"We?" Wilson raised an eyebrow with a smirk.
"Ah, yeah. Zach has been staying with me since...you know. The incident."
"That's nice. It's good to hear he's got a support system in place. What happened to his truck is awful."
I nodded.
"Lots of horrible stuff happening lately. First Zach's truck, then Mr. Rogers'. Now Hwan's place. It never ends, does it? I hope I can change all that, if I’m elected. "
I startled, staring at the man. He noticed and stopped talking to stare back at me.
"You don’t know about Hwan’s place?"
My heart climbed to my throat as I tried to form sentences without choking to death.
"What happened to Hwan's place?"
Wilson took in a deep breath and put his hands in his pockets.
"Everyone's okay. I don't know the specifics. I just know they were attacked. Well, the store was."
I nodded and tried to keep my composure, but I don’t know how successful I was. Though did it matter? It wasn't like Jake would think there was a whole crime syndicate behind these attacks that me and my guys knew all about it just because I looked unsettled. My friendship with Hwan wasn’t a secret.
"But everyone's okay?" I asked.
"As far as I know, yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just assumed you knew already. You guys seem so close."
"We are. I just haven't spoken to them today."
Wilson forced a smile and offered his hand again.
"I'm so sorry. I'll get out of your way. I'm sure you're dying to speak to them."
He walked back to the driver's side and stopped before getting in the car.
"The elections are next Tuesday," he said, then frowned. "Sorry. If I tell my assistant I didn't do what I came here to do she'll kill me."
I nodded at him and waited until he got back on the road before I pulled my phone out and dialed Parker's number.
The first attempt went unanswered so then I tried Hwan, then Teddy, and when I finally tried Parker again, I got a reply.
"Are you guys okay?" I asked. "Wilson was here and he told me you were attacked. What happened?"
I heard Parker walking and then there was a click and all the noise in the background quietened. He must have gone somewhere private.
"We're all okay. Nothing's happened."
"But...what do you mean?"
"It's fine," Parker said. "They just threw a Molotov cocktail at the back door."
I winced.
"Oh, just a Molotov cocktail? What the hell Parker? That's serious."
"Yeah. It would be, if they were actually successful."
"I...I don't understand."
