“Yeah,” Noah replies. “He’s dead.”
“And are we in the clear?” I ask.
“Seem to be. But I always have shit ready, if someone needs to get out.”
I frown, thinking. “The others. They do this kind of thing a lot?”
“A lot of you do. There’s always risk.”
“Wes said that ForbiddenX is a honey pot. Dominic guessed it pretty easily.”
Noah says, “It’s what Lush is too. Both of them use their business to … lure certain types.”
It makes me uncomfortable. ForbiddenX, after all, lured me. “Is that why Wes was reporting on me to you?”
“He was concerned about you, that’s all.”
“Concerned that I’d need to be put down.”
Elias shifts at my side, not liking that.
Noah frowns. “It wasn’t like that. If there had ever been a need to interfere, Wes would have involved me. We would’ve figured out how to help. He and I agreed to it.”
“I see.”
“Wes is complicated, but he’s a good guy.”
“I know,” I admit. “He came to help. More than once. A lot of them did.”
“Yeah. They did.”
It’s still so strange to me. Now, in the light of day, it makes me a little uncomfortable, but I feel like, maybe, I could get used to the idea.
“You can call me too,” I tell Noah. “If you, if someone, needs help.”
Noah nods. “Thank you. Shit does sometimes … kind of blow up.”
“I could tell.”
When silence falls, Noah stands up from the bench. “I should go,” he says, looking down at me and Elias. “Take care of each other.”
I nod and watch him walk off. Alone.
“We should have him over for dinner sometime,” Elias suggests.
“Yeah,” I agree. “We should.”
“And I want to come back here in a few weeks when the roses bloom.”
“We can do that.”
“And maybe we should come at night sometime and run the trail again.”
I grin. “Maybe we should.”
Elias stands up. “There’s another place I want to go while we’re here.”
“Is that why you suggested this park?”
