroma enveloped her when he opened the radiator. While the sugary sensation coming from the antifreeze was tempting, she knew that, like Arash, it was deadly. She pulled over an empty jug and he siphoned the thick liquid into it. Instead of watching his body shift with each movement of his arm, she took the work light and hooked it under the hood of the car.
Hoses, pipes and wires banked and curved in a static race through the engine compartment. Down in the center was the stock motor, pierced and bolted through with aftermarket performance additions. She remembered the early days of staring at the puzzle under the hood of Julie’s car, neither of them being able to trace cause to effect. But through their diligence, the internet and the mechanics who would wander by to share their expertise, the complications of the engine unwound.
“Here’s why you smelled oil.” She pointed at the engine and Arash leaned close to her to peer in. “Those fools clocked the turbocharger all wrong, with the return line too high.” The circular device could be mounted with several orientations, but only the one with the oil dripping out the bottom was correct.
He shook his head with a disappointed sigh. “Never had a chance.” Turning away, he capped the jug of antifreeze and stowed it on a shelf. “At least no one else will have to look at their crap work after this.” He returned with his hands held out. Lying on his greasy palms were an array of socket wrenches and screwdrivers.
“Sexy.” Damn, she hadn’t wanted to say that out loud. Hopefully he thought she was talking about the tools and not his hands. From the burning look he was giving her, he wasn’t completely absorbed with automotive motivations. His chest rose and fell, matching the slow pace of her hot breath. She reached forward. He stepped toward her. She could just tilt her head up a little. They were so close.
She licked her lips and took one of the drivers from his hand. He curled his fingers around the rest of the tools. Surprisingly, instead of growing surly, he smiled, intimate and understanding. He leaned into the engine bay and murmured, “If I had my own shop, I’d hire you.”
“You couldn’t afford me.” Hoping the manual work of removing nuts and bolts would cool her down, she started dismantling the first part in front of her.
“I’d only give you the hardest problems.” His efforts brought his shoulder close to hers. “The strangest noises, erratic balances, parts that aren’t supposed to fit together locked so tight it’s like they’re meant to be.” Each of his words was punctuated by him turning bolts, making him thrust forward and shaking the whole car. And her. “You’d do it just so you could say that you were the only one who figured it out. You’d do it for the pleasure.”
She dropped her socket driver and grabbed his wrench. “Stop,” she said, more breathless than she wanted. “Stop talking.” His face grew serious, but he didn’t pull away. “Stop what you’re doing.” Touching his skin arced a spark straight into her. Heat prickled across her chest, up her neck and into her cheeks. His lips were parted, teeth bared, eyes boring into her. Could she really make him stop? “Stop looking at me that way. And kiss me.”