“That’s why we do this smart. Get Gold and Ribecco on the phone. Let them know he’s on to them. Those two will have to come up with a much better plan for when we ambush this guy.”
“I’m supposed to go along with this meeting thing like it could possibly be real?”
Cairo bundled me inside, closing and bolting the door behind us.
“If the letter comes with a time and place, we pass it on is what I’m saying. Let him walk in on a surprise.”
“What if he ambushes me again? He’s snatched me in the middle of a crowd before.”
Cairo cocked a brow. “Won’t be a problem because the allowable distance between us just got a lot shorter. Between me, Arsenio, Cairo, and Legend, there’ll always be one of us available to walk with on campus. As much as I hate to say this.” His lips peeled back from his teeth. “Nora’s cool to let you stay with her. I like her security cameras, gates, guard, and home alarm patched into the station, a lot better than I like our frat house with a few new locks.”
“You want me to stay over Paris’s without you guys?”
“Just at night,” he replied. “Even we have to sleep.”
I hugged myself, wishing like hell this wasn’t happening.
“Paris’s house is safer, but it’s not impenetrable. And it’d have to be for me to consider putting my best friend in danger. The Letter Man isn’t above shooting Esteban in the guard box, hitting open himself, and strolling inside. I’ve put so many people in danger since this started. First, Jennifer Wilson, and now Colton who is still in the hospital. I won’t put Paris at risk. There has to be somewhere else I can lay low for the night.”
“That has as much security?” A strange look came over his face. “Know what? There is a place.”
Cairo backed toward the stairs. “Get your stuff. I’ve got to talk to the sheriff, and you’re not staying here alone. I’ll drop you at the hospital. Meantime, get Gold on the phone.”
I wasn’t about to turn down a trip to see Roan.
“Let’s stop by Gold on the way,” I said while my fingers were dialing. “I’m starting to worry there’s a reason he hasn’t returned my calls.”
I PEERED THROUGH THE glass door.
The lights were off. The closed sign hung in the window. Gold’s desk was visible, neat, and missing its owner.
“No one’s here,” I called over my shoulder. “I don’t know where he lives and he’s not answering his phone. What now?”
“He’s got friends like Ribecco on the force.” Cairo leaned on the car hood. “Call the station and tell them you haven’t heard from him in a while. They can do a wellness check on his place. Make sure nothing happened.”
“Good idea.”
I hopped back in the car and Cairo drove me to the hospital. On the way, I put a call in to the HC police and told them I hired Gold to work a dangerous investigation, and was beginning to get worried that I hadn’t heard from him in two weeks. They promised to look into the matter and I had to let that be enough.
Please be okay. I sent the thought out into the universe. You’ve been so kind to me. You’ve helped me get answers I’ve searched a long time for. I couldn’t stand it if getting tangled up with me got you hurt.
Cairo dropped me off to be with Roan and Legend.
Roan woke on his own the day before. They had him on two different kinds of drugs that made him drowsy. The result was I held his hand and filled him in on the details while he lay there sleeping. Afterward, Legend drove me back to Bedlam.
“Yeah? That’s not a bad idea,” he said on the phone. “They’re not using the place, so why shouldn’t we? Cool. Be there in twenty.”
“Who was that?” I asked.
“Cairo. He’s got the keys to the Crow house. They paid rent to the end of the month and the cops cleared it as a crime scene, so it’s sitting empty. It’s got way better security. Figured this was a good compromise.”
“We’re not worried about Jeremy or one of them coming back?”
“They’re in HC. On top of that, they’re all under arrest. After they’re discharged, the Crows are moving to a cell.”
“Huh. This is a good compromise. All the security and no one to put in danger. The downside is I’ve got to spend more time in the place that filth lived and breathe.”
“Now he can do the first good deed in his worthless life and provide a safe place for you.” Legend punched the gas. “No one else is fucking with what’s mine.”
Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to the Crow House gates.
Cairo, Jacques, or Arsenio buzzed us in. The three of them stretched out on the couch, soccer game playing, and bags of Greek takeout on the coffee table. They made themselves right at home.