“Not too long ago, actually. Took his stuff. Paid the bill for the movies he rented. Left.”
“In cash?”
“Yeah, then he took off with two guys.”
Fear cut through me like a blade. It must have been Muratti. His goons had let Daddy pack. Given him that false sense that everything could be worked out.
I swallowed, forcing myself to push back the fear and focus. “Tell me about the two guys.”
The clerk’s face scrunched up as he remembered. “Um, a pretty-boy type in a suit, and a black guy—maybe some Hispanic blood there, too, had that light-skinned look, you know? But who can tell? Big, though. He was in a suit, too.”
“Did they say their names?” I asked, though I knew the answer would be no before he said so.
That didn’t matter, though. I knew who the men were.
Evan and Cole.
Shit.
Cole had come up with a plan, all right.
But despite looking me in the eye and promising to keep me in the loop, he’d gone and moved my dad without telling me a thing.
He’d lied to me, goddammit.
And that, frankly, pissed me off.
I sat in my car with the engine off and the top down and worked the phone. Not that it made a difference. Neither Cole nor Evan were answering, and though I caught Angie at work, she didn’t know a thing.
“Evan only said that he and Cole had something to take care of this morning. Why? What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” I felt guilty that Angie knew nothing about my dad. Hell, about my old life. But how could I tell her now? “Nothing,” I repeated. “Long story.”
“Does this have anything to do with you and Cole finally hooking up?”
I’d been eating one of the bean and cheese burritos, and now I choked. “Oh my god. What did he tell you?”
Angie’s delighted laugh sparkled across the phone line. “Nothing, are you kidding? When has Cole ever overshared?”
“But—”
“He didn’t tell me or Evan anything. Or, if he told Evan, then he’s keeping it to himself.”
“Like Evan would keep something from you,” I said.
“I know, right?” She said the words matter-of-factly, like a given, and I felt a tinge of jealousy. How nice to know someone so well. To trust them so completely.
“I figure Cole is keeping quiet,” she continued. “No, Kat, the sad truth is that you are the source of your own intelligence leak.”
“Me!” My voice rose indignantly—at least until I figured it out. “Flynn,” I said.
“I had breakfast with him this morning. He sends his love. And,” she added airily, “he told me to tell you that the apartment did not burn down last night, in case you’d acquired some misinformation and that’s why you didn’t go home.”
“You know I hate you both.”
She laughed. “You do not. That’s why you’re my maid of honor.”
I made a grunting noise of acquiescence. “All right. Maybe I love you. A little.”