Rex: Amara?
Me: LOL.
Rex: Yeah, sorry. Bad joke. I just figure she’d probably get a kick out of it.
Me: She would.
Rex: Shame she doesn’t know how to keep a crime scene clean.
Rex: I can think about it. How urgent is the situation?
Me: Urgent.
Rex: Shit. At the risk of sounding like a fucking pussy, I don’t want to know the details.
Me: Trust me, you’re not a pussy.
Me: You know Conor O’Donnelly?
Rex: Know of him. Know Declan better.
Rex: Why?
Me: He says the Five Points will help.
Rex: Okay. With what in particular? Has shit changed with their father’s death?
“Making sure no arrests stick,” Conor answered, reading the message thread over my shoulder.
Me: Keeping you guys out of jail.
Rex: Sounds good. Send me the details. We’ll get Priest out there ASAP.
Me: Needs to be more than ASAP.
Rex: We’re on it.
Conor cupped my shoulder but neither of us said anything.
What was there to say?
This was just one more victim in an ocean of them and we were fighting for them.
I closed my eyes. “Thank you for doing this with me.”
His hand slipped down to tangle with mine. “We’re in this together.”
A shuddery breath of relief whooshed from my lungs.
Togethermeant a problem shared, and when a fourteen-year-old girl had just been purchased like she was a loaf of bread, we needed all the help we could goddamn get.
35
TEXT CHAT
Conor:Rex from the Sinners will be in touch.
Declan:Re?