“I was waiting for you to tell me yourself. Well? Any luck?”
Flix ran a hand through his hair. “There was proof that Russ used to live there, but he’s long gone now. No one records where he moved, but Dez is still looking. As far as the people around him at the time, seems like Russ kept his head down.”
“You said Haroon was after him, right?” Baikal took another sip. “Makes sense. It was the smart thing to do. Only Haroon has been dead for weeks now.”
“No one really cares about the Shepards outside of this city,” Flix supposed. “Maybe news hasn’t reached him wherever Russ is.”
“I don’t know. If I’d left my little brother behind with the promise to return for him, I’d be closely monitoring the situation. Wouldn’t you? Russ should be checking in regularly—That is if he really meant it when he said he’d be back.”
“I can’t confirm if he did or not yet,” Flix said. “There are some letters I need to get my hands on first.”
“Why don’t you have them already?”
He glanced away. “They belong to Ani.”
“Shouldn’t you be collecting his things from the Shepard house anyway? Find them and take them then.”
“You saw how his friends acted at the hospital,” Flix reminded. “They won’t welcome me into their home, and they sure as shit won’t let me leave with anything either.”
“So take some people with you and give them no choice.” He shrugged.
“I thought of that, but…”
“You’re worried about pissing off your Onus.” Baikal chuckled. “Been there.”
“He’ll never forgive me if I hurt his people.”
“Take him there himself then,” he said, like it was the obvious solution, not backing down when Flix glowered at him. “What? You know you’ll have to if you want to get anything done. I assume Rabbit has already explained to you why it’s foolish to try and lock Aneski up in the first place. An Onus is a partner, Flix. He’s yours, but he isn’t property. Loosen the reigns a little.”
“Everyone’s acting like I’ve kept him chained to my bed for months when it hasn’t even been a week,” he drawled.
“He’s chained to your bed?”
“Whatever.” Flix stood. “I’ve got to go.”
“Send Xews and Luke too,” Baikal said. “Three heads are better than one. They can help Hael and branch off if there are separate leads.”
“Thanks.”
“He’s your Onus now,” Baikal reminded. “That means he’s one of us.”
He laughed darkly before he could help it, rapping his knuckles against the table afterward. “That’s exactly what I didn’t want to happen.”
“Too late now.”
“Yeah.” He blew out a breath.
“I won’t force you, but think about what we said.”
“Why so interested in what I do with Aneski anyway?” It was out of character for Baikal, who typically was too busy with the Brumal and the family business to bother with any of their personal lives unless they asked him themselves.
“Rabbit likes you,” Baikal stated. “He says the two of you are similar. To be honest, I don’t see it, but he’s rarely wrong about things like that.”
“Similar how?”
“Apparently, you’ve been apprehensive for a really long time and hiding it from the rest of us. It’s given you a lot of guilt.”
Flix tried not to give away how nervous he was now, either. “Did he tell you why?”
