“Fuck!” Will shouted, startling both Cole and Justin. “Are you fucking—Goddammit.” He threw up his hands. “Please tell me we did not lose his goddamned scent.”
Justin’s eyes widened with renewed fear.
Cole exhaled. “Yeah. I think we did.” He glared down at Justin. “Word to the wise, dumbass—if there isn’t a cash exchange happening, and the person paying you isn’t going to see you in person again, you’re getting fucked over.”
Justin looked thoroughly chastened.
“How was he going to pay you? Huh?” Cole scoffed. “Did you think any of this through?”
“I brought a parachute,” the idiot said meekly.
Cole did pinch the bridge of his nose this time. Then he showed his palms and stepped away. “You deal with him, Will. Or else he’s going for a swim.” With that, he brushed past Will and walked a few paces, counting to ten as he tried not to blow a fucking gasket. How did anyone this devoid of survival instincts stay alive this long? How?How?Even if they weren’t involved in dangerous things like crime or BASE jumping, it just didn’t make sense that people like Justin didn’t walk into traffic or look up during a rainstorm and drown. Jesus H. Christ. What the hell. How did?—
Justin was suddenly limp-running away as fast as he possibly could, which was surprisingly quick all things considered.
“Wait, where is?—”
“Let him go,” Will said.
“Let him?—”
“We got all we’re gonna get out of him.” Will scowled as he watched Justin make his stupid escape. “And if we kept him around another minute, one of uswasgonna toss him in the river.”
Cole couldn’t even argue with that. He glared at Justin’s back. “Fucking dumbass.”
“I know, right?” Will sighed. “I guess now we’re back to square one.”
“I guess we are. Fuck.”
In silence, they watched Justin hurrying down the Quai. At one point, he tripped, windmilling before hitting the ground, stumbling back to his feet, and continuing with even less dignity than before. It should’ve been hilarious, but Cole was too annoyed to even enjoy the schadenfreude.
Apparently he wasn’t the only one, either.
“What do we do now?” Will asked, still watching Justin without a hint of amusement.
Cole shook his head. “Let’s get back to the hotel.” He paused. “I should call Lilith. She might’ve heard something or another by now.”
He braced, fully expecting Will to snark at him for not being sure or for running to their fairy godmother for advice.
What he got was harsh exhalation, a shrug, and a resigned, “I don’t have any better ideas.”
Well, hell. That was depressing.
Cole gestured for Will to start walking, and they headed up the Quai. Neither of them spoke for a long time.
When Will finally broke the silence, his tone was more serious than Cole liked, and he lowered his voice a little even though there was no one around. “Okay, now that it’s just me and you, I want to know something.”
Cole cringed inwardly. Oh God. This was about him saving Will earlier. He was going to ask Cole to explain why he did it, and Cole was going to have to say… shit. He didn’t even know what to say. But he also wasn’t going to escape this conversation, so… fine. Whatever. Might as well get it out of the way now instead of letting it fester. Especially letting it fester long enough that Cole actually came up with a truthful answer instead of whatever bullshit he needed to feed him.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he sighed. “Okay. What do you want to know?”
Silence hung between them for a moment, punctuated by their footsteps and the water sloshing against the pier.
After an excruciating eternity during which Cole seriously considered throwing himself into the St. Lawrence, Will spoke:
“Are you a Swifty?”
“Am I a—” Cole stopped. “What?”
