I called my feet to move three times. Slowly, I approached and let him place the cell on my palm.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Rainey. Is now a good time?”
“Yes.” I turned my back on Cairo. “Is there any news?”
“I’m in that slow period of waiting for contacts to get back to me and searches to turn up information. I got a hold of Andrew Clein’s ex-wife, hoping she might give a clue to his current whereabouts. She faxed a list of places he might be, a few of them out of state. Walker Lewis I was able to find,” he said. “I asked what his connection was to Andrew Clein. He said he never heard of him and I wasn’t to bother him again. He hung up on me mid-sentence.”
“That’s a little weird, right?”
“Yes. It was oddly abrupt. I’ll try again in person,” Gold said. “Have him look me in the eye when he says he doesn’t know Clein.”
“What about Dante?”
“I hired a hacker buddy of mine to track his IP address and location. So far, the source is pinging all over the world. It’ll take some time to crack, but she’s confident she can.”
Hope soared. “That’s something. Actually, that’s everything. Dante is the Letter Man, Mr. Gold. I’m sure of it.”
“Then, we’re closer, Rainey. Stay strong, stay safe.”
“I will.”
“Before you go,” he said, stopping me ending the call. “The number you gave me for your sister is disconnected.”
My face fell.
“I tried looking her up by name, but it turns out there are a fair number of Ivy de Souzas in Chicago. Do you have any other means of contacting her? Name of her workplace would do.”
“No,” I said softly. “I can give you her old email address. She hasn’t responded to any I sent her, but you may have more luck. I have to go. Bye.”
I hung up quick lest he heard the tears clogging my throat. Ivy wanted rid of me so badly, she broke the final straw. I hadn’t tried calling her since she told me to get my own life. Now I know there wouldn’t have been a point.
“Rain.”
“I’m fine,” I said, swiping the back of my hand across my eyes. “I left my phone here and you picked up Gold’s call.”
“Had to know who was calling my girl.”
He was damned casual about it too. Leaning back on the headboard—his arms folded behind his head. I climbed on his lap.
“Did he tell you what he’s doing for me?”
“He said he was a private investigator. I put two and two together.”
“I’m not cheating on you with him. Though that’s an interesting way of putting it.” I took a deep breath and released it slow. “I got another letter.”
He dropped his arms, sitting up. “What? When? Where is it?”
“It’s in my backpack. Cairo, he knows what you told the police. About the man in the shiny black shoes. He knows and he put two and two together. I told you about him,” I said. “I broke the rules and he was already mad at me. He said I’m going to pay for it. The last time he said that, Bella d-died.”
My tenuous hold on control snapped. Wetness gushed down my cheeks. “I won’t let you be next, Cairo. Not you, Arsenio, Jacques, Legend, or Roan. I can’t do this alone, but I can’t do it with you guys either. Please understand.”
“I do understand.” Cairo grasped my chin between two fingers, drawing my forehead to his lips. My eyes fluttered shut as he kissed me. “I understand, and I’m tempted to count you down myself. Start you at ten instead of one like Jacques.”
“What?” I blinked up at him. “Why?”
“How many times I gotta say I can take care of myself? Even if I couldn’t, risking myself for you is my choice. What the fuck kind of person am I that I’d sit on my ass doing nothing when my blood wronged yours? Let alone let some sick fuck play games with you when the only sick fuck allowed to do that”—he thumped his chest—“is me.”
“Cairo,” I whispered.
“Don’t make me tell you again. The truth. All of it. Now.”
Smile tugging at my lips, I went to the bathroom, splashed water on my face, then went back to him. He didn’t interrupt while I told him what Gold found so far and the digging he was doing into the rest. I also told him about the trip to Westchester Youth Center, and Cavendish’s mentees.
“Walker Lewis,” he repeated. “I’ll see if my dad has a file on him.”
“Have you found anything in his files so far?”
He shook his head. “That’s why I didn’t say anything. The old man isn’t completely irresponsible. The important case files he brings home are kept locked in a safe. I haven’t been able to get the combination out of him—drunk or sober, so every night since you were arrested, I’ve tried all the combinations I can think of.”