I stare, saying nothing as he starts up the vehicle.
Georgie lets out a cry of distress.
“It’s okay, baby cat. It’s okay.”
She meows again.
“Listen,” I tell Jude. “I’m just trying to live my life here, under radar, not put anybody in danger.”
“No. You listen. You found out I’m in security and investigations and instead of doing the smart thing and leveling with me about what’s goin’ on with you, you do the stupid thing and try to push me away. Why the fuck didn’t you come to me months ago?”
“Excuse me, but why would I spill all my secrets on a stranger? I still don’t know that much about what you do and …”
“You know what I do. Don’t tell me you didn’t Google me.”
How does he know that?
“Of course you Googled me. You were freaked out by my job, so you would’ve looked into it, checked my website out to see what I do.”
“Well, it’s not something I was about to do – put someone else in jeopardy because of my mess.”
“This mess isn’t your fault, Ally. And cleaning up messes like this is what I fuckin’ do. It makes no goddamn sense to me that you wouldn’t let me fuckin’ do what I do.”
I say nothing, just hold onto the cat carrier and listen to my poor foster kitten crying in distress.
After a few minutes, I try again. “My shit wasn’t your shit to fix.”
He flexes his jaw and I watch him glare at the windshield for a minute before he says, “Well, it is now.”
“Can you please fill me in on whatever it is that you know?” I ask. “Like about Tori and Wade?”
Jude scoffs and shakes his head. “We’ll talk when we get to my place. I need a fuckin’ minute or a fuckin’ year to calm down.”
“What about me? I’m the one who’s at most risk here and you’re just expecting me to sit and wait until you deem it’s time to enlighten me? That’s bullshit and not o-fucking-kay with me. What kind of alpha male bullshit is that?”
He shakes his head like I’ve got a whole lot of gall, blowing out a slow exhale.
“What?” I demand.
“You’ve kept me in the dark for all this time. I think you can wait fifteen fuckin’ minutes until we get where I can give you my full attention instead of trying to drive this truck despite a thick haze of rage clouding my vision right now. Is that o-fucking-kay with you?”
I huff, but say nothing.
And then I hear Georgie yacking it up in her carrier. Great. Kitty puke. My life sucks hairy monkey balls.
***
We’re pulling up to a concrete building that looks at least a hundred years old. It has character. Large, square windows go four stories up with seven windows across each level. Each of them has black windowpanes and the third floor is all Juliet style concrete balconies outside each window.
The front entrance is under a big extended concrete arch. There’s no parking out front; we pull up around back and it’s all black garage doors. Three of them. Butting the back of the parking lot is a freestanding set of three more matching garages. He hits a button attached to a contraption on his visor and the left one attached to the building opens, so we pull in.
He shuts the steel door behind us by pressing the thingie on his visor again. Lights are now on, and I take in a wall of tools and toys – paintball gear, a hockey bag. His Harley. A bunch of camping and fishing equipment. The other wall is all tool chests and other garage-type stuff like wiper fluid and motor oil on a long shelf. Straight ahead are a few steps leading up to a black door.
The black door opens up like a garage door, obviously on an app on his phone, which I notice is in his hand. We head inside with all our stuff and a now-quiet Georgie.
This level we’re on consists of a sitting area with a brown leather love seat and two matching chairs. There’s also a desk. It’s like a home office slash waiting room. There’s a console table with a big glass bowl holding colorful stones and a dish with two sets of keys. There’s also a hall tree with a leather jacket and two wool beanies hanging on it. I see doors to a powder room, laundry room, and a closet as well as another door with a peephole, which must be another entrance into the rest of the building. Looking up, I see the next floor has a balcony looking down at this level. At the back of this floor there’s also a mini bar with a sink and mini fridge. Jude ascends an open wood staircase near the bar.
I follow and the next level is the kitchen and dining room level. I also see another bathroom and more closets. It’s open plan, modern, big, and spotless.