“The Mustang has government plates.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have a badge.”
“I shouldn’t be long.” Patrick leaned across the console for a kiss Jono couldn’t deny him. “If anyone asks, tell them you’re waiting to pick me up for lunch.”
“It’d be more like brunch at this hour.”
Patrick rolled his eyes as he pulled on his gloves. “Are you still hungry? You had breakfast.”
“Imadebreakfast.”
“See if Wade left any snacks in the back seat.”
“Wade leaves wrappers, not food.” Jono turned off the engine and took the keys out of the ignition, not really bothered by the cold and the snow outside. “Go work. I’ll be here if you need me.”
Patrick nodded and got out. A blast of cold air snaked its way inside before the door shut, leaving Jono alone in the car. He craned his head around and watched Patrick cross the street once a car had passed. The Wisteria family lived in a posh neighborhood that Jono felt utterly out of place in.
The Wisterias’ home currently had scaffolding set up in front of the building for repairing the hole in their nursery. The gargoyles were all perched on the wooden platforms, keeping watch over the damage. Jono eyed the area curiously. He’d done some construction jobs in his youth and figured the hole was halfway to being patched, which was incredible, considering the weather.
“Money talks,” Jono muttered to himself.
He was still annoyed about his forced time off, even though it came with pay. Jono would rather be working and fairly earning his paycheck. He pulled out his mobile and queued up a show to watch while waiting for Patrick to return. Jono didn’t know how long this meeting would last, but he honestly thought it would be longer than ten minutes.
Patrick returned in five.
“That was quick,” Jono said when Patrick yanked open the front passenger-side door again.
Patrick scowled as he climbed back inside. “They refused me entry.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t get a straight answer out of their maid, but I’m going with pissed I treated the changeling like a person and I haven’t found their kid yet.” Patrick slammed the door hard enough he made the car shake. “Fuck. Henry’s not going to like this.”
Jono shoved the keys back into the ignition and started the engine, pulling back onto East Seventy-Fifth Street. The narrow one-way street was lined on either side with trees whose branches were bare and heavy with snow.
“Need to go by the office?”
Patrick shook his head. “No, I can work from home on my laptop. I can take my DC conference calls there.”
“Who do you need to talk to in DC? The director?”
“Agent Bryce. She’s the one who took custody of the changeling.”
Jono nodded and reached the corner as the light turned green. He turned right onto Madison Avenue and saw the arsehole who barreled through the intersection and clipped the Mustang on the front left corner at the last second. Jono couldn’t jerk the steering wheel to the right to get out of the way because there were pedestrians on the sidewalk.
He hit the brakes instead and snapped his arm out to brace Patrick as the impact reverberated through the Mustang. The airbags didn’t deploy, which told Jono the damage was probably minor, but that didn’t change the fact the driver of the other vehicle had run a red light.
Jono looked at Patrick, foot still firmly on the brake. “You all right?”
Patrick nodded jerkily, his pistol in hand when it hadn’t been seconds ago and a mageglobe clenched in the other. He let out a harsh breath. “Yeah. Fuck. Thought it was an ambush.”
Jono pulled over to the side of the street, out of the way of the crosswalk. He yanked up the emergency brake and got out of the car. The streets in this neighborhood had been plowed last night and salted; the driver couldn’t blame the snow for his shitty driving. Jono scowled at the Rolls-Royce Phantom limousine idling in the next lane over up ahead with its hazard lights on. Strangely enough, the limo didn’t look like it had taken any damage at all.
“Fucking rich wanker,” Jono said.
“Look on the bright side. At least they’ll have insurance,” Patrick replied as he got out.
Jono eyed the damage over the left front wheel on the Mustang. The metal there was crunched and the paint horrendously scratched, but the wheel looked okay. It would still need to be taken in and fixed, and the axle alignment checked.
