“No.” I lose any expression of civility. He’s lying and thinks he’s playing me. I’m giving him the truth. “You’re going to spend a couple years there. In fact, you’re going to plead guilty when they charge you and reach a plea deal. I want you in for at least two years. A little payback, you know?”
His eyes narrow. “Go fuck yourself.”
“Very well.” We reach the palatial grounds where he and his mother live. “Drop him at the gate,” I tell Garik. “He can walk the distance to the house.”
“Sure thing.” Garik pulls to a stop near the gate.
“Hendrix,” I say. “You’ll love prison. You’ll make so many friends.”
He gets out of the car and slams the door.
Garik looks over the seat at me. “What now?”
“Now we need to find Rosalie,” I say. “I’m sure she’s with Ella, and since I can’t find them, at the moment neither can anybody else, so I’m not worried about her safety. Well, until I find her.”
“I have everybody on it, Boss,” Garik says. This is new. He’s never called me boss before. “We’re scouring the city.”
“All right.” Apparently, she didn’t learn her lesson the other night. My girl is a bit stubborn—and reckless. “Get Merlin on it at Rosie’s house too. He’s as good as Ella, or at least he’s close on a computer. He should be able to track her.”
Garik snorts. “None of those men are going to help you find Rosalie.”
I sigh heavily. “Tell him that she’s in danger. Most likely because she is.”
“I will,” Garik says. “What about you, Boss?”
That’s going to annoy the shit out of me. “Knock it off.”
He coughs. “I figure it’s good to get people thinking of you that way.”
“I understand the psychology, Garik. It just sounds weird.”
“Okay. I’ll think of something else.” He drives through town.
I shake my head. “Drop me off on the corner of Piston, will you?”
“Sure. What’s your plan?”
I keep that one to myself for now. “I don’t have one. I do need you to find Rosalie.”
“Okay. It’s getting dark. You armed?” he asks.
“I’m always armed.”
He pulls to the side of the somewhat quiet street. “Why don’t I come with you?”
“This is something I need to do myself. Let me out.”
“Okay.” He stops completely.
I exit on the corner before making my way toward Howard Fissure’s apartment building as Garik drives away. Fissure’s gate opens and I quickly duck behind a tree. He drives out. I call Garik back. He returns immediately and I jump in the back. “Follow that car.”
“Seriously?” Garik asks. “I feel like I’m on a sitcom.”
“Only if the sitcom ends in murder.” We follow Fissure to a restaurant on the upper end where he strides inside and meets a platinum blonde we can watch through the window. “Who is that?” I ask.
“No idea, but she sure is pretty. A little young for him,” Garik says.
My stomach growls. “I haven’t eaten today.”
