After my Uber ride home, I went to bed, trying not to think about the conversation Ryan and I had. I wasn’t sure what to think. Part of me knew it would be best if Ryan did back out. But, then I’d have agreed to this job for Pauly and my cover would be blown. We couldn’t do the job without Ryan. Or at least, without a Ryan-like figure.

When I woke up, I did what I did best: plan. I liked thinking things through, making plans, preparing for worst case scenarios. I went over the plan Pauly and I had discussed, and was impressed that it could actually work. It would work if his people were in place right. The only thing that was irritating is that Pauly had lied. Of course, we were stealing. Rough diamonds. But he had a guy on the inside who was going to help us. A guy I actually knew. He, too, had been a friend of my father’s.

Even if Ryan backed out, I still needed the money for Lynx. And if Pauly was going to pay me double, then I could pay for Lynx’s treatment and we could have something left over in case there were problems, in case we had to try something different. In case Dodson refused to give me leave and I had to quit my job.

With that in mind, I’d called Pauly, gotten the information I needed and gone shopping for a few supplies. He had sent over some information about the diamond factory. I had just settled into the comfy chair in the corner of my room to review it, when I heard a knock on my door.

I tucked the plans under my pillow, tried to look normal and said, “Come in.”

The door opened and my brother poked his head in. “Hey there,” he said, as he stepped fully inside. He was wearing his running shorts, a t-shirt and a headband. He was still in socks and looked fresh, so he hadn’t gone out for his run, yet. I admired his tenacity. I think I would skip my run if I knew my body was betraying me to cancer yet again. Why keep up all the healthy exercise when your body still went and let the cancer come back? I’d be eating pizza and bonbons all day.

“You never did tell me what happened with Pauly,” he said, as he sat down on the edge of my bed. “You went to Club Diamante last night, to get the details squared.”

Yeah, I guess that was what I’d told Lynx. I smiled and said, “Good news. Pauly is going to lend me the money.”

He raised an eyebrow, and looked around the room. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for though. “What did you get from the hardware store?”

Shit. He’d seen the bag in the trash. “A travel liner,” I said quickly.

“A what?”

“A liner,” I said, thinking on the fly. “Umm, it’s a plastic liner you put in your bag. Helps keep things organized. I need one, because I’m going to India.”

His mouth popped open. “What?”

“Yeah,” I said, forcing a laugh. “It’s crazy, I know.”

“You’re crazy,” he teased. “And yeah, I know.”

I frowned. “You think you’re so funny.”

“I know I am so funny.”

I stopped speaking. I would not let him flatter himself, and I also needed a moment to compose myself so I could sell the story I’d concocted in my Uber last night. I’d gone over it a couple of times on the way back from the hardware store, and it made sense.

“So, what is so crazy?” Lynx asked after a minute of silence between us.

“After I talked to Pauly, I ran into Lily’s brother at Club Diamante”

His face darkened, and he put a hand on my knee. “I’m sure that stirred up some tough memories for you.”

I shrugged. On some level, he was right. It had. “A little, but, um, that’s not why it’s important. Well, I ran into him that first time, before Pauly had decided if he could give me the loan.”

He nodded, curiosity etched on his face, waiting the point of my story.

“He called me the next day and said that the private school he and Lily went to needed an extra chaperone for a spring break trip to India. One of the guides had become ill. So, he wants to hire me.”

“I know, right,” I said, seeming proud. “This means less I’ll have to pay back to Pauly, but it also means I won’t be around next week to help you plan for our trip.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about that.” He turned and peeked out my window, frowned. “You know, Onyx,” he said, putting a hand on my knee. “You don’t have to take care of me all the time. Taking a last-minute job instead of relaxing on your spring break isn’t necessary.”

“Yeah,” I said with a fake pout. “Poor me, traveling to my father’s homeland and enjoying the sights, all expenses paid. I sacrifice so much for you, Lynx.”

He rolled his eyes. “I know maybe this isn’t the best example, because the trip does sound good, even if it’s work. But, I mean the whole thing with Pauly. You’re borrowing money from him, when it should be me. And for a minute, I thought you were doing a job for him, that you were buying locks to practice picking them.”

Amazingly, my face remained neutral even though he’d hit on the truth of what I’d been doing.

“I’m not making all the sacrifices,” I told him. “Pauly is going to lend me the money and I’ll work it off doing certification jobs for him. And if he comes up with a job that you can do, I’ll let you work some of it off, too. You can help with this. Just think of me as the broker.”

He chuckled. “Always the spin artist,” he said, his eyes darting to the window again.  His face was serious when he finally looked back at me. “I’m sick, Onyx,” he said, his voice soft.

I placed my hand on his. I hated this. “I know,” I whispered back.

“But you think you can save me, and you’re putting all your energy into this. And I love you for that, but I love you for you, too. And just like you want me to be healthy and get well, I want you to be healthy and happy and not spend all your time taking care of me. Just promise me that you’ll try to relax a bit. Enjoy your life. Don’t spend all your time worrying about me.”

Gee, he was sweet.

“I promise you,” I said. “I won’t just worry about you. I’ll do some fun stuff, too.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Go on a trip to India. Maybe you’ll meet a nice guy.”

“An Indian guy who I can have a fling with?”

He shook his head. “No flings. Maybe one of the other chaperones is a nice guy who shares your interests.”

I laughed. That was not gonna happen. There were no other chaperones. So, I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to happen. “Alright.”

We hugged, and then he stood up. “I’m gonna go for my run, and then later tonight, I’m having dinner with Beth.”

Beth was a coworker. I had wondered if something more was going on with them, but he’d clammed up when I asked about her, a sign that things might be getting serious. He took after mom that way. She believed you could jinx things by talking about them too much. So, whenever she was onto something new that she was excited about, she’d wait a while before opening up about it. Wait until she thought she couldn’t jinx it. I hoped Beth was jinx proof. “Sounds good,” I told him.

He nodded. “I’ll be back,” he said, and then turned and left.

I sighed. I had to practice picking this lock I’d just bought.