Tom dropped the brat at Honey's rental until, seeing the older women wave at him with a grin before Adri was inside and he could drive off. He had things he needed to do today and he was glad to have Dri somewhere away from it in case things went one more sideways.
They knew where his apartment was, and he hoped the brat's guess about when they'd tagged him was right. Because the idea that he'd left her there alone and vulnerable while they knew his address left him feeling cold. The steering wheel creaked a little as he brought the now suspect Supra and the current shielded tracker to the garage where they had the gear to deal with the issue.
Because what he hadn't told Dri was that he could also make the little gadget work on his own devices; maybe track the other end of the beacon and find the watcher himself. He very much wanted to know who had slid the card under the door.
His parents' cars were gone, apparently a week inside was long enough and now they were out doing something together. Using every moment they could until he had to give the robo legs back. Dri hadn't actually said when yet though, so he was happy for them. Still, his parents' preoccupation had allowed him the chance to fix the damage on the Supra without detection and now he was getting this issue sorted out without interference. He checked the Supra; no other trackers. Several hours later, he hadn't been able to pin the location of where the tractor was signalling to, and he finally went into his parents house to try and eat something not delivered. Leftovers were suspect, but Tom found a package of tortellini even he couldn't screw up, and sauce that wasn't mouldy in the fridge. It filled him up, and combined with the circles his mind wandered, he fell asleep on the couch of his parents place, still not able to deal with the mental image of Dri naked in his bed.
Of course, the hazard of falling asleep on his parents' couch instead of his own bed was still being there when they got home; thankfully they let him sleep what little of the night was left.
"Mijo, why are you on the couch?" His mother didn't sound concerned, but Tom knew she had woken him up to pry.
For once he could tell the whole truth, "Had to reverse a tracker." She knew how long it could take.
"So what have you learned?" That the bad guys have money and the brat vibrates like an engine if you stroke her were not the right answers, so instead Tom looked at his mother are tried to deflect.
"Dad's been your backup all week hasn't he?" She was in work clothes, practical and easy to blend in to most places without drawing attention. And if he could distract his mother with her job, she wouldn't pry for too many detail's on his.
"He's been enjoying being a thug again," She said it so fondly that Tom had to laugh. His mother looked so happy for it.
"I don't know how the two of you managed to pull it up, but I am impressed." She gave his shoulder a pat. "And if you don't want to talk about what you're doing at these parties you're going to, I'm smart enough not to ask. There are somethings a mother does not need to know."
Tom's whole family was full of dangerous people who tended to play dumb so their adversaries overlooked them; he'd learned his habits from them. "It's going, the tracker means I'm making progress." he at least updated her that much.
His phone chimed out, a message from the brat, but with his Madre right there Tom hesitated. "Go on Mijo, I'm going to get coffee going."
Some how it was already early Monday, but thankfully his mom's little wake up meant he could still make it to work on time. Then he read the message itself. [Molstad called; you can keep the exo-suit, he has a suitable replacement].
Tom felt rooted to the spot, his sudden stillness drawing his mom's attention. Whatever expression was on Tom's face made her call out to Carlitos, "Husband, I suspect you should speak to your son." It took seconds for that to draw Tomas' father out of the bedroom. His dad was wearing jeans, the robo legs, a t-shirt and his boots and Tom stated to laugh. Now both his parents looked confused and alarmed, his laughter led the edge of the tears he was ignoring
YOU ARE READING
High Card Bluff (House of Cards Series 5)
عاطفيةTom Guerrero is used to working in the mechanic shop for his father and running the odd job for his mother's private investigator business when he isn't trying to lead his own life, but one job for his mother is pulling him in too deep. He is trying...
