Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
“He’s right,” I say to Andrew. “Jay is awkward. And kind. He shouldn’t be working for me. He should be working for you. Or Shirley Temple, but she’s dead and I’m not. That wins me points.”
Andrew grits his teeth. “I’m going to end up becoming you before this is over.” He stabs his pancake rather viciously.
Everyone is very angry today, I decide. First Tic Tac and now Andrew. “Until you can make that fork a weapon and not a sloppy one, I’m happy to say, you’re failing,” I promise and eye Jay. “Speaking of—”
“Do not even start with me, Lilah,” Jay warns. “I’m better with a knife than you might think.”
“Good to know. Now use those fine fighting skills of yours to escort Tic Tac back to LA.”
His brows dip. “When?”
“Today. Get the first flight out. You’ll need to go get him in the Hamptons.”
He sets his fork down. “But Kane said—”
“Lilah said is what matters. I have a badge, a knife, a gun, and my big brother. I’m okay.”
Jay doesn’t look convinced. “I don’t think—”
“Good.” I eye his empty plate. “Don’t think.”
“Why not have Jack take him home?” he counters.
“Aside from Jack holding a job that isn’t working for me, Jack isn’t a fighter. He’s a talker. An irritating one I cannot force on Tic Tac or he will never forgive me.”
“As if Tic Tac can’t handle Jack. He handles you on a practically daily basis.”
“And he needs to keep handling me on a practically daily basis. When I need stuff, I need him sane. If Jack puts him in a rubber room, that won’t be the case, now will it? If you look at this objectively, it’s a compliment. You’re pleasant to be around which makes your knack for being shot often and easily almost forgivable. Almost.”
Jay’s lips press into a flat line. “Got it. I’m going to LA by way of the Hamptons. Can I at least finish my breakfast?”
“If you eat fast,” I tease, “and on that note, I’m going to the bathroom.” I push to my feet and walk toward my destination, entering a tiny hallway and then ultimately an equally tiny bathroom. I’m washing my hands when I look down and see the notecard come shooting over my feet. Clearly, I cannot even pee in peace. I open the door and look left and right and there is no one in sight. I grab the note, but I’m already headed toward the door with an “exit” sign, I yank open, to find an alleyway with no one in sight, despite a fairly long path to travel to leave. Junior didn’t leave this way, that’s for sure.
I unfold the note to read: You’re the problem, Lilah. Now do I have your attention?
And just like that, I’m ice and stone, a shiver running up and down my spine. Those words are more than familiar, they’re exactly what my old mentor turned serial killer used to say to me. But I killed him. I know I killed him.
Chapter Seventeen
There’s no such thing as a coincidence, I remind myself, but then everything about the past day has tried ridiculously hard to challenge that premise. And Jay did have a point. When bad people follow me around like soldiers, the timing is always now. Setting timing aside, there’s no way the Junior I’ve come to know, the Junior who wrote me the prior notes, wrote this. It’s not the same tone. It doesn’t fit. Unless…Junior was hiding behind the fluff and stupidity. I dial Tic Tac who answers on the first ring. “Secure my job, and I’ll stay,” he says. “I talked to Lucas and we’re going to room together.”
“Okay that’s not a good idea and trouble in so many ways we’ll talk about later. Sarabeth’s, a restaurant here in the city. Check the front and rear cameras for who came and went in the last thirty minutes.” I hesitate. Only Kane and Andrew know I killed Roger. To the rest of the world, Tic Tac included, he’s still missing and on the run, therefore what I’m about to say won’t sound crazy to him. “Check for Roger, Tic Tac.”
I can almost hear his jaw drop to the ground. “You think Roger is back?”
“No,” I say. “I don’t.” And even as I say those words a theory opens up in my mind. “I think someone who knows Roger is fucking with me, but we need to cover all possibilities.”
“Copy that. I’m looking for anyone, male or female, who looks suspicious.” His fingers are pounding on the keyboard.
He’s not going to find anything. I feel that in my gut. “Call me,” I say and hang up. I don’t look at the note again. I stuff it in my jacket pocket and walk back into the restaurant. When I round the corner, I do a doubletake when I find Jack sitting at the table. How did he get here? The timing is off, but I’ve already gotten to a point of trust with Jack. Haven’t I? There are no coincidences, but right now everything feels like a coincidence.