“What look?”
I tightened my grip on his cut. “The kind of look that proves you’re hiding something from us.”
Manic’s green eyes studied me, a few seconds ticking by before he shoved me away from him. “Fine. But you need to swear to me this stays between us.”
“No can do, brother. It depends on what the fuck you’re about to tell me.”
Manic pushed away from the wall. “A secret for a secret.”
Sly motherfucker, cashing in the IOU card he had by not telling anyone I had Slither chained and demented in a secret room no one else knew about.
Grinding my teeth and curbing my annoyance, I nodded in agreement.
Manic stepped closer, glancing up and down the hall. “Crow’s doing me a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“Personal.”
I shook my head at him, a simple indication that his answer wasn’t good enough.
Pulling his hand through his hair, he pressed his lips into a thin line before finally letting out a sigh. “Crow has the kind of connections I need.”
“To do what?”
A few seconds ticked by while he kept my gaze. “To find my parents.”
I’d admit, his answer kinda threw me for a loop for a moment or two. Manic never spoke about his parents, or his need to find them. We all knew he grew up going from one foster home to the other, a shitty way of living for any child. But never once did I get the impression searching for his biological parents was something on his bucket list.
I crossed my arms. “Since when do you want to find your biological parents?”
“Since I learned that I might have a younger brother out there.”
“A younger brother?”
“Yeah. And if he’s in the system, I have to get him out.”
“Okay, hold up.” I held out my hands. “So, you’re telling me you know you have a brother out there somewhere, even though you don’t even know who your parents are?”
Manic paced as he lit a cigarette, frustration pulsing off him in waves. “I’ve done some digging around—”
“And by digging around you mean bribing your way into system records?”
“Exactly.”
I snorted, not the least bit surprised. “What did you find?”
“My mother’s name.”
“Father?”
“There’s no name listed anywhere as the father.”
“Okay, but you have your mother’s name, so it won’t be a problem to find her.”
He leaned against the wall, lifting his one leg, placing his heel against the concrete. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”
I went to stand against the wall opposite him. “Remind me again why you got Crow involved in this?”