Nick barked out a laugh and shook his head vigorously. “You kidding me? They couldn’t find a fuel line with a lit match.”
So Nick’s sister had inherited some of the same mechanical skills too. With bad girl looks and a body that made his mouth water, Sean’s fantasy was only getting better. If this kept up he was going to have to pinch himself soon. Or fuck her until she couldn’t remember her own name. He knew which one would be more effective. He also knew which one was the smarter choice of the two.
“Looks a lot like you.”
“We’re twins,” Nick admitted heavily, taking another long drink.
“No shit?”
“No shit.” Sean wasn’t sure if Nick viewed the admission as a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe a little bit of both. Sean had a twin, too. He and Shane were identical. Sometimes that was as much of a curse as a blessing; he knew firsthand the pull a twin had on you, for better or worse. And if the sister was anything like the brother, a.k.a., a magnet for trouble, well, no wonder the kid didn’t know which end was up.
“She in some kind of trouble?”
“Yeah. Sort of. I don’t know. Fuck.” For a moment, Nick looked almost lost. “She doesn’t think she is, but I’m not so sure.”
“Maybe I can help.”
Nick might have snorted; it was hard to tell. In any event, it wasn’t much of a response, and after a few minutes stretched by in silence, Sean figured he wasn’t going to get any more for free. He decided to try another angle. “So, how long is she in town?”
“Don’t know. A day. A week. A month. However long it takes. ”
“However long what takes?” Sean probed.
Seconds ticked by before Nick answered. When he did, his expression was like stone, his eyes cold gray steel. “Family shit.”
It wasn’t exactly ‘none of your business’, but it was close enough, and it was clear that the kid had no intention of willingly sharing the details. Sean wouldn’t push that button too hard just yet, at least not directly. He had a feeling that if he did, Nick would just clam up completely. As it was, he could tell Nick was uncomfortable with divulging just the little bit he already had. Still, it wasn’t enough to put Sean off from trying to find out more.
“She’s staying with you, then?”
“Yeah.” Nick’s features softened, just a little. Sean tried to remain patient, reminding himself that Nick seemed to be going through a rough patch, even though the why of it wasn’t exactly clear yet. Sean’s preferred style of interrogation tended to be a bit more aggressive and involved direct – and usually unpleasant – physical contact, though arguably, it achieved more satisfactory results in a timelier manner. Nick’s vague, short answers were fast becoming tiresome. Adding to his edge was the unexplainable need to know; he wasn’t sure why it was important, just that it was.
“Is that part of the problem? Her crashing with you?”
“Hell, no,” Nick said irritably, then caught himself. “Nicki’s great, man. I love having her around. It’s just...”
Nick scrubbed his face with his hand, and in that instant, he looked a lot older than his physical years. Just what the hell had happened to these kids? Sean reminded himself to ask Ian – the resident expert on digital research – to look beyond the standard background check, only he’d ask him to include the sister, too.
In the meantime, Sean signaled Taryn for two more beers and waited patiently. Nick wanted to talk, maybe needed to. Sean would let him get to it in his own time.
As long as it didn’t take too long.
Nick was obviously giving his answer a lot of thought, picking and choosing what he could safely reveal. Sean had been through enough interrogations to know when someone was weighing their options, deciding whether or not to lie and to what degree.
“She’s stubborn, you know? She won’t let me take care of her while she’s in town. I hadn’t seen her in... well, that doesn’t matter. The point is, she insists on working, chipping in for food and shit.” He snorted again. “She says she doesn’t want to be a burden.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Sean said, sipping his beer. “She’s a mechanic like you, right? Where’s she working?”
Nick took a deep breath. His youthful features were pinched together, his mouth turned downward like he was in physical pain. “That’s what she should be doing,” he said. “But she’s not. She’s working at Angels.”
One of Sean’s eyebrows raised in a perfect arch. He knew the place. Maybe a little too well. Angels was Pine Ridge’s local “gentleman’s club”. It was a great place to hang out if you were a guy who liked drinking and watching hot, sexy women dance... among other things. While Nicki definitely rocked the Angels vibe, it was not the kind of place any man would want his sister to work.
“Waitressing? Tending?” he suggested hopefully. The servers and tenders wore sexy uniforms, but they still wore something.