“Ofme?” Sam asked, surprised, but Kevin had already turned his attention back to Jules.
“Why is it a sign of the end-times?”
“Julesonly happens when life gets super-serious,” Jules said. “He usually calls me Cassidy.”
“Or Squidward.” Sam said in near perfect unison with Jules, which of course cracked Jules up.
Hobbit however gasped, turning back to Sam. “That makes you Sponge Bob,” he guessed correctly. “Ooh, can I be Patrick?” He turned to Rod. “You can be Mr. Krabs.”
“No,” Rod said. “I can’t.”
“I kinda expected Mick to be part of the welcomingcommittee,” Jules said as they all went into the spacious kitchen.
“I think he’s hiding from Emily,” Kevin reported as he bustled around in the kitchen, which was clearly his territory—although it was likely the entire house was his territory. It was Rod who seemed awkward and out of place there. Which kinda made sense. He’d mentioned earlier that he and Connie had inherited the house from her parents.
Kevin opened a container of cookies that looked home-baked, adding, “Her rage is incandescent. Pretty impressive, TBH.”
“Not a surprise,” Jules murmured.
“I’ll get him,” Rod volunteered. “He went to lie down.”
“He lost some blood, but I really think it was Emily murdering him with her words that did him in.” Kevin got out mugs for coffee—a fresh pot had just been brewed and it smelled pretty fricking great.
Sam had just grabbed a cookie—chocolate chip, hooyah—and poured himself a cup when he heard Rod’s voice in the other room and then what had to be Emily Johnson, saying, “No, he’s not,” and then Rod, way more clearly. “Fuck.”
Uh-oh. Sam looked at Jules, who was looking back at him.
“So, Mick’s not here,” Rod announced as he came back into the kitchen. “I am so fucking sorry. God damn it, I gave him the alarm code. I honestly didn’t think we needed to lock him in.”
Emily was right behind him—she was taller and younger than Sam would’ve guessed from seeing her in that photo, but that long, dark, curly hair and wide brown eyes made her unmistakable. “Oh, my God,” she said. “Heleft?”
“Okay,” Jules said, his voice easygoing and calm, even though inside he was probably screaming about the injusticeof this latest goatfuckery. “Let’s lock this place down, make sure we’re secure. Alarm system on—let’s change that code while we’re at it.” Clearly he’d spotted the state-of-the-art system’s control pad near the door to the garage, and Rod went immediately over to it, grimly keying in those changes.
Meanwhile, Jules managed to smile at Emily. “Hello, Emily, it’s so nice to meet you in person. I’m Jules Cassidy and this is Sam Starrett. We were hired by Mick to find you, but apparently lots of other people want to find you, too, and sadly they’re not as friendly as we are. So we’re gonna concentrate right now on keeping you safe, okay? Let’s have you stay right here in the kitchen with me while Sam, Rod, and Hob double-check that all the windows and doors are locked.”
Mick had left.
Mick hadleft.
“Coffee?” the ridiculously handsome man named Jules Cassidy asked as he poured from the freshly brewed pot into a mug.
Emily shook her head.
“You sure?” he asked. For someone so freakishly good-looking his brown eyes were remarkably gentle. Kind. “Because—and I know this is a pain in the ass, I’m so sorry—but we can’t stay here. As far as safe houses go, they stop being safe when the location stops being secret. And when someone leaves the way Mick did... Anyway, I’d like to head back to Los Angeles tonight. As long as we have to leave, we might as well get you to a place where you’ll be more safe. I’ve got three additional team members in LA, well, four—probably more like six by now, which is good—so we’ll getyou a hotel room there. It’ll be easy to lockdown until we can figure out exactly what’s going on.” He smiled at her again. “And don’t worry, we absolutely will.”
“Mick thinks the lawyer’s behind all this,” Emily said. “Along with that former cop named Clayton Spencer.”
“He told you that?” Jules asked, his eyes sharp as he sipped his coffee.
Emily nodded.
“Hmm. Because that was my theory, too. I’ve been trying to figure out if Mick was involved, and I gotta be honest, his leaving like this kinda points the arm of the what-is-happening-o-meter to theYes He Wasside of the gauge.”
She laughed a little despite herself. What was it Kevin had said?Trust Jules Cassidy. Well, okay, it looked like she was going to have to. “But why would he leave if the big goal is to kill me?” she asked. “I mean, I’m right here.”
“But Kevin and Rod are right here, too,” he pointed out. “And Rod’s... Rod, if you know what I mean.”
She nodded, because yeah. Both Rod and his seemingly cosmic twin, the tall former SEAL who’d arrived with Jules, looked like people you didn’t dare mess with.
