have a car or a driver’s license, not that he wanted to drive on our crazy American roads. Between relationships, he used public transportation or his two feet. Flynn was quite the chatterbox. I could see why he had no trouble moving from one relationship to the next. He had a gift of making you feel like you’d known him all your life, and that was something he could do with any random stranger.
“Aren’t we going to be late to work?” I asked.
The sun had set, but a wonderful early-evening glow filled the world, giving the colors more contrast and depth.
“Never you mind about that. This is far more important. I hope you make a better first impression on my associate than you did with me.”
“As long as he doesn’t grab my arm.”
Flynn chortled. After crossing another street, he began telling me all about his hometown in Manchester.
Just when we reached the curb, my heart accelerated. A scruffy biker strutted toward us, tattoos up and down his arms and a goatee on his chin. When he locked eyes with me, my breath caught. Flynn’s voice faded into oblivion, and as I stared at Crush, all I could think of was how this mission was teetering on the brink of disaster.
Looking down at my nonexistent outfit, he practically had flames shooting out of his eyes. Then he gave Flynn a baleful glance.
Oh God, not now.
With every step, I realized my father wasn’t going to walk on by. He looked troubled, and maybe it was because I hadn’t called him since this mission began.
“Bloody hell!”
I stopped to look at Flynn. His black shirt had a large splatter of bird droppings, more than the average pigeon could deliver. I spied Blue’s falcon perched on the ledge.
Flynn held up his arms as if they too were soiled. “Wait for me. I’ll be in the loo.” He jerked open the glass door to the shop and growled, “Bollocks!”
I stormed past the windows to my father. “What are you doing here?”
“Taking a walk.”
“One, you don’t exercise. Two, you sure as hell don’t hang out in the city.”
“Maybe I’m concerned about where my little girl has been.” His face was flushed and unusually sweaty, as if he’d been running.
I lowered my voice. “You can’t be here. Do you realize the danger you’re putting me in?”
He reached inside his pocket and pulled something out. “Put this on. Don’t ask questions.”
I accepted the onyx-looking pendant and gave him a quizzical stare.
“Hurry up before peabrain comes back.”
I quickly slipped it over my head. “What’s it for?”
Crush tapped his eye, hinting it was a camera. What the hell? Had Keystone put my father on assignment?
I’m going to kill them.
“So it’s five blocks that way?” he said gruffly, pointing up the road. “Son of a bitch. That’s what I get for listening to a fucking tourist with a map.”
Flynn eased up to my side. “What’s going on here?”
“I’m turned around,” Crush grumbled. “That’s what’s going on. Some asshole with a tow truck impounded my bike for parking bullshit. Do you know where the auto pound is on Foxtrail Avenue? This lady says it’s five blocks up the road.” Crush pulled a bandana out of his back pocket and wiped his neck. “They close in thirty minutes, and if I don’t get my bike back, heads are gonna roll.”
If there was one thing that my father excelled at, it was pitching a fit.
“She’s right,” Flynn agreed. “Go all the way up until you see McDonald’s on the right. That’s Foxtrail. Take a left and the impound lot is across the street on the right.”
“’Preciate it. Son of a—”
Crush went jogging in the direction we steered him, and seeing him run was a sight to behold. My father probably hadn’t run faster than a light jog in twenty years. I would have broken out in laughter had it not been for Flynn clutching my arm and leading us on.
“Humans are helpless creatures,” he said. “I’m so glad I’m not one of them anymore.”
“Did you get everything cleaned off?” I asked, noticing how wet his shirt was.
“Bloody hell. I’ve never seen so much bird droppings in all my life. If you see that pterodactyl, take cover.”
The adrenaline from running into my father was finally wearing off, but now I was paranoid about the necklace. Would Flynn notice?
I turned up the sidewalk. “How did it go with the cleaners?”
Flynn fell into step beside me. “Nothing to fret about.”