Page 113 of The Company

“Baby, relax. Why are you so worried? This is no big deal.”

“But if we’re being set up, and we all know we’re being set up, then why the hell are we playing along?”

I turn off Superior Avenue and onto Pacific Coast Highway, using my merge into traffic to stall her question. “Look!” Sasha squeals. “It’s the ocean!” She opens her window and the sea air blasts into the Hummer. I flip the AC off and roll down all our windows. It feels so good to let the outside back in after being in the desert these past few days.

“I feel sick,” Harper says. “My stomach, James. I feel sick.”

I rub her leg again. “Relax, Harper. I told you, I’m taking care of things. OK?”

She shakes her head. “Pull over, I’m gonna throw up. Pull over!”

I pull into a restaurant parking lot and park in the shade. Harper opens her door and leans out. She waits, spits a little, but she holds it together.

“What’s wrong, Harper?” Sasha asks, worried.

I look back at Sasha and shush her with a finger to my lips. “Harper,” I say, rubbing her back. “You’re fine. OK? Just relax.”

She leans back in her seat and wipes the perspiration from her forehead. “I don’t want you to do this job, James, I don’t want to go back to HB. I don’t want you to leave me alone. I’m not ready for this.”

God, I feel so fucking guilty.

“You won’t be alone, Harper. I’ll be there too. I have a gun if anyone tries to mess with us. James gave me one of his Five-SeveN’s. It’s kickass!”

“Sasha,” I say sternly. “Do not shoot that thing here, do you understand me? This is Orange County, not the desert.”

“I’m not stupid, James,” she says with an eye roll, like I’m her father and we’re talking about curfew instead of killing people. Fucking girls. They are so emotional. I’m just not used to it. I’ve never worked with so many damn girls. “Harper,” I say to get her attention back and take her mind off her worries. I get out and walk around to her side of the Hummer, slide my sunglasses up onto my forehead, and take her face in my hands. “Just fucking trust me.” I look her in the eyes. “If you give in, let go of whatever’s got you all worked up, and just let me handle things, I promise you. We’ll be fine.”

“And what if I don’t give in to you, James? What if I can’t give in to you? What then?”

“Harper, I’m here no matter what. You don’t have to trust me, but everything I do is for us. You got it? Remember what I said. If I ask you to walk through fire?”

“I’m fireproof,” she says back in a sad voice.

“If I ask you to take a bullet?”

“I’m bulletproof.”

“And if I walk away?” Her eyes are gathering tears but both my thumbs swipe the corners of her eyes before they fall down her cheeks. “What happens if I walk away, Harper?”

She swallows hard and shakes her head no.

“I’ll come back for you, Harp. If I walk away, it’s because I’ll come back for you.”

The tears stream out now and there’s nothing I can do to catch them. “I don’t want you to walk away.”

I lean into her ear and whisper, “I never said I was going to, you crazy woman. It’s a just-in-case scenario.”

She sniffs. “You won’t walk away.”

I shake my head. “I’d have to be torn away, Harp.” I smile at her. “They’d have to tear me away.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.” This eases her fears and I feel her relax in my embrace. “We’re like ten minutes from my house, wanna go check it out?”

“I do!” Sasha says. But I shush her with another finger to my lips.

I close Harper’s door and walk back around to my side, catching a suspicious look from Sasha as I pass her window. Great, I get one on board and the other is immediately suspicious. It’s like these girls are opposite forces, able to see through me, but only one at a time.

“You’re not walking away from me, are you, James?” Sasha asks with a desperate edge to her voice.

I slide my sunglasses down and glance in the rear view. “Never, Smurf. I need you more than you can ever imagine.” And then I shoot her with my finger in the mirror and she smiles.