Chapter 123

"So what do you do on a normal day?" Jessica asked as she ate her toast and drank the orange juice Meredith had poured for her.

Layne glanced up from the bagel and bacon he ate, almost like her question scared him. "Ya know, the usual."

She laughed. "No, I don't know what the usual is. Remember? I've never been here before."

Did he tell her what they really usually did? Protection runs to help in the drug and gun trade, escort strippers out of strip joints, shake down a few people if they were paid enough money? "I usually work at the shop," he told her. "Ya know, mostly oil changes, tire rotations, things like that. I have to go work there today, actually. Will you be okay by yourself?" Funny that he hated liars – what a hypocrite he turned out to be.

Being by herself didn't really appeal to her, but she knew that he also had a life that he had to live. To be honest, she had completely barged in on it, and she couldn't be mad at him if he had things to do. "I will be. I actua