"They might be in the next building," Boner said, his eyes shifting back and forth, like he was a cartoon character. "They could be on the other side of that wall right now." He pointed to his immediate left.
"That's the bathroom," I said.
"Right, well they could be that way." He pointed in the other direction.
"That's the outer wall. The street is on the other side," Archer said.
"They could be right below us then." Boner pointed down, giving us a look as if daring us to contradict him.
"They might be that close." I shivered. The idea made my stomach turn. If they were near the whole time, we could have dealt with them months ago. Years ago.
"Don't," Cass said. "Don't start thinking about things you think you should have done already."
He shot Jules a look, reminding him to keep his mouth shut before he could accuse me of not acting soon enough. He blamed me for what happened to his brother because I was busy setting up my restaurant. Because I hadn't tracked them down fast enough.
For a while, I thought he was right, but we'd hit a dead end with the last two on my list.
There was nothing I could do but carry on as normal. Keep working. Keep my restaurants open. Watch and wait.
"We will find them," Boner promised. "We'll find them and make them pay for the things they did. Then we'll make them pay a little bit more. Then just a tiny bit more." He held out his fingers slightly apart. "And when we're done with that, we'll make them wish they were never conceived.”
"I wish they were never conceived," Cass said, glaring into his half-empty milkshake glass like he might find them there.
"Me too," I said with a sigh. "But they were, and we'll deal with them."
I wished I knew how, and where, if anywhere, Detective Getzoff fit into all of this.
What is it they say about tangled webs? I was starting to feel like I couldn't struggle out of this one. I'd come too far to stop now, but what if I never found them? What if the last two lines tattooed on my arm were never crossed off?
I had to accept the possibility Hypnos and Zeus might remain in the wind forever. For all I knew, they were dead already. If someone else was out there, doing the same things we were. If they'd killed Lionel Gammage, they might have gotten to them first.
This might all be for nothing.
My instincts told me it wasn't. They were out there. We just had to find them.
CHAPTER 11
HARLOW
Istartled wide awake when a hand clamped over my mouth.
"Shh," Archer whispered. "It's me."
He lifted his hand from my lips.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"I have a surprise for you. Come with me." He took my hand and helped me out of bed, leaving the covers to lie in a heap to the side.
He pulled me out into the living room and handed me a bundle of clothes: black jeans and a black sweater, a pair of black socks, and black shoes sat beside the door. He was already dressed the same.
"Get changed," he urged.
Blinking sleep out of my eyes, I did as he told me, stripping off my sleep pants and tank top and pulling on the black clothes.
"What are we doing?" I asked, as I pulled the sweater over my head.
"Wait and see," was all the response I was going to get from him, judging by the stony expression on his face.
