“That furrow’s still there. I thought it’d be gone. What else are you worried about besides possible impending death?”
“I love you.” The confession came as soft as the way it felt in Jonah’s chest, like something that needed to be protected.
“Okay, thatisa little worrisome,” Cas started with a wry smile, but his expression cracked a second later, the smile sliding from his face as his brows flicked together. “You do?”
Jonah put one hand behind his head so he could see Cas better and nodded. “Been thinking about how part of the reason we’re doing all of this is so you don’t have to leave and go somewhere and hide out.” He traced his finger over Cas’s lower lip. “But that doesn’t sound so bad to me right now. As long as I’m working and we’re together, you’ll always be my soft spot if someone’s looking for one. So, maybe I don’t need to work as much anymore.”
“But you’re good at it.”
“What a talent, right?” Jonah sighed. The truth was he had no other skills. He’d been groomed from the start to be exactly what he was, and he didn’t resent it, exactly—couldn’t even say he regretted it either, but maybe… “Maybe I could be good at something else in time. Fishing, boating.” Jonah didn’t know jack about fishing or boating, but being outside and on the water sounded pretty fucking good as a secondary career option.
“There’s a tropical theme emerging here.”
Jonah chuckled. “Off the coast of Belize smack in the middle of an ocean reef is a perfectly round sinkhole with water exactly the color of your eyes. Looks kinda like an eye itself when you’re above it. There was a guy in a group home when I was younger who had a postcard with it on it. He was always looking at it. It seemed like a whole different world. No sidewalks or smokestacks. No smog. No dormitories. I stole it when I left.” He grimaced. “I felt bad about that. Still have it in my safe. Always told myself, in the unlikely event that I ever crossed paths with him again, I’d apologize and give it back.” Jonah let his eyes drift shut under Cas’s warm weight. “Anyway, I’ve always wanted to see it.”
He relaxed his hands so Cas could slip free if he wanted to, but he didn’t. He rested his cheek on Jonah’s shoulder, and Jonah started drifting off to the pattern of Cas’s quiet breaths.
“I love you, too,” Cas murmured. “But I think you already knew that.” The words got caught in the threads of a dream that finally took Jonah under.
* * *
From the busstop shelter across the street, Jonah watched the entrance of The Salem. It was brand spanking new, an homage to the art deco era smack in the middle of Dumbo and bankrolled by Randall Howser, who happened to be featured in several sets of photos Cas had discovered in his digging.
Thinking about the sheer number of files and photos Cas had accessed turned Jonah’s stomach. If he’d had the manpower and money, he would’ve taken The Salem down to its foundation before systematically taking down every other business endeavor the names on that list engaged in. Then he would have gone after the men themselves.
Jonah spoke quietly, fiddling with the comm’s earpiece. “See anything yet, Madi?”
“Bedroom door’s still closed, but a couple of guys are milling around near the minibar. Standard sidearms, nothing extra that I can tell. Suite is probably about fifteen hundred square feet.”
“Caspian?”
“Exterior looks good. Loading dock is empty. Nothing funny happening in the parking garage or lobby. Sadie’s on the elevator. There are no cameras on the twelfth floor—which gives me the idea it’s probably been used forother thingsbefore. Once she gets off, Madigan will have to be the eyes.”
“Bedroom door’s opening,” Madigan cut in. “It’s him. Okay, there are three of them total. Sadie should handle that just fine.”
“Sadie’s getting off the elevator,” Cas confirmed.
Jonah waited in tense silence until Madigan came over the earpiece again. “I see her. Two men on either side. Patting her down. Removed her firearm. Clean shots on them, but Pritka’s sitting. There’s something in my way.”
“That’s okay. Sadie’ll be fine.”
“She’s handing him the thumb drives now. Guy’s sticking them into a laptop.” A half a minute passed. “Two of them are watching the video. Pritka hasn’t moved. Think I’ve got a future as a documentary voiceover artist? I’ve been rethinking my life choices,” Madi said drolly.
“You should’ve rethought those the day you were born,” Cas quipped.
“Ouch. Not too shabby, kid.”
Jonah tried to guess when Sadie would make her move, playing the scenario in his head. She’d taken down more than three at a time before, but she’d had a gun. A small part of Jonah was jealous that she’d be the one to put Pritka down. That was just his ego talking, though. It didn’t fucking matter in the end. He kept reminding himself of that as he paced in the bus shelter.
“Sadie and Pritka are talking. Guy handing Sadie a bag. Sadie checking it. Another guy coming from—shit. Sadie doesn’t look happy.Shit!”
Jonah was already racing across the street to the hotel entrance when Madigan swore for a third time and he heard a window shatter.
“Got one of ‘em. Then someone pulled the fucking curtains.”
“Cut the power, Cas,” Jonah barked over the line. It might give Sadie a couple of seconds advantage.
“Already cut. Generators will be up in a flash, though.”
