“Wait,” Cas protested again. “I don’twantto just turn it all over to them. I’ve been working on it all fucking morning. I left Russia after being shot at. Red’s dead because of whatever’s on this drive. And…and I’m making headway. Right, Sadie?” He didn’t wait for her reply. “I’m so close to figuring it out. I don’t want to go to fucking Antarctica or somewhere else like that and just hide out forever by myself.”
Jonah squeezed the top of Cas’s thigh then let his hand fall away. “You wouldn’t be by yourself.”
“What, you’re just going to leave all this behind?”
“I can work from anywhere, just like you. Maine or Auckland. Bora Bora or Timbuktu.”
Cas’s mouth fell open. “But—”
Sadie wiggled her fingers in the air for attention. “This is sappy and sweet and all, but before you go buying plane tickets, maybe we should get back to the gifts I brought. Gift, actually. Singular. But it’s a good one.”
Cas lolled his head in her direction. “Why do I get the idea that, when you say ‘gift,’ it’s not a subscription to the jelly-of-the-month club.”
“Because maybe you’ve actually got two brain cells to rub together after all.” Sadie flashed a dangerous smile, then fished in her pocket and pulled out a key fob, tossing it on Jonah’s lap. “When you called me to come, I went to your new place, of course. Found a guy outside keeping a close eye on it. He’s in the trunk, so maybe we should see what this guy knows and if we could leverage him.”
Cas’s eyes went wide. “Jesus, and you’re just now saying something? What if he starts yelling?”
“He won’t.” Sadie checked her phone. “He won’t wake for at least another hour.”
“Chloroform?” Jonah asked, curious.
“Don’t be a relic. Ketamine. We’re going to need Madi, though. Fucker hardly speaks any English, and trust me, he would’ve if he could’ve.”
“I know a little Russian, if that would help,” Cas said.
“It wasn’t Russian. I’m pretty sure it was Turkish.” Sadie swiped through her phone and then offered it over to them. “Please admire my knotwork. It’s so rare I get to show it off.”
Jonah stared at the heavy brows and slack face on Sadie’s screen. Even with the tape over his mouth, the guy was recognizable.
Cas dropped his feet from Jonah’s lap and bolted upright, snatching the phone from Sadie. “This is the guy from the other day. Right, Jonah?”
Jonah nodded, aiming his explanation at Sadie’s confusion. “He was with one of my targets recently. Unrelated. Or so I thought. Now, I’m not so su—”
“You took Cas with you on a job?” Sadie yanked her phone out of Cas’s hand and, for a second, looked like she was about to throw it at Jonah.
His silence condemned him to a harsh look, then Sadie jerked her gaze aside to Cas. “Get lost for a few. I need to talk to Jonah alone.”
Cas shot a questioning look at Jonah and, when he nodded, got up reluctantly, moving across the room at a snail’s pace. “Guess I’ll go take a shower.”
“Are you an idiot?” she hissed the second the bathroom door closed.
“Depends on who you ask.” Jonah folded his arms over his chest. He wasn’t in the mood to defend his choices, much less to someone who hadn’t been around in years. “It wasn’t a close-contact job, and I didn’t want to leave him alone.”
She heaved out a beleaguered sigh. “Look, I’m only going to say this once, because you know I’m going to help regardless, but—”
“Don’t,” Jonah warned.
“Do you know what I’m going to say?”
“You’re going to tell me I should consider turning him out and letting the chips fall. But I can’t.”
Sadie leaned forward and reached out, index finger tracing the long scar hiding beneath the swoop of Jonah’s hair from mid-forehead to temple.
“Remember the price you paid when you did the same for me?”
Jonah caught her wrist as she splayed her fingers over his cheek. “I’m still waiting for my thank you.”
“Keep waiting. I’m still angry at you for coming back. He wouldn’t have killed me. I was too valuable to him.”
