“You don’t know what I believe or know.”
Durand chuckled.
Shay stared at him, not saying anything for several seconds. For all his smugness and skills, he wasn’t infallible. From what he’d said, he obviously believed she only knew about him through the Project Nephilim records, and he hadn’t alluded to the alien stone she’d recovered from Mexico.
He doesn’t know I have it. He also doesn’t know about the one I grabbed for the Professor, or about Correk.
She was finally ahead of Durand.
Shay allowed herself a smirk. “Guess we’ll just see what happens. Exciting shit.”
Durand backed up slowly toward the street. At least he was smart enough not to turn his back on her.
“Don’t assume that next time I won’t deal with you more violently,” he warned.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, asshole.”
With a final wave, Durand stepped out of the alley and headed in the direction of the parking lot.
Shay took a few steps before stopping. Following him after he’d already surprised her was pointless. She gritted her teeth and tightened her hands into fists.
Think you’re better than me, Durand? I respect you for spotting me, but I’m gonna end up the best tomb raider, and I’m not gonna let you scare me off this alien shit.
Chapter Nineteen
Shay crossed her legs and stared at James’ tv. No matter how many times he insisted they watch some cooking show focusing on barbeque, she could never get into it. It wasn’t a matter of food preferences. As much as she loved pizza, the idea of watching a show about it didn’t appeal. Tasting food was always better than looking at it.
“What’s this again?” she inquired.
James leaned forward, his face scrunched in concentration. “The start of the new season of Barbeque Wars: The Next Generation. A lot of fair-weather barbeque fans won’t be watching, though.” He shook his head, disappointment on his face. “Idiots.”
“Why’s that? Did the producers get accused of lewd acts with a llama or something?”
“Nope. It’s all human competitors this season. Not saying Nadina doesn’t bring something special to the barbeque world, but people need to remember all the quality human pit masters.”
Shay snickered. “Yeah, fuck those Oricerans. Earth! Earth! Earth! USA! USA! USA!”
Watching barbeque shows might not be fun, but teasing her man about them was.
James grunted. “It’s not about that. I don’t care as long as people make good barbeque, but it’s not supposed to be solely about novelty.” He shrugged. “You know what? We should head to Vegas soon and go to Jessie Rae’s.”
“James, I don’t hate barbeque, but I don’t love it so much that I want to marry it, unlike you. I’m not going all the way to Vegas just for some barbeque.”
“While we’re there we can do some other shit, too.”
Shay thought that over for a few seconds and nodded. Getting a little sweaty in some nice silk sheets in a fancy resort might be fun, at least when she had the time for it.
“I’m in the middle of some job shit right now, but maybe in a few weeks.”
“Hell, when summer vacation starts, we should go grab Alison and take her there. She told me that going to that Broadway show was really fun. She could really see the energy of the crowd and the performers, and she wants to see more shows like that.”
“Yeah, Alison… I guess that can work.”
Shay stopped herself from sighing. So much for a hot and sweaty weekend of passion.
It wasn’t like she could complain about James wanting to spend more time with the girl he was in the process of adopting, and, for that matter, a girl she liked. While Shay wasn’t ready to think of her as a daughter like James, she couldn’t dismiss that the girl had become important to her.
A quiet chuckle escaped her mouth.
This is the problem with all new parents: their cockblock kids.
James looked at Shay, confused. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing. Uh, was just thinking of some weird-ass outfit Peyton was wearing the other day.”
“He really does like his freaky outfits.”
She shrugged. “He considers them fashion-forward.”
James grunted. “Whatever the fuck that means.”
Shay laughed.
Good. I should let this shit distract me. The last thing I need to do is let James figure out that I was running around DC going after another tomb raider who is knee-deep in alien shit.
James picked up the remote and turned the tv off. Shay didn’t bother to harass him about using voice recognition. Even he got annoyed with a joke run into the ground.
“Your show wasn’t over,” Shay pointed out. “You don’t have to stop it because of me. I’ll live. Maybe I’ll learn something about barbeque.”
“I can watch it later. I like re-watching them anyway.”
“Even though you have a photographic memory?”
“A memory isn’t like living through something.” James shook his head. “We should talk. All the websites say so.”
Shay rolled her eyes. “Do they, now?”
James nodded. “Yeah. So, how you holding up?”
“Huh? What are you talking about? I’m fine.”
“Just saying, you said all that shit about the old Shay Carson being dead after we took out the cartel. I may not be good with this sharing feelings crap, but all this alien shit has taught me a thing or two about having to leave your old life behind.”
Shay held up a hand. “Seriously, James, I’m fine. I still have to be careful, but I don’t feel like I need to look over my shoulder as much with the cartel wiped out.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Why you asking?”
James frowned and looked away. “I don’t know. I’m still new at this relationship shit, but sometimes I feel like you’re hiding something from me.”
Damn it, James. Half the time you’re as observant as a brick, but now you have to start paying attention?
Shay placed a hand
