“I have a theory that we can discuss in the car on the way home, but there’s something else,” Avion said. “When I spoke with my brothers to ask them why they killed him, they seemed shocked. At first I thought it was maybe just with the fact that I knew, but I realized it wasn’t. They hadnoidea why I thought that. Still, after I asked a few more questions, they ended up copping to it.”
“They took responsibility for it?” I looked over at Curtis who was watching us with scared interest. “Why?”
“Vince is an opportunist. Best I can guess he just figured us thinking he was dead worked to their benefit somehow.” Avion looked over at her dad then. “He’s not my favorite guy, but he’s a victim of my brothers like I am right now. Even if they didn’t attempt to kill him yet, they’re certainly planning to eventually. I… I want to keep him safe.”
“I’m not bringing him to our home,” I said.
She shook her head immediately. “No.” Then she stopped and smiled. “Our?”
I tilted my head. “Well it’s your home too.”
She gave me another sweet look before shaking it out of her mind. “Well, no. I don’t want him in our home for many reasons, but do you know a place we can put him? Somewhere he’ll be safe from them or anyone else?”
I furrowed my brow. “Who else?”
“Like I said, I have a theory,” Avion replied. “The point is it needs to be a place no one can get into,” then she gave a knowing nod, “and ideally a place he can’t get out of.”
“I can hear you,” Curtis complained.
“I wasn’t trying not to be heard,” Avion barked back and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I like this color on your, Miss Narzand,” I hummed, looking her up and down.
“Not now,” she replied. “Anywhere come to mind?”
I nodded. “I got a couple of places.”
After updating Tamryn and sending her back home, Avion and I packed up her dad and left the hotel. To be safe, I prepaid the hotel for a week’s stay so that if anyone called or came by, they would think he was still there. I also paid them not to let anyone up to the room. It would buy us at least a week before anyone additional went looking for him.
Which Avion was certain her brothers would be after their conversation.
In all honesty, the most secure place I could think of was actually a place that we’d already abandoned.
Merrick and Tamryn’s house.
My father was a known paranoid. Because it was my mother, not my father, that was born into the syndicate life, Merrick didn’t have as many years to get used to what it felt like to always be someone’s enemy. Even if he was a rough-and-tumble kid who grew up on the streets, fighting and selling drugs, he had no idea that marrying into one of the biggest crime families in New York was going to have the effect that it did. For that reason, Merrick ended up developing extreme anxiety that made him overly cautious in most situations.
It meant that his house was full of escape routes, secret stash spots, and most importantly, safe rooms.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Avion asked as we walked into the home that had been left mostly alone since I invited my parents to stay with me. It was still being attended by security and cleaners, but otherwise abandoned for the time being. “This place was raided twice, once by mysterious masked men, and once by police.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I said. “Follow me.”
We dragged Curtis through the main foyer and living room, and into the kitchen. To my surprise, Avion immediately walked over to the fake door next to the fridge and pulled it open. I looked at her, surprised, and she just giggled and said, “Yeah. This is how Milli and I got out before.” I led the way down the hidden staircase and stopped halfway between two of the doors on the outer wall. Avion furrowed her brow and asked. “This door?” Pointing behind her.
I chuckled. “Try opening it.”
She grabbed the handle and opened the door, revealing nothing but a cement wall behind it. “A fake door?”
“They aren’t doors that lead anywhere, they’re indicators.” I set my hand on the wall halfway between the two doors and pushed. The cement creaked and groaned as it buckled slightly inward, then it popped back out at me and I was able to slide it to the side.
She laughed. “That’s where you got the idea to hide arrows on sconces?”
“I learned from the best.” I pushed Curtis into the safe room, which was a big, open square. It had a small, twin-sized bed in one corner. A fridge, microwave and a couple of counters for prep in another, a couch and end table directly to the right of the door, and in the corner to the left was a door that led into the tiny, attached bathroom. “You’ve got everything you need in here,” I explained. “The fridge is automatically stocked with enough food for a month. We’ll have this sorted by then, so you’ve got plenty to work with there. Oh, and by the way, hopefully you’ve got some good games on your phone, because no signals are getting in or out of this place. Have fun.”
I stepped back out of the safe room and then slid the door shut. Avion put her hands on her hips as she looked it over. “Can’t he get out from the inside?”
“Not without a key,” I said. “One on my dad’s keychain.”
