“Shit.” I study his face. “What is he writing?”
“Jericho. And coordinates.”
“Motherfuck.” I run a hand over my face and try to think. “Jericho? Shit.”
“Mmm. Straight up threat. Means he’s coming for us. How does he know that word, Spencer? That was for us. It’s an inside thing between us, so how does he know?”
I shake my head.I have no fuckin’ clue.“And the coordinates?”
“Places I was working while I was with Soph. The valley. The printing press. The clubs. Soph’s apartment in the city.” He meets my eyes. “He was watching all along. He followed me everywhere I went, and he followed Kane all the way to the beach for vacation. He was watching this whole time, and neither of us saw him.”
“What are we gonna do?”
He shrugs. “There were more coordinates. Places I haven’t been yet. I think he’s telling us to go there.”
“Ambush.”
He purses his lips and nods. “Maybe. Bread crumbs. Distraction. Or maybe a way to communicate with us without dying.”
“So we’re going there?”
“Yeah.” He digs his hands into his pockets when Abigail stops and looks at the ceiling.
She blows out a noisy breath and closes her fists. Then, as though reaching a decision, she slides her phone into her pocket and turns to us. “Coconuts.”
“Soon,” Jay murmurs. “Not yet, but soon. Soph is figuring out our next move. Ace is back, and I’ll have a new mission soon.”
* * *
After Jay leavesand agrees to meet up this afternoon to talk, I walk with Abigail back into my apartment and close the door for privacy. I have a guy coming in a couple hours who wants a private session, but other than that, my place almost runs itself. Only those I trust have security access, and if they’re trusted enough to have access, then they already know how to load and use a gun. They use my building for its security and convenience, but they don’t need me to babysit them.
Anyone else comes along without access and without experience will show up on my security feed several minutes before they knock on the door to come in.
We’re alone for now, and Abigail is nervously chewing her nails.
“Your brothers call off the coast guard?”
She sits on the end of the couch when I release her hand, and tucks her feet up beneath her ass. I know she wants to leave soon. She’s been angling her body toward the exit for an hour already, and she refuses a shower to freshen up. But for the next few minutes, I’ll give her the treatment she so desperately needs – to not be treated as disposable – and the treatment I didn’t realize I wanted to give.
She’s not disposable.
“They’re fine, just dramatic.” She sits back and acts like she’s not rolling her eyes. “They all think I need to go join a convent or something. Now Jay thinks the same thing, and he’ll tell Kane and Jess, so basically the whole town will think I did the thing I was so set on holding out against.”
“So maybe you should have done the thing anyway?” I flash a quick grin when her fiery eyes come to mine, but when she reaches forward to grab the remote off the coffee table, I dash into the kitchen before she slings it at my head and I end up with a broken remote. “Coffee?”
“No.” Just as I expected, she follows me in and leans against the doorjamb. “I need to go home. I’ve overstayed my welcome by about eleven hours.”
“You’ve only overstayed if I say you’ve overstayed.” It’s so strange to me that I’ve never in my life shared coffee with a woman the morning after. They never sleep in my bed. They never become my little spoon, and I definitely never try to sleep on their tits like a damn child. But here we are, and I’m offering a woman a second cup of coffee. “If I was bored, I would have handed you your shoes already.”
She grins and shakes her head a second time when I lift her empty mug. “I’m already wearing my shoes, so maybe you gave me the signal to beat it an hour ago. Regardless, I have to go.” She pushes off the wall and steps toward me.
You know what else I’ve never done? Given a kiss goodbye, and a silent plea to see her again.
“I had a nice night. Thank you.”
I turn away from the coffee pot and hold her arms to keep her close. “Do you regret it? You gave me something last night. You kept some for yourself, but you gave me a lot.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t regret it. It was terrifying, it was adventurous. Getting in my car and coming here was like stepping up to the edge of a fifty-story building and jumping off.”