“Yeah.”
“That’s creepy,” she says.
“I know. But that’s the man you married.”
“I think I’m figuring that out,” she says softly.
“Can you deal?” I ask.
“I can deal,” she whispers. “As long as I have you and as long as you’re honest, I’ll deal.”
My eyes drift shut as her words wash over me.
“I’m gonna try to sleep now,” she says.
Raking my free hand through my hair, I empty my lungs. “Call me when you wake up.”
“Okay. Unless you watch me until I wake up and then you’ll know I’m up. Creepy creeper.”
I chuckle. “Good night, beautiful.”
“Good night, Stalky stalker.”
I chuckle at her being a goofball at a time like this. Nobody but Violet could give me a reason to smile in the middle of this bullshit.
I end the call and stare into the fire for a few minutes before checking in on the app on her again. It’s dark and she’s breathing evenly.
***
My phone rings at eleven thirty Sunday morning.
I’m expecting it to be Violet, who I spoke to briefly at eight thirty just for a minute after she told me she was awake but feeling morning sickness, so she’d be trying to go back to sleep. I looked in on her half an hour ago and she was asleep, the box of ginger snaps I bought last night on the pillow beside her. The phone call is Jag, who is not my biggest fan at the moment. Understandably. I’m sure I’m not his conniving twin sister’s biggest fan either.
“Jessa called, Kill. And she had a fuckin’ lot to say, man.”
“Where is she? She still with him?”
“She’s at a diner in Arcata. He dropped her off near there.”
“You got someone who can pick her up? Bring her to me?”
“I’m having a rental car dropped off to her. She’s heading to me.”
“No, Jag. Straight to me. It’s urgent. I need her here as soon as possible. You got a number for her? You got someone in the sky heading there to look for him?”
“She’s pickin’ up a throwaway phone. He tossed hers. She’s comin’ here, Kill. Listen, man… we go way back, but I’m not sending my sister to you until I get her settled. She’s been through a trauma.”
“He hurt her?”
“Bout time you fuckin’ asked that, Coulter.”
I grind my teeth. He’s right, of course; Jessa is the least of my concerns, but I get it.
“I apologize, Jag. Fuck, man. There’s a lot at stake here. Is she all right?”
“She’s Jessa. Made of Kevlar; you know her. But she’s pissed. And so am I.”
“You’re pissed?” I ask. “At her I’m assuming, because it was her scheming to wrap Tony around her little finger that got her where she is, not me. She’s been trying to get to me – showing up at my house, my clubs, and she found a way to scheme and that is what got her where she is.”
He sighs.
“What did she say?” I ask.
“She had a lot to say, but man, that’s probably her callin’ again. I’ll call you back. And yes, I’ve got a chopper on the way to the Arcata area lookin’ for him.”
“Perfect. Thanks. Call Tino?”
“Already did.”
“Tell her she better not say a word to anyone until talking to me. It’s life or death.”
“Yeah,” he clips. “Pretty sure she gets that. Call you back.”
I don’t have time to manage Jagger’s feelings while I’ve got this shit show on my hands. Tony is on thin ice with me right now, too. I had to wake him every two hours to make sure he was gonna wake up in between waiting on updates from Tino who’d had zero leads so far. But now that we know where Jess is, it’s only a matter of time before we find Iadanza.
Tony’s been up since ten o’clock and I’ve slept maybe ten minutes, sitting up, nodding off.
He approaches with a mug of coffee that he sets down for me.
“Boss, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, I know,” I say. “Too bad sorry doesn’t undo the damage.”
I’m a fucking hypocrite, of course, because of the apologies I’ve tried to lay on Violet.
“I fucked up, and I’m sorry for that. It won’t happen again and as soon as the meds finish wearin’ off, I’ll be on the case to find the fuckhead for ya.”
“Damn right you fucked up. And you almost wound up dead for it.”
“Kill. She’s… I mean, you know…” He shrugs.
I roll my eyes. “Jessa was tryin’ to get her hooks into me. You spent a couple days with her because she’s using you to try to get to me. How did you not see through it?”
“She said you were blowin’ her visit out of proportion. She’s thinkin’ of moving back to Portland, and as soon as you told her you’re married, she backed off.”
“Then suddenly, you’re not getting my texts but I’m getting responses you’ve never sent and you’re showing up here, doing a job I pay you well to do, but you’re doin’ it with your mind on the bitch in the car outside instead of making sure the prisoner doesn’t trip you into a shit bucket, choke you out, pour dissolved pain meds down your throat, and then rob you and steal your car and your new girl?”