“He hasn’t committed acrime!” I said, louder than I meant to. “Not a criminal crime, not the kind ofthing the police deal with. This is, at absolute worst, copyright infringementand the world’s pettiest theft, and even that might not stick. But it’s Quinn’slife. Hiswholelife. I have todo this. I have to at least get the notebook back for him. That’s full of hiswork.”
I paused a moment, walkingalong the street in silence with my hands stuffed deep in my pockets. Iunderstood why Logan was reluctant, but we weren’t going to get caught. Itwasn’t going to happen.
“Look, this is no big deal.We’ve done things like this dozens of times before. In and out quietly, no one’llever know we were even here. We’reexpertsat this sort’ve thing.”
“It’s never been like thisbefore,” Logan protested.
“No, it’s been in an activewar zone,” I snapped, the strain of having to justify myself getting the betterof me.
Logan flinched.
My stomach twisted. I hadn’t meant to beharsh with him. I was stressed, but I shouldn’t have been taking it out onanyone else. Especially not Logan, whohadvolunteered tohelp me despite not being convinced it was a good idea.
“Sorry,” I said. “You didn’tdeserve that.”
“You’re stressed,” he said. “Ithappens.”
“It shouldn’t.”
Logan snorted. “What, you wannabe perfect? Firstly, there’s no perfect. Secondly, if there was, it’d beboring. It’s fine. I can’t help flinching when people snap at me these days,you can’t help being stressed, this asshole with the Cadillac is the cause ofall our current problems,” he said, turning the corner into Vincent’s street. “Let’sgo fuck uphislife a little.”
Thankfully, Vincent parkedhis car on the road. Whether that was because he was showing off or it didn’t fit up thedriveway was anyone’s guess, although I suspected it was a mix of both. I wouldn’thave wanted to be in charge of backing this monstrosity of a land-ship throughthose narrow wrought iron gates.
But I also parked my bikeout front of anywhere I went, so I couldn’t exactly talk aboutshowing off.
“I’m only taking thenotebook,” I said. “Clean hands. Leave everything as it was except the onething that should never have been there.”
I passed Logan a pair ofcotton gloves. I couldn’t imagine Vincent being stupid enough to reportthis, let alone press for a police investigation, but there was no point takingchances. Bring everything with you, leave nothing behind.
Good advice for hiking andthe occasional petty crime.
“Are thoselockpicks?” Logan hissed asI took the kit out of my pocket, slipping it up my sleeve instead for ease ofaccess.
“Did you think I was goingto smash a window like a common thug? Or hope he’d left it open so I could geta coat hanger in and pop the lock?”
“Uh.” Logan scratched theback of his neck. “Kinda?”
I rolled my eyes, butdiscovering that I knew what I was doing seemed to have soothed the worst ofLogan’sanxieties about this.
“Tell you what, when we dotakeout and beer back home after this, I’ll tell you all about my tragicbackstory as a juvenile delinquent. Sound good?”
Logan snorted. “I always thoughtyou were the sensible one.”
“Good grief no,” I said,lowering my voice as we approached the car. “Gray’s the sensible one. And thewell-adjusted one. The rest of us are mad as hatters. A network of neuroses andtrauma held together with duct tape, chewing gum, and wishes.”
“Loyalty,” Logan added. “There’sloyalty in there somewhere.”
I turned to look at himbefore getting the lockpicks out again. “Yeah,” I murmured. “Thanksfor that.”
“Always,” he promised.
I knew I could count onLogan. I knew that, if nothing else, he was one of the people I’d always be ableto go to.
Even if tonightdidend in him needing to bail me out. He’d do it without a second thought.
I’d never live it down, buthe’d do it.
“Keep watch,” I instructed,watching him head around to the other side of the car out of the corner of myeye.
