Just One Kiss (Fool's Gold #10)

“I have no idea.”


Justice waited for the sense of being trapped. For the need to run. But it wasn’t there. He still didn’t know if he could be what Patience needed, but he was willing to admit that having her love him went a long way to healing any lingering wounds. Maybe it was wrong or selfish of him, but if Patience cared, he couldn’t be all bad.

Angel glanced around, then swore under his breath. “We have to stay for the parade, don’t we?”

“I helped Lillie decorate her bike.”

“You couldn’t have arranged the meeting for an hour from now?”

Justice slapped him on the back. “It’ll be good for you.”

Angel shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “Can we at least talk about business while we’re waiting?”

“Sure. What do you want to know?”

“Why you dragged me here when I had a good thing going where I was.”

Justice wasn’t put off by Angel’s attitude. “If you liked it so much, why did you agree?”

“Hell if I know.”

In the distance, they heard music.

“There’s a marching band?” Angel asked, his voice incredulous.

“Probably.”

Angel shook his head.

“I’ve found a property,” Justice told him. “A warehouse with plenty of grounds. We back up on a wooded area, which is ideal for an obstacle course. I’m also looking to lease us some acreage up in the mountains for any survival training we want to do.”

“We’re in California,” Angel grumbled. “How much survival training could anyone need?”

“The mountains are rugged.”

“Yeah, but no one’s trying to kill you.”

Justice grinned. “You do understand we’re going to be training bodyguards and working with companies on team-building exercises, right? We’re not overthrowing the government.”

Angel’s gray eyes narrowed slightly. “I’m clear on the concept.”

“Just checking.”

The sound of the music got louder as the Fool’s Gold high school marching band rounded the corner.

They were so young, Justice thought, watching the kids move in formation. Innocent. They were worried about things like grades and prom. He respected that, and envied them their ordinary lives. He’d known Bart Hanson wasn’t like other fathers by the time he’d turned seven. By his tenth birthday, he knew that unlike criminals on TV, criminals in real life often walked or were never caught at all.

Behind the band came a group of men pulling little kids in wagons. The wagons were decorated with flowers and ribbons, the children dressed in their Sunday best. All around them women sighed and called out, waving to their families.

Angel raised his eyebrows. “Seriously?”

“You don’t like it?”

“I haven’t decided.” Angel tilted his head, as if studying a difficult problem.

The first group of bike riders appeared. Justice spotted Lillie right away. Like her friends, she was dressed in a pink shirt and white jeans. Tiny flowers had been woven in her hair and matched the ribbons and flowers on her bike. The six girls rode around each other in slow circles and figure eights. Across the street Patience snapped pictures.

Lillie saw Justice and waved. He waved back, then pulled a small camera out of his pocket and started taking pictures himself. Beside him, Angel snorted.

“Yours?” the man on the other side of him asked.

Justice didn’t recognize him, so he assumed he was a tourist.

“I have three boys,” the man continued with a sigh. “Great kids. Always wanted a little girl.” He lowered his voice. “My wife says no way. She’s done.” He gave a shrug. “It would have been nice.”

The man drifted back to his wife and kids. Angel stared at Justice. “We’re opening the business here?”

“Why not?”

The two men walked away from the parade. They headed toward the lake where it was quiet.

“Consuelo has agreed to be an instructor,” Justice said. “She’ll be teaching our students and offering classes for people in town. Self-defense, general conditioning.”

Angel shook his head. “Okay, now you’re screwing with me for sport. Consuelo working with the community? Teaching little old ladies how to fend off attackers?”

“From what I hear, the women in town already know how to do that. Having a change of heart?”

“I don’t know. I’m more worried none of this is real and I’m in a hospital somewhere hooked up to the good drugs.”

“We want you to handle the corporate work. Act as our liaison. Sell the company.”

Angel stared at him. “You’re kidding.”

Justice grinned. “Yes, I am. Ford is more the type. We were thinking you could design the curriculum. Come up with the various exercises for the retreats.”

Angel swore under his breath. “You had me going.”

“I could tell.”

“I could kill you, you know.”

“You could try,” Justice said, not worried.