"I can do it. Remote is fine."
"Where?" Silas asks, as we move out of the way. Cade is placing a call to someone, I hear the word door.
I shrug. "Upstate. My grandma's old place."
"Go to my beach house in the Rockaways. State of the art and small enough we can easily keep them safe."
"Sounds like a plan, Silas." At least until I figure out a longer-term, better option.
Lola chooses that time to come out of the safe room.
And she stares. "Did you call him Silas?"
"Nooo," I say, "Simon."
"Simon. You're not a PI, are you?"
He laughs as Cade comes over. "No."
"He's—"
But her sharp look shuts me up.
Did I just fuck everything up by calling him Silas?
Cade smiles his charming smile and offers his hand to Lola. "I'm Cade, and this is Simon. And you are?"
"Mr. Marino's assistant. Lola." She doesn't even attempt a fake smile.
I groan inwardly, waiting for shit to hit the fan. I didn't even think about Lola being here and being able to listen.
"Simon?" she asks Silas as Cade runs a hand over the back of his neck and talks to the main cleaner.
Within minutes the place is clean, and the cleaning crew is gone, but Cade hovers near the door, clearly not wanting to be grilled. I don't blame him. I want to be there with him.
Silas's voice drags me back to the potential disaster unfolding.
"Yep. Simon. Dr. Simon Black. I'm a trauma doctor at Woodhull in Bushwick. I'm on their website too, if you want to check."
But her cheeks heat, and her shoulders lose their stiffness as she shakes her head. "No, no, it has just been a brutal day."
"Take two aspirins and call me in the morning." He laughs.
I'm really going to kill him.
Then he looks at his watch. "Got to check in with the hospital, so I'm out of here. The beach property. I will send you the address and codes."
I go to him and drop my voice. "Doctor?"
"It's a cover. For Simon. I will send the codes."
"Do it."
"I will. And hang tight, we will get to the bottom of this." And then he is gone.
Cade comes over to me. "The door will look fine from the outside, but keep the security steel door locked. Simon will text everything, but maybe get on the road and not in your car."
"And what car should I use?"
