Hide & Seek Read Free Page A

… when I’m in my prime?”
    “As I recall, when we stood in front of that convenience store manager, I saved your ass. I still don’t get why you were stealing that chocolate bar anyway. You were supposed to be the ‘good kid’.”
    Ian snorted, tipping his drink up. “And that’s exactly my point about your rich-daddy woman. You aren’t the good kid. So, don’t go there. Thirty-three isn’t old, you know. Plenty of time, plenty of other … plenty of … oh, fuck it.” He waved as if Tripp should run out and hang himself with the wedded-bliss knot. “If she’s a good lay, then by all means. You’re going to do whatever you want anyway. You always do.”
    Tripp turned his attention toward the crowded sidewalk.
    “What’s goin’ on in that mind of yours today? Please tell me you’re finally having second thoughts about that woman.”
    “I never really had the thought in the first place.” Jill proposed to him. When he didn’t answer, she took it as a yes and plans shot off at a pace he didn’t expect. “It’s just the easy route.”
    Tripp pulled out the pendant. It sparkled with the window’s light as he laid it on the table. “Can you find out about this?”
    “Thought you wanted the simple way.” A gleam took hold of Ian’s gaze. “Looks costume to me. Where’d you get it?”
    When Tripp didn’t answer, Ian gave him the ‘you’re-up-to-something’ look, complete with wide grin.
    “No way. You stole it? Are you in remission? Have you broken your own code? I thought Mr. Fox only returned what people ‘held inappropriately’, as you say.” A slow nod accompanied further study of the gem. “You’re in need of a taste of the dark side. I can see it.”
    Tripp’s curiosity had overruled his moral compass, at least to an extent. “Just find out if it’s worth anything, got a story, you know … the usual stuff. I swear I’ve seen that before, but can’t place it. I have to give it back tonight.”
    “Tonight, huh? When’d you get it? Who’d you take it from? Why—?”
    Tripp raised an eyebrow. “You’re one to question my motives? The man who lives off what I can do?” The statements came out without malice.
    What fun would the gift to never get caught be for Tripp if his childhood friend couldn’t benefit from it, too?
    “Fine, fine,” Ian said. “But once I find out, I want the whole story … from the beginning.” He checked his watch. “My flight’s in an hour. I’ll catch you when we get back to New York. If you return without the blonde … even better. If you get the urge to hunt for some other goodies, just say the word. I have a few connections who might still work with us.” Ian took notes on the dimensions, size, weight, shape and with a cell phone camera, added a photo.
    As he left, Tripp chuckled to himself. His friend had the right idea—at least about Jill. In a few months, he’d either say, ‘I do’, or ‘screw you’. Either would bite him in the ass. The more he thought about it, the less a cozy life of leisure appealed to him. Cop out or not, he might have to defer to his former self if the dark haired beauty showed up in his life again.
    • • •
    Lexi leaned on her bedroom’s door frame. Hers, a subtle lavender, and Emma’s, a bold raspberry, fed into a French Country yellow bath with dual sinks. Their beach house, one they’d lived in since childhood and bought when their parents chose to sell it, reflected each of their tastes. The mess from the morning had been put to rights, though the pendant had not reappeared. How she managed to lose it in the first place continued to stump her.
    “You’re seriously staying in?” Emma dropped her eyeliner into the sink, dabbed at the edge of her lips.
    After a day at a mall twenty miles from the beach, Lexi wanted nothing more than an evening alone.
    “Yes, and I’m looking forward to it.” And to finding my necklace.
    She should have looked for it before they left, but memories of the man