move Simon there. Get him back on his feet and…” Fuck, there was something they had to do, wasn’t there?
“We shall attempt to track down Oscar.”
“Yes,” I said. “That. Do that.” Right now, he might be our best lead on finding D.J. and ending all this.
Rio nodded at me and left. Jesus, Simon was like radioactive waste right now, leaking stray thoughts all over the place. Thank Christ Rio would be able to handle it.
The whole family plus Pilar was inside the room visiting with Arthur, and Checker had beelined in right away without a word to me. I neither felt like I fit in with their whole big happy family nor particularly wanted to talk to Arthur at the moment—now that he was safe, I was still really fucking pissed at him—so I slouched in a plastic chair in the hallway next to Diego.
Who was also not visiting with Arthur.
“How are you, Miss Russell?” he asked courteously.
“Just peachy.” Abandoned by my so-called friends, obligated to a man who was likely too far gone to help, under threat by a power-hungry egomaniac bomber and officially past fifty hours without sleep. I sighed. “You can call me Cas, you know.”
He nodded, and we sat for a while. Christ, I wondered if the kids were determined to spend all day fawning. Not that I had anything better to do than be stuck here as a guard dog. Unless it was attack the mountain of digging that needed to be done to track down D.J., or maybe get three minutes in a reasonably secure place where I could close my eyes … I catalogued all the hospital exits seven times over and distance over human running speed equaled time to get everyone out, then added error margins for the kids tripping over one another or freezing like fearful deer.
Fortunately, I had a lot of ammunition in my pockets. I wondered what Diego would think of me then—I’d probably be putting my life on the line for his kids, so he’d better fucking thank me.
I broke the silence far more out of a pissy itch to be nosy than any desire to make small talk.
“So, what happened between you and Arthur?”
He didn’t say anything for long enough that I knew he was annoyed with me for asking. Finally he said, “A marriage license and then a divorce lawyer.”
I thought about making a joke about a mathematician’s answer, but I didn’t think he’d get it.
“And how did you meet Arthur and Charles?” Diego asked with almost too-careful politeness.
“A case.” I didn’t elaborate. I wondered what he’d think if I added the part about taking down a global network of telepaths.
We were saved from continued screaming awkwardness when Arthur’s door opened and Willow Grace slipped out. I hadn’t realized she was still here—but of course, Rio wouldn’t have allowed her to leave. She’d changed to a man’s button-down and a loose ankle-length skirt that had to be Tabitha’s. I couldn’t imagine many people in the Rosales house had clothes that would come close to fitting her, but she’d belted the ensemble in a way that made it look like a fashion statement.
She glanced around and took in the fact that Rio had left. “Seems like this is a family affair,” she said to Diego and me. “I’m glad you found your friend. If you need to reach me, you have my number.”
I stood. “Wait—”
She halted. “I thought you said that once you accomplished your rescue, this would be done.”
Except it was obvious this had all been a setup. Except we still hadn’t found the people responsible. Except …
“Call me anytime,” said Willow Grace, after a moment’s pause. “Looking more deeply into this is likely a fool’s venture, but if you do, it would be better to coordinate. You can imagine I have quite a bit at stake in finding out more about Eva’s killers.”
Diego stood too. “Thank you for your assistance, Miss Grace. We’ll be in touch.”
“Hey,” I said. “Wait—it’s for your safety too—”
But Willow Grace nodded to us and strode off, and Diego actually put a hand on my arm. “You found Arthur. You can’t keep the poor woman locked down on your say-so.”
Rio would have kept her here. He would have called it a standard precaution. But I wasn’t Rio …
You aren’t you either, a ghostly voice reminded me.
“I appreciate your desire to protect my family,” Diego said. “I continue to appreciate it. But the urgent situation is over. We have to go back