Page 57 of Grant’s Heat

“What’s up, man?” I considered putting my feet up on the table just to piss him off or, better yet, to derail his train of thought. He was acting like a first-responder-trained bloodhound who had scented a lost victim.

“Where did Rio say she had gone in that time between spitting in my face at the hospital and showing up randomly at your house? And now that I’m thinking of that bit of information, didn’t you stay at your most recently purchased place downtown? How would she even know where that place was? You would’ve only been there for what? A few days, at most, when the accident happened?”

“This is crazy. I mean, do you hear yourself? You’re firing questions at me like I’m on the witness stand. Like I’m the guilty party here. Of what, I’ve yet to figure out, but you’ve got something going on in that head of yours. Maybe I should have a lawyer present?” I looked across to Elijah to see if he agreed. “Is it me, or is he going overboard right now?”

Elijah sat forward, planted his elbows on his knees, and calmly folded his hands out in front. “What are you getting at, Bas? What’s with all the questions?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to connect the dots.”

I sat forward too, almost mirroring Elijah’s pose. Although I was much more on edge because Sebastian Shark’s hot seat was a very tense place to be sitting. “Let’s backtrack for a minute. What dots? Maybe that will help me understand what you’re trying to get me to tell you.”

“Or just come right out and ask what you want to know,” Elijah suggested.

I threw my hands up in the air. “There’s a fucking novel idea! See, Banks? This is why we keep you around. It’s more than your pretty face. You’re actually the sensible one.”

Elijah tilted his head in warning. He knew I was trying to lighten the mood, and this was all part of our normal banter. He gave me the middle finger for good measure.

“I love you too, sunshine.”

“Hey, speaking of all that, I still need to get laid. I’m getting desperate enough to deal with Cybil the Banshee. Do you think you can set something up?”

“Hmm, yeah, maybe.” I picked my phone up off the coffee table and opened the security screen as if I were about to send a text message but then stopped. “For tonight? Wait…what day is it? She might be working.”

“Hey, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, I’m serious with these questions. I need answers. Try to focus. You can worry about getting your dicks wet when we get this figured out.”

I wouldn’t really call Cybil anyway, and Elijah knew that. It was a deterrent from Bas’s dog-with-a-bone obsession with Rio’s whereabouts the night of her dead husband’s accident.

I shook my head as if clearing from confusion. It wasn’t that far of a stretch, really. I had no idea why he wouldn’t let this shit go. “Okay, sorry, man. What is it I can help you with?”

“For fuck’s sake, Twombley!”

“Hey! Don’t fucking yell at me! Just because you’re on some wild goose chase and we don’t feel like entertaining your ass with it.” I stared at him, really trying to convey I’d reached my limit with his bullshit for one day.

“All right, all right. Let’s settle down,” Elijah verbally stepped in. Always playing peacemaker to our hotheaded exchanges. We all took turns in the role, actually. It just depended on who was arguing with whom at the time.

“Just stop being evasive,” Bas said, forcing calm in his voice.

“Evasive? I’ve told you what you wanted to know.”

“You haven’t answered a single question I’ve asked you!”

“You asked me where I found Rio. I didn’t find her. She came to my house. I told you that.”

“How did she know where that brand-new place was?”

“I told her about it. Why is that such a shocker? We’re friends, Bas. Friends talk about what’s going on in their lives. I bought a new place. I told her about it. Hell! I may have even shown it to her to get her opinion on the location. I don’t remember. We both work downtown. It’s not that big of a deal.” At least it didn’t seem like it should be.

“Did she tell you where she had been in between the hospital and coming to your condo?” Sebastian asked.

“No. Not that I recall. She was fucked up, Bas. Her husband was just crushed to death on a construction site. I had to be the one to tell her about it. Remember all that bullshit?” The room got silent for a few moments as we all remembered the horrible accident scene. The pictures and video footage we’d seen from the incident itself were the kind of images that you just couldn’t forget. The kind of things that gave you nightmares.

Then, Sebastian turned to Elijah with a question out of left field. “Banks, didn’t you say that Rio Gibson had prior arrests for starting fires?”

Goddammit. Of all the things for Sebastian to remember about Rio’s past, this was the tidbit that stuck with him?

“Well, no, not exactly,” Elijah answered smoothly.

“What the hell does that mean? Yes or no? Did she or didn’t she?” Bas’s tempered flared again.