“Who’s your dad?”Mercer sidled up and asked the million-dollar question.
Layla looked at him in confusion.“Didn’t she tell you?Orpheus Blazer.”
54
Dax
“What the fuck, Lacy?”Mercer yelled.Then he snapped his mouth shut and glared at her.
Burn looked just as surprised.Then she looked at me.“Did you know?”she asked, hurt in her voice.
I shook my head.“Not for sure.I’d started to wonder.”
“You said no more secrets,” Burn said to her.
Lacy dropped her head and sank into herself.“I know.It’s just...Everyone thinks he’s this criminal and he’s...He’s just our dad.And it hurts listening to people bash him all the time.It’s easier to keep it to myself.”
“You said you were on his crew,” Mercer said.
“Yeah, I was.As a mechanic.Everything I told you was true.The only thing I left out was my dad’s name.”Now she lifted her chin belligerently.“It’s not like any of you introduced yourself and said, ‘And my dad is Mr.Blah Blah.’Can we just get Layla out of here?”
Mercer, the only one on the crew with family as famous, or maybe infamous, as hers, looked like he wanted to argue.
“Later.”My tone brooked no argument.
“Open the door, Mercer,” I said when no one showed any signs of moving.“You’ll want to step back, Miss Blazer.”
“Dupree,” Layla said.“We both use our mom’s name because of assholes like you.”After dropping that little bomb, she disappeared behind the privacy wall.
Mercer pulled a thin strand of detonator cord from his pack.With careful, precise movements, he broke off a small piece and carefully crafted it into a shaped charge.He affixed it to the door, near the lock, and placed a tiny detonator in the ball of explosive.
Then he pulled out a small tablet from his pocket and linked the detonator to his control.
“That’s not too big, is it?”Lacy asked him as she studied the charge.
“What, your daddy didn’t teach you explosives?”His tone was snide, but there was a hint of something.Understanding?
“Don’t be a dick, Mercer.I don’t want to come this far to lose my sister to your fuckup.”
Mercer lost his glare and his gaze thawed slightly when he looked at Lacy.“Relax, sweetheart.It won’t hurt your sister.”
She stepped close and stood on her tiptoes so she could look him in the eye.“If anything happens to my sister, I will hold you personally responsible.Do you understand me?”
Her voice was cold and the threat was clear.Whatever she’d done to tamp down her Blazer side was gone now.
Mercer understood that.He nodded.
Lacy brushed past me and took shelter behind the stairs.I nodded at Burn, directing her to go stand with Lacy.She nodded back and slid out of the way.She stationed herself at the base of the stairs and kept an eye out for any unexpected visitors.
“You got this?”I asked Mercer.
He nodded.“Yep.It’s under control.You got that?”He jerked his chin toward Lacy and Burn.
I exhaled.“I have no fucking clue.”
He smirked at me, then sobered.“Get clear.Layla?”he called to the woman in the cell.
She popped her head out from behind the wall.“What?”
