“Jackson, did you notice he listed The Fence first?” Cassel murmurs.
“That was just… No!” Leland sinks onto his side and closes his eyes. I think we’re all startled by the fact that he just stops functioning, and everyone seems uncertain if he’s going to start again anytime soon.
I reach over and squeeze his hand. “Leland, it’s not your fault.”
“I know. I’m just… thinking. I can’t look at all of your expressions of disappointment when I think.”
Cassel reaches out and squeezes his other hand. “We’re not disappointed in your ability. We’re disappointed in your personality.”
“Yeah, what Cassel said,” Micah says.
“Agreed,” Henry tosses in.
“I—” Tavish begins, but Ellis squeezes Tavish’s wrist so hard that any desire to say something evil about Leland goes right out the window. “I think you… did a good job today! Yes. That one.”Tavish looks to Ellis for confirmation that he did well, and Ellis smiles at him. It makes Tavish beam right back.
“Are things going to go as smoothly now? Definitely not, but we might still have control of the situation,” Cassel says. “We just need to figure out something that the FBI has been unable to uncover during the many years they’ve investigated the Barlows. That’s not hard at all, right?”
“Do you think if Raul’s son takes over, the people who are being dragged into this hell are going to get eliminated?” Everly asks. “What’s the second son’s name?”
Leland leans back, looking disgruntled that he doesn’t have a Tavish-sized footrest. “Eddie. He’s been involved with his father’s business for years and knows the ins and outs. Will he eliminate those he controls? Probably not yet. He likely won’t until there’s a stronger law enforcement element involved. But if he feels like it’s become risky to keep going, or if he starts feeling anxious, there’s a slim chance he could.”
Micah nods. “I’m with Leland. I think we have some time before our leads get hidden and it becomes impossible to save those the Barlows have control of.”
“I might have everything I need from the information Tavish and I brought back. I won’t know for a while, though,” Cassel says. “So I’m going to head to my room where it’s quiet. You’re only allowed to enter if you give me a neck message and bring me something to eat and drink. I will also take foot massages and someone whispering how amazing I am in my ear.”
He heads off and Jeremy follows after him, presumably to do those things since no one else has volunteered.
I wake up with Leland’s arm over my head where he’s struggling to stare at his phone that’s just beyond me. I see why he’s in this peculiar position when I realize that I’m hugging him to me like he has no option to withdraw.
“You could have pulled away,” I mumble.
“Why would I?” he asks with a raised eyebrow before giving me a forehead kiss.
I close my eyes and squeeze him tighter, not quite sure I want to get up from this position since it feels so comfortable.
“Could you not sleep?” I ask.
“No, I slept, and then I thought, and then I slept some more. And now I’m being forced to look at twenty… seven photos of a cat that Waylon sent while we were asleep last night. Twenty-seven, Jackson. Only twenty-seven. Not twenty-six… twenty-seven. What have I done?”
“It’s a good thing you didn’t get him that pony too,” I joke.
He flashes the phone at me. “And here on this grand day, we have a mighty Felis catus, unhinging his jaws in a magnificent yawn!” He swipes to the next one. “Now don’t be alarmed, because at 11:46 PM, we are greeted with a mere stretch of gigantic proportions.”
“Oh wow!” I say. “The cat is stretching.”
“But don’t fret! We have twenty-five morethrillingphotographic masterpieces to get through.”
“Oh joy. Am I excited or what?” I tease. “The catiscute, but twenty-seven is a bit much.”
Leland’s arm that’s been holding the phone flops down on me as he snuggles close and closes his eyes. I love it when he pushes aside his fear of emotions and showers me in them… even if he’d claim to be doing nothing of the sort. It shows me how much he’s opened up to me. How comfortable he is with me; comfortable enough to do things that make him feel uncertain.
“Here is my plan, although it could change the instant Cassel finds something,” Leland announces. “I’m going to follow Eddie and see what happens now that he’s in control. He’s going to try to shift things around, figure out where the weak spots are that the police could be looking into with the death of his father. If we find anything, we’ll be there to tear them open.”
“The police are going to be crawling all over the place now that Raul is dead,” I say.
“I’ll be careful.”
My phone beeps at the same time as Leland’s. Since looking at mine would require me to pull away from him, I stare at his phone instead while he opens it.
