I must have drifted off, because the next thing I knew, the sound of loud pounding woke me up.
My headache was back down to a dull throb. Not wanting to make it worse, I stood slowly and grabbed my phone from the coffee table as I headed to the door. Expecting Ariana, I swung it open and found Angel and Bones standing on my doorstep wearing identical scowls.
The sight made my chest ache.
Why wouldn't Angel just leave me alone?
"I can't do this again," I said, backing into the apartment to shut the door.
Bones grabbed it, stopping me. "We're not here for our goddamn health, Markie, we need to talk to you."
His tone and the set of his jaw left no room for argument. Inviting them in would be the polite thing to do, but every time I let Angel in, it got harder to push him out again. Squaring my shoulders, I returned Bones's scowl.
"Okay, talk."
"Not out here." Bones pushed his way in with Angel following behind.
Irritated, but unable to physically remove them, I stepped aside and followed them to the living room. Bones sat beside me on the sofa while Angel pulled something out of his pocket, powered it up, and started walking around the room.
"What's he doing?" I asked.
"Checking for bugs."
Certain he meant the electronic type and wondering why they thought any would be in Ariana's apartment, I asked, "Why?"
"It's clean," Angel said.
He leaned against a wall, crossing his arms as he watched me through a mask of cold indifference. The room temperature seemed to drop, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my pulse quicken.
"What's going on?" I asked, studying their hard expressions.
"Who are you?" Bones asked.
My mouth hung open as I tried to process what he was asking.Who am I?Shaking my head I said, "You've seen my ID. You know who I am."
His jaw tightened. "You a cop?"
"No. I currently don't have a job. You know this." I looked to Angel, but he just stood there, expression still hard and unreadable.
"But you wanted to be one. Even went to school for it," Bones said.
"How do you know that?"
Instead of answering, he asked, "Why did you drop out?"
My mind spun with memories I didn't want. Pushing them aside, I spoke through gritted teeth. "That's personal."
Bones chuckled. It sounded hollow and angry, only increasing my unease. "Here's what I think. You were recruited. Now we just need to figure out who the fuck hired you."
"Nobody hired me." His words weren't making any sense. "I haven't had a job since college."
"Yet your bank account has monthly deposits. Where's your money coming from, Markie?"
Now I definitely needed to throw up. "I can't talk about that."
"What about Adamo? Hepersonaltoo?"
Having never in my life heard that name before, I blinked. "Adamo?"
