“Shit,” Jericho snapped. “We’ll be there soon. Don’t say shit to the cops.”
Arsen rolled his eyes. “Yeah, man. I know that.”
Jericho made a frustrated sound. “I know. I know. Shit. How’s the damage? Is it bad?”
“I don’t think so. Silas had a fire extinguisher and put it out. I think the sprinklers deployed, though, so there might be water damage.”
“And you said those sprinklers were a waste of money,” Arsen heard Atticus say.
Arsen gathered Ever to him. “We’re definitely going to need some new doors. And maybe a few more of those giant fans.”
“As long as you’re both okay,” Jericho said, sounding grim but also relieved.
Arsen looked down at Ever once more. “We’re alive.”
That was about all Arsen could commit to.
Now, Ever really wasn’t okay.
“‘Your dead,’” Atticus read, deadpan. “Y-O-U-R? If a cop wrote this, I weep for our justice system. They couldn’t even get the grammar correct?”
Ever was only half-listening. They were at Jericho’s and Atticus’s condo with the others. Jericho had taken pictures for the insurance company and for their own evidence collection before they’d left. Those photos were now stuck to a white board propped up on the mantle in front of their television.
The boys had gathered immediately at Jericho’s place. Arsen had tried to coax Ever to go to bed in the guest room, but he wasn’t going anywhere. He might be useless, but he wasn’t going to miss out on whatever Jericho wanted to discuss.
Instead, he sat on their insanely soft, overstuffed sofa, a blanket around his shoulders, while Levi and Nico sat on either side of him like sentries. Ever had his head on Nico’s shoulder. He wanted it to be Arsen, but he hadn’t stopped moving since the fire. He was too pissed. Ever could only follow with his eyes as he continued to pace.
Seven, Lake, Zane, Cree, and Felix had all opted for the floor. The twins sat on the other side of the couch. Jericho and Atticus stood, also keeping an eye on Arsen. Ever was worried. He’d never seen Arsen this mad before. But he was fuming. His jaw was tight, his fists clenched. Ever wanted to apologize, but he didn’t want to draw attention to himself, even if this was all his fault.
The sun was up, streaming through the large floor-to-ceiling windows. By the time they’d left Jericho’s garage, the smoke had cleared, but the inside was uninhabitable. The fire department and local cops had left the charred remains of the doors behind, letting Jericho know they’d be there for him if he needed clean-up.
The neighborhood really did seem to love Jericho. Even if they couldn’t publicly sanction his neighborhood watch, they appeared to respect that, sometimes, he could take care of things in a way they couldn’t. Ever shuddered, looking at the scorch marks on the photos once more.
The Jamesville police clearly lacked the same dedication. That message was meant for him.
“You really think it was a cop who set the fire?” Zane asked. “That seems like a bold move.”
“It was that Cherry girl and some guy,” Ever mumbled, then returned to chewing on his lower lip. He could feel Arsen’s eyes on him but was afraid to meet his gaze directly, preferring to just track his feet as he moved.
“Ever’s right. I saw them, too. They were across the street watching. They wanted us to know it was them.”
Cree made a disgusted noise. “At least they did some of the hard work for us. If Cherry’s involved, that means it’s 4Loco. That’s one mystery solved.”
“I thought they just slung fentanyl now? You would have thought they’d get the message after what happened to Mercy,” Levi said, twirling a blow pop in his mouth, the candy clicking against his teeth noisily. Each movement displaced Ever’s head slightly, but he didn’t care. The warmth of Levi’s skin bled through his t-shirt to Ever’s cheek and hearing his voice so close was soothing.
Still, he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Mercy?”
“Our sister,” Felix said, giving Jericho a sad smile. “She got trafficked by their crew a long time ago and then sold to some creepy research facility. But by the time we figured out what happened, it was a whole new regime in the gang. They had assured us they were out of that business. Said the cargo was too risky.”
“Yeah, guns and dope bring slightly less heat than humans, even if it’s not as lucrative,” Lake said.
Ever’s heart squeezed. “So, you guys just…let them go?” Ever asked.
“We’re not like Atticus and the twins. We don’t have an army of lawyers at our beck and call or a Calliope to fabricate fake paper trails. We have to be really careful,” Nico said. “And, like we said, we punished the ones who were involved.”
“If we killed every criminal in our neighborhood, it would be a massacre. Everyone does what they have to just to survive out there,” Seven added.
“What he means is, we have to pick our battles,” Cree said. “The cops turn a blind eye as long as we’re discreet, but I don’t think they’d be so forgiving if we dropped a whole crew.”
