“Ninety-eight isn’t ahundred.”
“Nothing in life is certain.”I sighed as my tired muscles relaxed, sinking deeper into the mattress. “Well, deathand taxes, like they say. Disappointment, I suppose. But nothing about any ofthisis certain.”
“I know you know what you’redoing,” Miles said.
Which made one of us. I hadnoideawhat I was doing, but I was stuck doing it now, wasn’t I? I’d committed.I’d promised Quinn everything was going to be all right.
“Thanks, love. I appreciateyour faith, as ever.”
“Gray wants to talk to youagain, hang on.”
I let my eyes fall closed asthe phone juggling started again. If I was going to spend a week or more here,at least it was a halfway-decent bed and a nice enough room. Not a five-starhotel, but much more homey than the two-star motor in I would have ended up atotherwise.
Quinn didn’t even expect meto solve the case, though I planned on doing it anyway. He needed a win.
“So everything’s okay?” Grayasked once he had the phone back. “You’re being treated all right?”
I snorted. “Well, there wasno tea, milk, or sugar in the house when I got here. They live like barbariansdown here.”
“Right, yeah. You… you knowthere’s only tea at my place because you come over all the time, right?”
“Right,” I agreed. I did knowthat, I just also thought Gray had been a barbarian until I’d trained him tokeep tea in the house. “Still, though. Otherwise he seems okay. Little bitlost, but okay. Not as demanding as I imagined a baby popstar to be.”
“Who’re you calling a baby?You’re twenty-seven.”
“And he’s what?Twenty-three, twenty-four? He’s a baby.”
“Okay, okay,” Gray said, andI could hear the smile in his voice. “Listen, I don’t like this Vincent guy.Maybe I’m being over protective, maybe he justismad that youkicked him out, but…”
“Watch my back?”
“Yeah, watch your back,”Gray said. “Got a bad feeling about him.”
“Yes, well, he’s in therunning to get a personal introduction to the heel of my boot. I don’t like theway he talks to Quinn.”
Gray chuckled. “Gettingprotective already?”
“He’s very tiny,” Idefended. “Hard not to.”
“Yeah, yeah. Listen, I knowyou’ve got shit to do, so I’ll let you go. But take care of yourself, Fox.”
“Will do,” I promised. “GiveMiles my love for me.”
“Done. Bye, Fox.”
“I’ll text you if anythingfun happens,” I promised, waiting for Gray to hang up before doing the same.
Right, well. That was that,then.
I couldn’t go back homewith anything less than a victory.
FIVE
QUINN
The sound of my bedroom doorcreaking open woke me, but I wasn’t afraid. I knew who it was. There was only oneperson itcouldbe.
Fox.
