“He doesn’t care about that.” Kit crossed his arms to prevent his own nervous fidgeting. “He just wants an excuse to fuck with the body.”
Holden’s laugh was relaxed. “Mom taught me not to leave a mess in the kitchen. Don’t make stupid plans without me. Later, darling.”
The line clicked off.
Kit scrambled to dial back. “Fuck you, we’re not done yet!”
They didn’t know where Darius was, they didn’t know how Terry died, they didn’t know—
Bishop gently confiscated Kit’s phone. “Holden knows more but doesn’t want to say it over the phone.”
“Not the phone,” James said. “He’s worried Darius’s apartment is bugged. Goddammit.”
Following their logical leaps left Kit dizzy. He wanted Holden back now. Forget stuffing the corpse in the fridge. But Kit couldn’t make Holden come back any faster, and there were still pieces they could put together in the meantime.
“Darius told Holden to go to the apartment.” Kit waved for his phone, so he could pull up the group chat. “He wanted Holden to find Terry. Why wouldn’t he just tell us himself?”
“He wants us to follow, but not too fast,” Bishop said. “He’s controlling the timing.”
James threw himself into his desk chair. “Back to the fucking camera network. Bishop, rummage around.” He pointed. “There’s a bug detector in one of those boxes. Holden doesn’t walk in here until we know he’s clean.”
Bishop didn’t seem phased by the terse order. He moved towards the boxes, then jerked around and caught Kit by the shoulder. “Hey. Everything’s going to be okay. We just have a puzzle to solve.”
“I hate puzzles,” Kit grumbled, leaning into Bishop’s touch.
Sometimes, being read so well wasn’t a bad thing.
“Liar.” Bishop squeezed Kit’s shoulder before letting go. “I’ve seen how many puzzle games you have on your phone.”
“Feeling kind of attacked, here.” Kit forced a grin, searching his head for something to offer, something to do, something useful, landing on— “I’ll, uh, make more sandwiches?”
“That would help,” Bishop said.
Hesitating, Kit waited for a word from James. The one actual boyfriend he had in the room right now. But James was locked into his screens. Nothing short of a grenade could shake his concentration now.
Kit fled before Bishop could do something horrible like comfort him again.
The giant yet cozy house had quickly become familiar, but now it felt strange. Unsettling. Kit mechanically retrieved the cheese and bread, then stared at the bread knife, unsure what to do next. His reflection was blurry in the blade. Maybe he should make a different kind of sandwich. Darius liked pastrami, but they didn’t have—
Kit realized what was bothering him.
Everyone else jumped immediately to triangulation. Working around the edges of the problem. Bishop and James, and Holden too apparently, were so used to stalking and investigating. But if Kit wanted to know where Darius was, couldn’t he just ask?
This wasn’t like their search for Terry or the second Rat King. They shouldn’t have to scour CCTV. This was a relationship. Even Kit knew direct communication was better than just talking around people.
And if Darius was off doing assassin things, he should have his phone on silent. So, no worries about interrupting him. Kit dialed Darius’s number. The phone rang once. Twice.
Cut off halfway through the third.
A deliberate refusal. Darius either couldn’t talk or wouldn’t talk. Kit wasn’t sure what scared him more.
Kit’s next useful achievement was bringing in more chairs. He perched in one abducted from the breakfast room, reading about the sketchy guys Bishop had already identified.
Just normal search results, nothing confidential. Arrest records, the occasional news article. Bishop hadn’t had time to dig into anyone yet. The sketchy guys, Terry, Darius—the target was changing too quickly. Their investigation couldn’t lock in on anyone.
Kit struggled to focus on anything longer than a paragraph. His nerves only half-settled with Holden’s safe return. Bishop brought him back up to the office, with an official, “He’s clear.”
“Missed you, darling,” Holden said, ignoring the others. He ruffled Kit’s hair, then stood behind him to continue fucking with his hair. “A new boba shop opened up near campus. We should go sometime.”
