"You're a shit friend," I said.
"Same to you, brother," he shot back. "I don't hear from you for a wholefuckingyear and this is the first thing you say to me? Go fuck yourself."
"Excuse me but the first thing I said to you was I need you to run a deep dive on my mother's boyfriend. And second, I texted you about getting tickets when the Caps went to the playoffs. Which was not that long ago."
"Let me explain something to you about mothers and boyfriends. You have no control over this shit. You have to sit back and mind your fucking manners. Okay? He's notembezzling money from nursing homes, he's not a sex pest, he doesn't have a string of dead women in his past. He cheats on his taxes but no more than anyone else, his internet history is unconcerning, and he's had an active prescription for ED pills for the past year. That's all I've got for you."
"We're not talking about his dick, Kaisall. Goddamn. Why do I have to tell you that?"
"You asked for everything," he replied.
Letting out an annoyed snarl, I glanced at my watch. I didn't know why Mom and Audrey weren't back yet but I didn't like it. Lunch didn't last five hours, not even with my mother talking a mile a minute. And Audrey hadn't answered a single one of my texts all day. Nothing about that seemed right.
"I've been there. You'll learn to live with it or you'll give yourself high blood pressure until you have a stroke. You just gotta pick which sounds like more of a hassle," Kaisall went on. "Hold up. Why are you having a shit fit over this? You're not a young guy."
"Fuck you very much."
"You're welcome but I mean this can't be the first time your mom has dated. There have been dudes before this one."
"She's never been serious about anyone. Never like this," I said. "She's just been through a lot in the past couple of years. She doesn't need some dickhead fucking up her life when she's finally doing all right."
"Okay, well, he might be a dickhead but he's unremarkable on paper and not a criminal." After a pause, he added, "And I'm sorry about missing the text about the Caps. I think I was off the grid when that happened and I was a little foggy when I got back stateside. You know how it goes."
"The fuck I do." I glared at the phone. "I don't understand your life. And I say that as someone with a really fucking complicated life."
"Accept the job, sign the nondisclosure agreement, and I'll explain everything."
Kaisall, formerly of the Navy SEALs, co-owned a private security firm that handled everything from rescuing kidnapped heiresses to the kind of shit he couldn't even allude to without breaching national security protocols.
We met about five years ago when I'd wanted to throw out everything and dive headfirst into a new world. Back then, I'd been bored to the point of anger. Restless enough to gnaw my arm off. Making moves had been the only thing keeping me going. It wasn't about hopping from one corporate ladder to another. I'd wanted to jump off the ladder and then use it to bridge a canyon. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I was in the final rounds of interviews when Penny died. But I didn't regret bowing out. I liked where I was now—and I wouldn't have lasted long in Kaisall's corner of the industry. It was better being his friend. More plausible deniability.
"As I told you the first time we had this conversation, I don't live in a world where I can drop off the grid for a few weeks or come backa little foggy. Whatever the fuck that means."
"We'll keep you in the command center," he said. "No risk of concussion there. Or not as much of a risk."
"You're not helping. None of this is helping."
"I don't know what to tell you, man. When are you back in town? Want to catch a Nationals game? I'll let you whine at me all night if you buy the beers."
Again, I glanced between my watch and phone. Still nothing from Audrey. I didn't have a great feeling about this. I should've gone with them. "I'm on the West Coast for a few more weeks and then picking up Percy from his grandmother's place in Michigan."
"Last I checked, they still play in August."
I stretched my arms over my head to draw some of the tension from my shoulders. Didn't work. "I'll text you when we're back."
"And you're buying the beer."
"You have a private jet," I snapped. "Like fuck I'm buying the beer."
"I'll have you know that's a business expense."
"Whatever lets you sleep at night." I watched a family of quail scuttle across the yard and debated whether I wanted to involve Kaisall in another one of my problems. "How good are your hackers?"
"I don't have hackers," he said, each word crisp.
"Right, yeah, of course not. But hypothetically speaking."
